ROCK SPRINGS — Alex Yates finds life to be mundane at times. In order to combat his frequent boredom, he lives life on the edge — literally. When he isn’t working on home loans or taking photos, he constantly seeks adventure. From climbing the Aztec pyramids in Mexico to repelling down cliffs, Yates often does the unthinkable.
Yates’ latest thrill-seeking adventure was discovered nearly two weeks ago when he was browsing online for a new challenge. The strapping, young Rock Springs native hopes to be selected as one of two athletes to represent the United States in the Fjällräven Polar.
The Fjällräven Polar is an arctic dogsled race that starts in Norway and goes through Sweden. The freezing race covers 300 kilometers (186.4 miles) in six days with nothing but glaciers and frozen tundra surrounding the competitors. Racers are trained prior to the race on different tasks they will need to know during the race such as how to start a fire in the snow and how to set up a tent in the middle of a blizzard. The race selects ordinary people from around the world and puts them into an extreme conditions where temperatures can drop to -65 degrees.
In order to be selected for the Fjällräven Polar, Yates can guarantee his spot in the race if he finishes first in voting. Currently he ranks 18th in the North American region with 397 votes. Most of his votes have come from friends and family. He is now hoping the community can rally around his desire to participate in the event and help push his votes through the roof as the voting will end on Saturday. Yates can also claim a spot if he is chosen as the second participant which is decided by the organization.
For Yates, this bone-chilling adventure poses an exciting opportunity and experience.
“If the community comes together and I’m actually able to go do this, I would be able to go do something only a handful of people in the entire world get to go do. When I’m 80-years-old I can tell my grandkids that I did a 300 kilometer dogsled race. That’s pretty crazy. It would be incredible,” Yates said.
How to Help
You can help send Yates to the frigid dogsled race by submitting your vote for him on the Fjällräven Polar website. You can directly go to his profile here to vote.
Voters will be asked to authenticate their vote by logging in through Facebook. The process will only take a minute or two to accomplish.
