A call for frosty faces: Would you walk 1,685 km to Tuktoyaktuk... and back?

From the top of Tin Can Hill, a frosty-faced Sheena Tremblay took in the view.

"There is a beautiful sunrise, trees are all frosty and white, and the oranges and yellows are amazing on the lake," she said Thursday morning as she trekked up the popular trail in Yellowknife.

Tremblayhad just walked a little bit closer to Tuktoyaktuk, one of the northernmost communitiesin the territory, without having to step one foot out of town.

It's partofthe territory-wide fitness programWalk to Tuk a wellness and community-building exercise.

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Teams of up to 20 can register and theyhave from Jan.3 to Feb.28to collectively walk a total of 1,658 kilometresthe distance from Fort Providence to Tuktoyaktuk anywhere within and around their own communities.

The program awards four to five kilometres per every hour walked; that's just over 331 hours of collective walkingto do in just over a month.

Aninteractive maptracks all teams' progress throughout the program.

Walk to Tuk started in 2011 with 550 participants.

The idea originated from a not-so-successful attempt at getting people activeduring the winter.

"We used to have a nordic walking program that provided poles and training for people to organize their own community walking groups," said Tremblay, the co-ordinator for the program run by the NWT Recreation and Parks Association.

"We were finding it hard to engage people in the winter so Walk to Tuk was born."

"Last year, we had over 2,500 people participate, which was amazing," saidTremblay."So our goal and hope for this year is to have even more than that."

So far, 168teams signed up this season, and the number is growing daily, says Tremblay.

This year, teams are challenged not only to make it to Tuk, but to walk back, a goal of 3,370 kilometresor 663 hours of walking.

There's a grand prize of a flight pass from First Air on the line. Anyone who completes the challenge will be entered into thedraw.There are other prizes for teams, captains and for submitting your frosty-faced photos and stories like these.