The Alcan 5000 rally began in 1984 as a summer event that traditionally starts in the Seattle, traverses the Alcan Highway and other roadways, ends in Anchorage, then returns to the Puget Sound area.

Like the 1993 summer rally this writer participated in, the total distance was about 6,100 miles through Washington, British Columbia, the Yukon Territory, and Alaska, then back to Seattle.

The first winter rally was staged in 1988, and its participation has increased since. Summer and winter rallies now generally alternate every two years. However, in 2004, according to the Alcan 5000 Web site, both rallies were staged. Like the 2008 Alcan Winter Rally, some winter rallies do not go into Alaska. Since its inception, the event has been sponsored by the Rainier Auto Sports Club, chaired by Jerry Hines of Kirkland, Wash.

Having covered the Seattle start and Anchorage finish of a previous winter rally, this writer found that Alcan winter events are for those with plenty of stamina and determination. Alcan rally drivers have described white-out road conditions, brutally cold air temperatures, and exceptionally slick driving surfaces among the many challenges faced during the grueling run.

With a start in Kirkland on Feb. 17, the 2008 Alcan Winter Rally will have its first overnight in Quesnel, B.C., moving on to Stewart, B.C.; Whitehorse, Y.T.; Dawson City, Y.T.; Inuvik, N.W.T.; Liard, B.C.; Dawson Creek, B.C.; and ending in Jasper, Alberta. It covers about 5,000 miles of mostly severe winter driving conditions.

According to the Alcan Web site, more than two dozen teams are scheduled to participate in the February rally, hailing from the Pacific Northwest, California, Arizona, North and South Carolina, New Mexico, Indiana, Pennsylvania, three Canadian provinces, and the United Kingdom.

While there are many returning private and factory teams signed up for the 2008 rally, many of them previous winners in summer and winter events, two new teams from the Portland area will take part this year. All experienced rally drivers and navigators, their team leader said they are exhilarated about the upcoming event.

Team Mitsubishi Alcan was organized by Jeff Zurschmeide, a Portland-area automotive journalist who said he first heard about the 2004 winter rally just before the event. "From the moment I understood what the event was, I knew I wanted to make this run to the Arctic," he said. "The whole idea just tickles me since I am an avid Time-Speed-Distance rallyist. And when else would I find an excuse to visit the Arctic in winter?"

Zurschmeide said he has been rallying for about seven years and has nearly 20 years of experience as a driver in SCCA club and stock-car racing. He said he began seriously talking with potential teammates, sponsors, and automakers in 2006 about the 2008 Alcan Winter Rally. His determination paid off when Mitsubishi Motors agreed to supply two 2007 Outlanders XLS CUVs for the venture and other sponsors agreed to provide money, products, and services for the rally, he said.

"Mitsubishi has been very generous by providing the vehicles and several extra sets of wheels for the event," Zurschmeide said. "Beyond being tough and sure-footed to make the journey, fuel economy is an issue as fuel stations on this run are few and far between. The Outlanders get between 20-25 MPG in locked AWD mode, and we should not lose time adding gas along the roadside."

Other sponsors, he said, include Hankook Tire, which supplied extra tires (one of the many rally requirements); Columbia Sportswear, which provided complete Titanium extreme weather outfits for the team, including jackets, glacier boots, gloves, thermal underwear, and more; Baja Racks, which supplied a pair of roof racks to hold spare tires and other gear; the Halton Co., a Northwest CAT dealer that supplied funding; and ProDrive Driving School at Portland International Raceway, which provided special skid-car training for team members. Other sponsors include Havoline/Chevron and H3R Performance, he said.

Even with sponsors, each of the six team members will also provide out-of-pocket money for rally expenses, from entry fees to fuel costs, Zurschmeide said.

The two Outlanders entered in the winter rally will each be in one of two rally classes, he said. "Vehicle No. 1 will be running in the fully equipped rally computer that instantly records time, speed, and distance," he said. "That's the toughest competition class there is, and a computer-equipped car usually wins the rally. In that vehicle, we have Marcus Song, who works for Intel and is a complete whiz at operating the computer."

Zurschmeide said Song has extensive experience as both a driver and navigator and has competed in numerous SCCA National Road Rally events, including finishing first in Stock Class at the season-ending SCCA United States Road Rally Championship in 2003.

Along with Song will be driver April Smith and Kevin Poirier, Zurschmeide said. "April is an accomplished Performance Rally driver with many class wins, as well as being an active NHRA drag-racing driver," he said, adding that Smith is a diesel technician for the Halton Co. and serves as a technical/instructional assistant for the automotive technology program at Clark College in Vancouver, Wash.

"Kevin is an ace navigator and will also work on the computer," Zurschmeide said. "He also has lots of rally experience, including the 1998 Rally of the Lost Patrol from Quesnel, B.C., to Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., and back, plus the 1998 Press On Regardless rally in Michigan, as well as dozens of Northwest rally events."

 
Pourier is a business analyst at Portland General Electric, Zurschmeide said, and also a past SCCA Road Rally Divisional steward and an accomplished Rallymaster.

In the second vehicle, Zurschmeide, whose columns appear in the Portland Tribune and many other national publications, said he will be joined by Matt Tabor and Gary Bockman in the Stock Odometer Class. "Matt and I do a lot of performance rally together, and Gary is our 'secret weapon.' He is a world-class driver and is actually in the Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest sustained speed on a public highway at the Silver State Classic in Nevada."

 Tabor, a tax preparer from Vancouver, Wash., is an experienced rally driver with several wins and comes from a rallying family, Zurschmeide said, adding that the pair drive together in Tabor's Production GT class performance rally car.

"Jerry Hines organizes the whole event very efficiently," he said. "I wouldn't have the first idea about what to prepare for on this kind of journey. Jerry has the whole route laid out, lodging reserved each night, and a wealth of information on how to prepare vehicles for the trip. He also maintains a stock of FM radios that each vehicle must use to keep in constant contact during the rally," he said.

"We're required to carry some pretty extensive emergency gear on the rally, including tow ropes, flares, first-aid gear, and fire protection among a long list of safety and parts items," Zurschmeide said. "I use H3R Performance fire extinguishers because they are dry-chemical based but use a clean fire suppression agent called Halguard."

Zurschmeide said the most exciting aspect of the rally may well be the uniqueness of the trip itself. "The fact that we get to see and do things that most people never see and do, like being in the far north in the middle of winter," he said. "People tell me that the wildlife is spectacular, you get to see the Northern Lights, and we'll be far removed from the comfortable life we're used to living."

Challenges anticipated on the Alcan Winter Rally will include the weather, Zurschmeide said. "The Outlanders will have to take the extreme cold and likely some pretty rough roadways on occasion. On the competition side, we're racing against some of the best TSD rallyists in North America-guys like Satch Carlson and Russ Kraushaar with Team BMW and Paul Eklund and Kala Rounds from the Subaru team. Both teams have won is rally before, and if we can beat them under these harsh conditions, we'll know we did something right.

 
"The most important thing about this event is simply deciding to go," he said. "We're all making sacrifices to participate as every one of us has put up thousands of dollars and will spend two weeks away from our jobs and our families in order to compete in this rally. But when we're home again, we'll have done something that very few people have ever accomplished, and we'll have done it because we chose to go, and we made it happen."

For complete details about the Alcan Winter Rally, including detailed routing and maps, rally history, previous winners, and other data, visit  www.alcan5000.com . For details about Team Mitsubishi Alcan, visit  www.team-mitsubishi-alcan.com.