'Unprecedented' weather shuts down second Labrador sporting event in two weeks

Labrathon participants must saw a log, build a fire, boil a kettle, cut a hole in the ice, shoot targets and travel by snowshoe. (Source: labradorwintergames.ca)

HAPPY VALLEY-GOOSE BAY, N.L. -

For the second time in as many weeks, abnormal weather has forced the cancellation of a popular sporting event in Labrador.

Organizers of the Labrador Winter Games in Happy Valley-Goose Bay say on social media that "unprecedented weather conditions" have made it unsafe to go ahead with this year's Labrathon event.

Labrathon participants must saw a log, build a fire, boil a kettle, cut a hole in the ice, shoot targets and travel by snowshoe.

The Games' website describes the Labrathon as one of its most traditional events, designed to test competitors' abilities to live on the land "like generations of trappers before."

Happy Valley-Goose Bay has been hit by a spell of unseasonable warmth and rain, with temperatures hovering around freezing for much of March.

Last week, organizers of the 3,500-kilometre Cain's Quest snowmobile race, which bills itself as the toughest in the world, cancelled this year's competition mid-course after a member of a team from Finland drove into open water.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 16, 2023.