Alcan 5000 Rally returns with frozen fervour in fortieth anniversary

The Alcan 5000 Rally, which takes place every other year (typically those ending in an even number), elebrated its forty-year anniversary in late February with a two-week adventure from Seattle to Anchorage.

The journey brought the thirty-six-car field through weather conditions where even the chilliest adjectives would be insufficient to describe. Temperatures ran well into the negatives, bottoming out at –32 degrees Fahrenheit (–35.56° C) as competitors made their way through Canada and Alaska. After crossing the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, the climate’s unfriendliness increased upon entering the Northwest and Yukon Territories, inching closer towards the Arctic north.

Upon crossing into Alaska, the rally went through the subarctic city of Fairbanks before heading even further north. This took the grid to Coldfoot, a town of just thirty-four people (as of the 2020 United States census) and part of the Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, which straddles the Arctic Circle.

By the end, in the Alaskan capital of Anchorage, drivers had travelled five thousand miles.

Credit: Alcan 5000 Rally

Unlike traditional cross-country rallies, the Alcan 5000 Rally is a regularity rally in which navigation skills and maintaining a certain speed are favoured over simply being the fastest. Such a format is also used at the Dakar Rally’s adjacent Dakar Classic and the Rebelle Rally, the latter also taking place in North America. Much like in golf, the regularity rally competitor with the lowest score wins and points are racked up for mistakes made while going through the route, such as not meeting or exceeding the baseline speed.

Classes are divided by number depending on vehicle type, with 1 referring to passenger cars and 2 for trucks and SUVs, as well as U or S for Unlimited or SOP navigation equipment. “Unlimited” navigation cars may use any type of hardware and software, while SOP (Signals of Opportunity) navigators are limited to items like a factory odometer, a slide rule, and calculator.

The husband and wife duo of Satish Gopalkrishnan and Savera D’Souza recorded the lowest total score in their Subaru Crosstrek, beating the thirty-five other cars including eleven others in the 2U category. It is their second straight victory after claiming the 2022 edition in a Mazda CX-5. Among the 2U entrants they defeated were the Ford Raptor of Dave Cole, the owner of Hammerking Productions that oversees King of the Hammers and Ultra4 USA.

2020 winners Russ Kraushaar, a five-time champion, and Garth Ankeny finished runner-up in their Mercury Capri. Other former winners in the field include Paul Eklund, the 2000 titlist who finished eighth, and Cole’s team-mate Pete Schneider, a three-time victor.

Journalists Andy and Mercedes Lilienthal, another married pair, won in the 2S class in their INEOS Grenadier.

“With temps as low as –32 degrees Fahrenheit, the INEOS Grenadier was a solid performer in every condition we put it in,” said Andy Lilienthal. “Its suspension easily soaked up hundreds of miles of frost heaves and potholes, the turbocharged engine had plenty of power to get by slow traffic, and the interior was comfortable and versatile. It was a champ in the deeper snows on the ice slalom competition too. The Grenadier was an excellent vehicle to have on this long and demanding rally. To have this new vehicle on the fortieth year of the Alcan 5000 and take top honours in our class was amazing.”

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