For the Record
By Paul Kvinta, Andrew Tilin, and Dan Cray

Department of Desperate Measures

When 210 sled dogs hauled a 42-ton tractor trailer through downtown Whitehorse last October, their owners weren't merely attempting to break the world record for the heaviest dogsled pull (although they did, and quite handily). Instead, they had their sights set on a more elusive goal: stirring up some much-needed publicity for the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest Dogsled Race, a little-known affair taking place on the 13th of this month. The Quest has spent most of its 15-year history languishing in the shadows of the equally long Iditarod, its older and more glamorous sibling, which has been drawing television reporters ever since it began in 1973. The recent display of husky power, however, may have been just what the PR doctor ordered. At press time, top secret negotiations with Canadian broadcasters were proceeding smoothly enough to prompt the following prediction from Quest executive director Dee Balsam: "TV is a good possibility, you betcha!" Some, however, fear the onset of a full-blown media circus. "All those cameras, flashbulbs, microphones," grouses Quest veteran Frank Turner. "I suppose it's no longer just a man going out with his dogs on the land."

The Great Outdoors, with Extra Butter
Drooling over the American public's seemingly insatiable interest in narratives based on Things That Happen to People in Nature, Hollywood has recently bankrolled several projects focused on backcountry or adventure themes. Perhaps most keenly anticipated is the Warner Bros. production The Perfect Storm, which evolved from Sebastian Junger's story in this magazine (see "The Storm," October 1994). Director Wolfgang Peterson is slated to begin shooting this spring, although the location is still to be determined. Even sooner-perhaps as early as this month-filming will begin on All The Pretty Horses, based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy. It will be directed by Billy Bob Thornton and shot in Texas, with Matt Damon and Henry Thomas cast in the starring roles. Also tracking, albeit with a bit less certainty, is Dominion, the story of John Muir's life. After languishing for several years, the project finally got off the ground last October when Sean Connery expressed interest in playing the part of a shaggy Scotsman wandering about the Sierra without the benefit of Gore-Tex. Paramount is now awaiting a rewrite of the screenplay, which has been entrusted to Richard (A River Runs Through It) Friedenberg. But don't call MovieFone anytime soon. "In Hollywood," quips one source, "production timetables are less reliable than an L.A. bus schedule."

The Berm's Rush
"I've told 'em a million times what a good boardercross course needs," moans Shaun Palmer, the 1997 tour champion, "and they don't listen." A hybrid of snowboarding and motocross, the sport to which Palmer, 30, refers is known for its 90-degree banked turns and very major air. Hence his dismay when he wiped out on a "bogus" (read: icy and misshapen) berm at the season premier of the Swatch Boardercross World Tour last November in Sölden, Austria-a mishap that consigned him to a fifth-place finish. But redemption could be at hand: This month, the series makes its U.S. debut at California's Bear Mountain, a venue notorious for its catapultlike jumps and dizzying speeds. Even that, however, may not be sufficient to satisfy Palmer. "I just wish they'd put in a 60-foot triple," he says. "That would help me annihilate the field."

Express Sail
Make no mistake, Viktor Yazykov's surgery on his own abscessed elbow, performed using E-mail instructions from a Boston doctor during leg one of the 31,000-mile Around Alone sailing race last November, was damn impressive. But while the Russian yachtsman was busy saving his life with a scalpel, British skipper Mike Golding and his French rivals Isabelle Autissier and Marc Thiercelin were planing toward what could become the fastest Around Alone in history. By the time Golding tacked into Cape Town on October 31, he'd not only edged out race favorite Autissier by two hours, but bested her 1994 Atlantic crossing (previously considered untouchable) by two days. This month, however, as the fleet departs on leg three-the perilous 6,858-mile voyage from Auckland to Punta del Este, Uruguay-it'll need more than velocity. In 1994, the treacherous seas off Cape Horn left two boats in splinters. Says event director Mark Schrader: "It's still anybody's race."