Cain’s Quest announced the route for both Pro class and Trail class yesterday, as well as an important date change for the race start.
The pro class racers will now depart Labrador West at 6:00 p.m. on March 4, as opposed to the original announced date of March 5.
They will then head to Happy Valley-Goose Bay before starting their north coast journey to Nain.
From there, racers will travel to the south coast to L’Anse Au Loup before making their way back to the finish line in Labrador West through central Labrador.
While completing a full Labrador circuit, they will pass through a total of 19 checkpoints and cover an estimated 3,500 kilometres.
The ambitious route will continue to give Cain’s Quest bragging rights as the world’s longest and toughest snowmobile endurance race.
It is, as in past races, subject to change, depending on environmental circumstances like weather or snow conditions.
The rules will be released in the coming days, and are currently being tweaked to include important feedback from racers and lessons learned from the 2014 race.
Thirty-four teams are already on the roster, each vying for the hefty $100,000 prize purse.
Final registration closes on November 30, 2015 and there is a maximum capacity of 40 teams.
The Trail class option is a recreational run that will also start in Labrador West but depart a day later on March 5.
The route will have teams travel through Labrador’s interior to Happy Valley-Goose Bay and then back again, with Churchill Falls as a checkpoint each way, for a total of 1200 kilometres.
Although they will experience wilderness racing, it is non-competitive and much shorter.
Registration for the trail class will open December 1 with an entry fee of $1895 per rider.
Rules will be finalized once the pro class rules are released.