Contest winner gets ‘toehold’ in Yukon lore

Big toe, be damned! This little piggy is headed to Yukon.

Vancouver resident Kelly Green and her big toe have been selected as the winners of Tourism Yukon’s contest for a free trip to visit Dawson City, where the infamous Sourtoe Cocktail was created at the Sourdough Saloon.

“I was elated and laughing to myself, giggling about it,” said the 30-something-year-old of learning she had won the contest. She was in an airport security line when she received word she would one day be giving away her big toe to a Dawson City bar.

The contest was held to find the next replacement big toe for the cocktail that involves swigging a shot of whiskey containing a mummified toe. The drinker’s lips must touch the toe before they are initiated into a club and get a certificate.

“It’s kind of fun. It’s that mysterious mystique of, ‘Whose toe was this?’ ” said Green, who works as a kayak guide and has never visited Yukon before. She said it was the pun encouraging people to make a “toe-nation” that first caught her eye and gave her a chuckle.

The contest was launched after the toe was stolen last month and later returned.

Participants were asked to share a photo of their big toe, with the winner awarded a free trip to Yukon in exchange for their toe to be donated posthumously. More than 300 submissions were entered, but it was Green’s digit that caught the eye of adjudicators.

“The contest received such a positive response from Canadians across the country,” said Paul Robitaille of the Klondike Visitors Association.