24 February 2028 · Yukon and Northwest Territories, Canada

6633 Arctic Ultra

Eagle Plains to the Arctic Ocean

120 or 380 miles up the Dempster Highway to the Arctic Ocean, non-stop and self-sufficient, and it only comes round every three years.

Secure your place See the route

120 or 380

Miles, your choice

Non-stop

Self-sufficient, you pull your own kit

-5 to -50°C

What the Arctic might give you

71 or 215

Hours to finish, 120 or 380

Places in 2028

£4,950

Either distance

The race

An Arctic expedition race like no other

Explore the limits of possibility

The 6633 Arctic Ultra follows the Dempster Highway north from Eagle Plains, across the Arctic Circle and over the Richardson Mountains into the Northwest Territories, then out onto the frozen Peel River and the ice roads to the Arctic Ocean at Tuktoyaktuk. You can take on the 120, finishing at Fort McPherson on the banks of the Peel, or go all in for the 380, where the race isn't over until your hand touches the Arctic Ocean sign.

It's self-sufficient, which means you decide when to move, when to rest and when to eat. You carry everything you need on a pulk and camp out in the wilderness, and while the checkpoints give you hot water, shelter and encouragement, the experience, the suffering and the triumph are all yours.

No two years are the same. The weather, the ice and the terrain shape the route, our crew adapts, and you'll have to as well. It's a race where resilience matters more than pace, and it's been that way since the first one in 2007.

Somewhere out there, the Arctic Ocean is waiting.

The route

One road, two finish lines

From the start at Eagle Plains the route crosses the Arctic Circle on day one, fights through the wind of Hurricane Alley and over Wright Pass into the Northwest Territories, and drops down to the Peel River at Fort McPherson, where the 120 finishes. The 380 carries on along the frozen river to Aklavik and Inuvik, then up the ice road to the Arctic Ocean.

Start

0 miles0 km

Eagle Plains

383Miles

617Kilometres

8Checkpoints

885 mHigh point

Course profile

Drag along the profile to follow the route

The journey

Whitehorse to the Arctic Ocean

The race is nine days. The trip is three weeks.

Your entry covers far more than the race. From the moment you land in Whitehorse we look after the road north, the nights along the way and the trip home, so all you have to think about is getting to the start in one piece, and then getting to the ocean.

Chapter 01

Whitehorse

The gateway to your adventure

The journey starts in the Yukon's capital, a frontier town steeped in Klondike Gold Rush history, and you'll spend three nights here before anyone heads north. It's where you meet the people you'll share the road with for the next three weeks, and it's where friendships start that tend to outlast the race by a long way.

There's an ice dip and a sauna, lunch by the lake, cinnamon buns at the Burnt Toast Café and a local brewery to try, but the serious business here is kit. We lay out and check every piece of it, and the pre-race briefing and training course are where you learn how this race really works before you're out in it.

Chapter 02

Dawson City

Gold rush territory

We head north on the old trade routes to Dawson City, the town where gold miners once gathered and where your own test of endurance really begins. It still looks like a frontier town because it still is one: real wooden streets, real cold, and nothing built for tourists.

It's also where you meet the Sourtoe Cocktail, a shot with a real human toe in it. Everyone swears they won't drink it, and everyone does.

Chapter 03

The Dempster Highway

The road north

The Dempster is a frozen dirt road and the furthest north you can drive in North America, and the drive up it through Tombstone and out across the tundra is the moment the size of this place really sinks in. It brings you to Eagle Plains, the start line, for the final kit checks, the last briefing and a beer at the Eagle Plains Hotel bar.

If the sky is clear, Eagle Plains is often where people see their first Northern Lights, the night before they set off into them.

Chapter 04

Race day

Step inside the Arctic Circle

You wake to a sunrise at Eagle Plains with the temperature somewhere in the -20s, clip into your pulk and take your first steps of the race. From here on you decide when to move, when to rest and when to eat, and the first checkpoint at Sheep Creek is 40 miles up the road.

Early on you cross 66°33' North, the Arctic Circle and the line the race is named after. The local community issues a certificate to everyone who crosses it.

Chapter 05

Hurricane Alley and Wright Pass

Into the Northwest Territories

The road climbs into the Richardson Mountains and across the border into the Northwest Territories, through the stretch everyone calls Hurricane Alley for a very good reason, and over Wright Pass. It's where the wind decides what kind of race you're going to have.

James Creek, the second checkpoint, is a welcome pause on the other side, with hot water, shelter and a bit of encouragement from our crew before you head on towards the Peel River.

Chapter 06

Fort McPherson

The 120 finish

Fort McPherson stands proud on the banks of the Peel River, a crossroads of Arctic cultures, and for anyone on the 120 this is the finish line, three days and a lot of cold after leaving Eagle Plains.

For the 380, it's just the beginning.

Chapter 07

The Peel River

The long white road

From Fort McPherson the route drops onto the frozen Peel River, and this is where the 6633 becomes something else entirely. The stages are long, the temperatures stay low, the wind drives across the ice and the silence is like nothing you'll have heard before.

It's the part of the race that tests your head far more than your legs, and it's where the people who finish are made. Our crew are out of sight here, but never far away.

Chapter 08

Aklavik and Inuvik

Over halfway

Aklavik, at around 211 miles, is a friendly small town rich in Indigenous heritage, and it has always been wonderfully supportive of our athletes. Heading out of it on one of the longer stages, you'll start to see the Northern Lights over Inuvik, your next destination.

Inuvik is colourful, cultural and a welcome break from the elements. After nearly 300 miles it's your chance to rest properly before the last 100 miles to the ocean.

Chapter 09

Tuktoyaktuk

The Arctic Ocean

You'll see the lights of Tuktoyaktuk in the distance long before you reach them, and when you smell the sea air of the Arctic Ocean you'll know you're close. Our crew and the people of Tuk will be there to meet you.

But the race isn't finished until you touch the Arctic Ocean sign. Not many people ever get to do that, and you'll be one of them.

Chapter 10

Home

Mates for life

There's a night in Inuvik, the celebration meal and your inscribed inukshuk, and then a flight back to Whitehorse instead of a two-day drive. Anyone who has stopped along the way travels with the race to the end, so everyone finishes the trip together.

By then the field has become a caravan, and the people you met in Whitehorse three weeks earlier are friends for life. In a good year about half the field are people who've done it before, which tells you most of what you need to know.

You smell the Arctic Ocean before you see the lights of Tuktoyaktuk.

What it takes

Have you got what it takes?

We think the 6633 comes down to three things in roughly equal measure, and we'd be lying if we said the first one was the hardest.

Physical fitness

You'll be moving for up to nine days in deep cold, pulling a loaded pulk. There's no hard cut-off at the checkpoints, but there is a time limit for the distance: 71 hours for the 120 and 215 hours for the 380. Our training plan will help you build for it.

Kit and knowing how to use it

Expensive kit won't save you if you can't work it with frozen fingers in the dark. Your sleeping bag, stove, shelter and layers are what keep you in the race, so learn them inside out before you come.

Mental toughness

This is the one that usually gives out first. Days of cold, wind and solitude test your head long before they test your legs, and the people who finish are the ones who keep deciding to stand up and go again.

Experienced Arctic athletes and newcomers are both welcome, but everyone who applies tells us about their experience, and if we don't think you're ready yet, we'll tell you straight.

Training plan Kit advice Mandatory kit list (PDF)Training plan (PDF)

Support

Out of sight, never far away

We want you to feel out there on your own, because that's what the 6633 is. The reality is that we're never far away. There's medical cover throughout, support and evacuation off the course if you need it, hot water and shelter at every checkpoint, and a live tracker so the people at home can follow every mile.

Included in your entry

Three nights in Whitehorse, one in Dawson City, one at Eagle Plains and one in Inuvik
All race transport from Whitehorse to the start
Return transport and the flight back to Whitehorse
Pre-race briefing and training course in Whitehorse
Checkpoints with hot water, shelter and encouragement
Medical cover, support and evacuation off the course
Post-race celebration meal and your inscribed inukshuk
A 6633 technical clothing item and sponsor goodies

Not included

Your flights to and from Whitehorse
Food and drink
Single room supplement, where available (around $80 CAD a night)

Our history

Nearly twenty years on the Dempster

Where 66 Adventure started

2007
The first 6633 Arctic Ultra
2018
The 6633 Arctic Ultra
2022
The 6633 Yukon Ultra
2024
66 Adventure is born
2025
The 6633 Arctic Ultra
2028
The next Classic. Could you be on the start line?

The first 6633 Arctic Ultra set off from Eagle Plains in 2007, the idea of our founder Martin Like, who ran it with his wife Sue for the best part of two decades. Since then it has grown a Yukon edition and a whole family of races, but the Classic is still the one at the heart of 66 Adventure, and it still finishes at the same sign by the same ocean.

Every finisher since 2007 is named on our Roll of Honour, and the records are still there to be chased.

34h 35m

120 mile record

Kevin Hollings, 2013

149h 47m

380 mile record

Natalie Taylor and Tom Hunt, 2023

Every finisher

Named on the Roll of Honour since 2007

Roll of Honour

The Like Award

When Martin and Sue handed over the race, our crew created an award in their name. Each year it goes to the one athlete who best captures the spirit they built the race on, and the winner's name goes on a moose rack that stays in the Yukon for good. Some winners were fast, plenty weren't, and all of them are worth reading about.

Learn more

Gallery

See some of the most stunning scenery on the planet

FAQ

The questions everyone asks

Fly to Whitehorse in the Yukon. From there we take care of the rest: the road trip north through Dawson City to the start at Eagle Plains, every night's accommodation along the way, and getting you back to Whitehorse after the race.

2028 is open

There are 40 places across both distances, and it's £4,950 whichever you choose.

Secure your 120 place Secure your 380 place

Race day: 24 February 2028
Entries close: 24 January 2028
Full payment: By 31 October 2027
Pay: In full or over three or six months

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