Tag: 2020Iditarod

‘This is a nightmare now’: Iditarod musher recounts helicopter rescue from flooded trail

What Matthew Failor did not know when he left White Mountain with two other mushers was the relentless wind was pushing ocean water onto the trail ahead.

3 Iditarod mushers rescued by helicopter outside of Nome

The mushers and dogs are in good health, Iditarod officials say.

‘An actual dream’: Norwegian musher Thomas Waerner notches his first Iditarod victory

Thomas Waerner is the winner of a race hobbled by the coronavirus, which became a global pandemic as mushers raced to the finish line.

After coronavirus concerns close Shaktoolik checkpoint, residents band together to create spot for mushers to rest outside of town

Shaktoolik is usually a key resting spot for mushers and their sled dogs before they push the 50 miles to the next checkpoint at Koyuk.

Norwegian musher Waerner makes final dash for Nome with hours-long lead over competition

Thomas Waerner and his 10-dog team left White Mountain at 1:35 p.m. Tuesday with an hours-long lead over their closest competitors and 77 miles to the finish line in Nome.
An Iditarod sign

Iditarod loses another major, long-time sponsor

The Anchorage Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership is the Iditarod's second top sponsor to drop its financial support of the race this month.

‘It’s a dream position’: Norwegian musher Waerner leads Iditarod teams up the coast

For being first to the coast on Sunday, Thomas Waerner earned $2,000 worth of gold nuggets. But, more importantly, he was in a full five hours in front of the next team.

With unfamiliar checkpoints and wet weather, mushers swap advice about the trail ahead

This weekend, as race officials changed checkpoints over coronavirus concerns, there was a lot of advice being swapped between mushers, including Jessica Klejka and Linwood Fiedler, a musher in the middle of her second Iditarod and another who had just ended his 26th race early.

LISTEN: Iditarod front-runner Jessie Royer tells the story of how her sled caught fire

Jessie Royer has been running at the front of the pack in this year's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, even with a sled fire.

John Schandelmeier says he’s learning along with his dogs after entering the Iditarod in a last-minute switch with his wife

Some Iditarod sled dog teams were already on the trail last week when John Schandelmeier decided to run this year’s race to Nome. It might be the latest musher swap in race history.

‘Well that’s a little different’: Iditarod mushers learn about moved checkpoints, closed schools as coronavirus concerns grow

Schools, towns and checkpoints along the final third of the trail, including in Shaktoolik and Nulato, are limiting their involvement with the event.
A musher drives dogs through a trail

While the coronavirus sidelines other sports, the Iditarod mushes on

In some ways, the Iditarod may be the ultimate form of social distancing. Teams travel hundreds of miles through remote, rural Alaska. But, along the way, they also stop at small communities that serve as race checkpoints. And some of those communities are concerned.
a man feeding his dogs

For those mushing the Iditarod trail, the ultimate form of social distancing, coronavirus news begins to trickle in

As news of emergency measures and coronavirus closures spreads, there’s at least one group of people that is almost totally in the dark: Iditarod mushers.

Iditarod mushers will still cross the finish line in Nome, but the city has canceled its race-related festivities

The City of Nome will not be hosting any race-related festivities due to concerns about the coronavirus.

From the queen to the life of the party, meet 11 of this year’s Iditarod dogs

While the teams race to the finish line, we’re featuring a sled dog a day on our Iditapod podcast.
Takotna

Rest day: Iditarod teams start parking in checkpoints for their day-long layovers

With more than a quarter of the trail behind them, some teams in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog were parked at checkpoints on Wednesday, taking their required daylong breaks.

Our 16 favorite photos of frosty Iditarod mushers and fuzzy muzzles

With temperatures plunging deep into the negatives on Tuesday, mushers and dogs sported a coating of frost when they pulled into Nikolai, a small village about a quarter of the way into the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Iditarod mushers say the trail to Nikolai was so smooth that it even put some of them to sleep

The roughly 80-mile stretch from Rohn to Nikolai usually has has some of the worst trail conditions anywhere along the 1,000-mile route. But not this year.

LISTEN: This couple moved to McGrath and now runs its only restaurant

The roadhouse in the community of about 300 people has many roles: It’s an Iditarod logistics hub, community center and a burger stop.