Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 732 is my conversation with Greg McHale, the ultra-endurance athlete and hunter behind Greg McHale's Wild Yukon. Greg lives in Canada's Yukon Territory year-round and competed in the Yukon Arctic Ultra, a 430-mile solo race through the winter wilderness in temperatures down to minus 50 degrees. We are on opposite ends of the spectrum — he races in extreme cold, I train in extreme heat — and we get into the race, his adventure-racing roots, and how he built a hunting show in one of the harshest places on earth.
Listen now: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · YouTube · Press play in the player above to watch.
Greg McHale is an ultra-endurance athlete, hunter, and the host of Greg McHale's Wild Yukon, a hunting TV series filmed in Canada's Yukon Territory, where he lives year-round. He grew up in Southern Ontario, came from a hockey and adventure-racing background, and competed in the Yukon Arctic Ultra, a 430-mile solo winter race in temperatures as low as minus 50 degrees.
The Yukon Arctic Ultra is one of the most difficult solo endurance races in the world, run through the Yukon wilderness in winter. Greg McHale completed the 430-mile version self-supported in temperatures plunging toward minus 50 degrees. Coming from a team-based adventure-racing background, he describes the solo nature of the event as one of its hardest aspects.
Greg grew up in Southern Ontario farm country playing hockey, but when he realized a pro hockey career was not in the cards for a 163-pound player, he shifted to outdoor pursuits that had always been part of his life. That path eventually led him to the Yukon Territory, where he now lives year-round and films his hunting show.
Greg McHale's Wild Yukon is a hunting television show that Greg produces and hosts in the Yukon Territory of Canada. It is known for high production quality achieved in an extremely challenging cold-weather, remote environment, documenting hunts across the Yukon wilderness.
Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 732 with Greg McHale is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and iHeartRadio. The video version is embedded at the top of this page.
Doing my research on Greg, I figured we should be best friends. We share a deep respect for brutal long-distance suffering — he just does it at minus 50 while I do it in the heat. The Yukon Arctic Ultra alone, 430 miles solo through the Arctic winter, is one of the most extreme things I have heard of. On top of that he built a genuinely beautiful, well-made TV show in an environment that punishes everything. I wanted to know how a kid from Ontario farm country ended up there.
Press play in the YouTube player at the top of this page to hear the full story.
Greg calls the Yukon Arctic Ultra one of the most difficult solo races he has done, and he comes from an adventure-racing background, which is a team sport — so going solo changes everything. He describes covering 430 miles through the Yukon winter at temperatures plunging toward minus 50, completely on his own. The logistics and the mindset it takes are staggering. Listen to how he describes surviving it in the episode.
Greg grew up in Southern Ontario farm country, working on the farm and playing a lot of hockey. When the realization hit that the NHL was not happening for a 163-pound guy, he switched gears to outdoor pursuits, which had always been part of his life — family holidays were packing the car with a tent. That pivot eventually led him north to the Yukon for good. Watch the YouTube player above for the full arc.
Greg's Wild Yukon is a beautifully made show, and I told him so — I know a little about producing in challenging environments, and the Yukon is about as challenging as it gets. He talks about filming hunts in extreme cold and remote terrain, and what it takes to keep the quality high when the environment is fighting you every step. Listen to that part of the conversation.
Athletics has always been part of Greg's program, and when one door closed he went looking for harder ones. The 430-mile race, the year-round Yukon life, the show in punishing conditions — it all points to someone who is wired to choose difficulty on purpose. We both understand that pull. Press play in the YouTube player above to hear why he keeps doing it.
Listen to the full conversation: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · or watch in the YouTube player at the top of this page.
The day after talking to Greg, I felt like I had found a kindred spirit on the opposite end of the thermometer. He chases suffering in the cold the way I chase it in the heat, and the why is the same.
What stuck with me is that Greg built a whole life — the racing, the hunting, the show — in a place most people would never choose. The Yukon is home, and he is thriving in conditions that would break most of us.
Press play in the player above, or grab Episode 732 on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
The Tom Rowland Podcast brings you long-form conversations with the most accomplished anglers, hunters, conservationists, and outdoor professionals in the game. Listen to every full-length Tom Rowland Podcast interview.
Greg McHale · Greg McHale's Wild Yukon · Yukon Arctic Ultra · Yukon Territory, Canada · Southern Ontario · adventure racing
Greg McHale is an ultra-endurance athlete, hunter, and the host of Greg McHale's Wild Yukon, a hunting television series filmed in the Yukon Territory of Canada, where he lives year-round. Raised in Southern Ontario farm country with a background in hockey and adventure racing, he turned to extreme outdoor pursuits and competed in the Yukon Arctic Ultra, a 430-mile solo winter race in temperatures as low as minus 50 degrees. He is known for producing high-quality outdoor content in one of the most challenging environments on earth.
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