Bernard Desgagné, toque and mittens, smiling in front of the frozen Yukon River

March 05, 2023

Bernard Desgagné: −36°C between the Yukon and Alaska

Dawson City, the town of the Klondike Gold Rush, and Interior Alaska. In February and March 2023, a customer kept a log of his cold there.

Dawson City, Yukon, and Interior Alaska64°04′ N−36°C

Photos: Bernard Desgagné, during his trip.

Dawson City was born of a rush. In August 1896, gold was found on a Klondike creek, renamed Bonanza. By the summer of 1898, about 30,000 people had arrived, and Dawson remained the capital of the Yukon until 1953. Today it has 1,577 residents (Parks Canada).

In winter, the Yukon River freezes hard enough to open an ice bridge across it. In 2023, cars drove on it from January 5 to April 20. Dawson's record low is −58.3°C, on February 3, 1947. That same day, Snag, in the Yukon, fell to −63°C, the coldest temperature ever measured in North America (Canada's History).

From Whitehorse to Dawson City by the Klondike Highway, and neighbouring Alaska. Map: Lasclay

That's where Bernard Desgagné, a Lasclay customer, spent part of February and March 2023, on an outdoor excursion between the Yukon and Alaska. His outdoor mittens caught up with him deep in Alaska.

“This morning in Dawson City at −30 C: hands and thumbs warm. My partner froze in her Bilodeau fur mittens, and so did my son in his Chlorophylle. Rating: 10/10. I'm impressed. Right in the middle of the frozen Yukon River, I was super warm. Bravo.”

Bernard Desgagné, March 5, 2023

A mitten on a post, above the valley. Photo: Bernard Desgagné

Thirteen days later, back home, he wrote to us a second time, at greater length. In Alaska, he had been down to −36°C. The state record is −62.2°C, at Prospect Creek, on January 23, 1971 (NOAA).

−36°Cthe cold he recorded in Alaska, thirteen days after Dawson City

In the Yukon, in February 2023. Photo from Bernard Desgagné's trip

“During an outdoor excursion in Alaska and the Yukon in February 2023, Lasclay got a pair of mittens to me in record time, deep in Alaska, and in temperatures of −36 Celsius they amazed me by keeping my hands and thumbs nice and warm. My travel companions wore mittens from Chlorophylle and Bilodeau. In conclusion, Lasclay beat those 2 companies hands down.”

Bernard Desgagné, March 18, 2023

Bernard notes the temperature before giving his opinion. He also sent us his photos.

Bernard's photo journal

The photos he sent us in March 2023, between two letters.

Bernard Desgagné in front of the Dawson City sign, in the Yukon

Lasclay mittens on a snowy post, the Klondike valley below. Photo by Bernard Desgagné

A traveller on a snowy road between the mountains, in Alaska. Photo from Bernard Desgagné's trip

A pair of Lasclay mittens lying in the Yukon snow. Photo by Bernard Desgagné

Bernard Desgagné

Customer, cold-weather log in hand

In February 2023, he sets out on an excursion to the Yukon and Alaska. His mittens catch up with him deep into the trip. He notes the temperature before giving his opinion: minus thirty in Dawson City, minus thirty-six in Alaska. He also sent us his photos.

Sources

Parks Canada, Dawson Historical Complex National Historic Site. Government of Yukon, Dawson ice bridge. Environment and Climate Change Canada and NOAA, cold records.

Photos and quotes: emails and public reviews by Bernard Desgagné, March and April 2023, quotes translated from French.

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