It's early morning at Pelly Crossing and the problems multiply. Matt Hall, third place and Rookie of the Year from 2014, is in rough shape. The jumble ice has hurt his team and he must leave behind 5 dogs. Jason Campeau's sled got so badly damaged that he may have to replace it and take an 8-hour penalty. Kristin Knight Pace is the last to leave Pelly Crossing and has dropped from 12th to 26th position. We begin to see why the Yukon Quest has the reputation as the toughest sled dog race in the world as 5 teams scratch and drop out of the race. Normand Casavant explains the universal language used in sled dog racing. Hugh Neff shares the challenges of feeding a 10,000 calories a day diet to a team of 14 dogs. Brent Sass wins the Dawson City prize, a 4 ounce gold nugget, for being the first to arrive at the midway checkpoint.