#sleddogracing Clipped from adn.com
MUSHING: Iditarod veteran buser makes his debut in the 1,000-mile trek.
Anchorage Daily News
Only one past champion is entered in this year's Yukon Quest, but the field of 29 mushers that today will begin the 1,000-mile trek across the historic gold rush trail is loaded with intrigue.
Can Martin Buser, a four-time Iditarod champ but a Quest rookie, join the exclusive club open only to dog drivers who have won both the Quest and the Iditarod
Can Jason Mackey live up to the family name and find some fame of his own on the trail between Whitehorse and Fairbanks
Is three-time champion Hans Gatt in the race to win -- or to coach Newton Marshall, the first Jamaican to enter either of mushing's premier distance races
The 26th annual running of the race begins today in downtown Whitehorse. Mark Sleightholme, a British musher running his first Quest, will be the first musher to hit the trail.
Missing from the starting line will be Lance Mackey of Fairbanks, winner of the last four Yukon Quests and the undisputed king of mushing based on his back-to-back Idita-Quest double victories. He opted out of the Quest this year and will only race the Iditarod.
That leaves the door open for Buser, Gatt, Jason Mackey and a handful of others that could challenge for the victory -- a group that includes Jon Little of Kasilof, who is running his second Quest, and William Kleedehn of Whitehorse, a two-time runner-up and perennial top-5 Quest finisher.
Gatt, of Whitehorse, won the Quest three times before Mackey's dominance began and finished second in 2006 and 2007. He's been working with Marshall the last two years and is providing the young Jamaican with both a dog team and a race schedule for the Quest.
Buser, of Big Lake, is a prerace favorite despite his rookie status -- he's a veteran of more than 20 Iditarods and owns a racing resume that is one of the best in the sport.
A win by Buser would make him the fifth musher in history to win both the Iditarod and the Quest. Rick Mackey, Joe Runyan and Jeff King have all pulled off the distance double, but only Lance Mackey has won both races in the same year, something he did in 2007 and again last year.
Jason Mackey is another Quest rookie, though at age 37 he's been around the sport for years. He's part of a three-generation mushing family that also includes dad Dick, a former Iditarod champ, and half-brother Rick, a former Iditarod and Quest champ and, of course, brother Lance.
"I'm here to uphold the Mackey name," Mackey told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner on Wednesday in Whitehorse. "I'm here to win."
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Yukon Quest kicks off today in Whitehorse
Ahead of Yukon Quest start today, it’s anybody’s game
#sleddogracing Clipped from Newsminer.com
By Matias Saari
Published Saturday, February 14, 2009
WHITEHORSE, Yukon — With Lance Mackey out of the mix for now, the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race will crown a new top dog.
And many mushers feel they have a shot to win the 26th annual race that starts at 11 a.m. today in downtown Whitehorse.
There’s a trio who most folks are labeling the favorites: Hans Gatt, Martin Buser and Jon Little.
Then there’s up-and-comers on the cusp, like Brent Sass, Jason Mackey, Dan Kaduce and Warren Palfrey.
And not to be overlooked are veterans with previous top results, such as William Kleedehn, Sebastian Schnuelle, Dave Dalton and Michelle Phillips.
“You can’t count anybody out, really,” said Gatt, who three-peated from 2002-04 before Lance Mackey began his four-year string in 2005.
Many people are counting Gatt as the man most likely to reach Fairbanks first in about 10 days.
“I would have to say Hans is the favorite, just from his past record,” Lance Mackey said Thursday from Fairbanks, as he prepared to follow the race from afar while continuing to train for March’s Iditarod.
Gatt likely will have plenty of competition in his quest to match Mackey with a fourth career Quest win.
“My prediction is Hans and Martin are going to be battling, and the race will be between Little and Kleedehn and some of the others for the other positions,” Lance said.
Gatt’s entry comes with a side note. He has spent the last two winters training Jamaican musher Newton Marshall at his kennel near Whitehorse and has set Marshall up with a few of his strongest huskies. Gatt’s aspirations for victory might therefore be diverted slightly.
“This year, obviously, the focus is to get Newton to the finish line,” Gatt said Wednesday.
The 50-year-old Austrian concedes he still has “a really good dog team” that placed sixth at the 2008 Iditarod and second in January’s Copper Basin 300.
The latter race is where Lance Mackey told Gatt he would be withdrawing from the Quest for a variety of reasons.
“I was bummed out,” Gatt said.
One musher who has been in great spirits in Whitehorse is Buser, the first Iditarod contender since Mackey to cross over to the Quest.
“It’s rejuvenating and stimulating and exciting to have a new challenge coming at you,” Buser said.
Though a Quest rookie, Buser said he thoroughly has researched the race.
“I think I’m ready for it. I’ve prepared well,” the Big Lake musher said. “I did a lot of homework, and I think I have enough supplies out there.”
Buser is racing mostly large males in the Quest and has a speedier team lined up for the Iditarod, though he may enter a few dogs in both races.
Buser joked that he finally entered the Quest because of a mid-life crisis. He added that the timing was right as he has become an empty-nester because sons Nikolai and Rohn are attending college.
His goal is “to finish well,” but it seems he’s also eyeing the $30,000 first-place prize.
“I do need to make some money,” Buser said a week ago during the vet check in Fairbanks.
Then there’s Jason Mackey of Kasilof, who said he’s racing to win and to uphold the family name.
Palfrey, of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, also didn’t hesitate to reveal his hopes of landing in the winner’s circle.
“Ultimately, first place, that’s the goal,” said Palfrey, who wasn’t satisfied with 26th at last year’s Iditarod. “I don’t go into any race saying I’ll be happy with the top 10 or top 20. Basically, anything (below) a first-place finish is a disappointment.”
Of course, many others would be thrilled with 10th place, while some aspire just to travel the entire 1,000 miles.
Mike Ellis of Rumney, N.H., has been in Two Rivers since Halloween preparing for his second Quest with his team of purebred Siberian huskies. He placed 11th and set a Siberian record of 12 days, 10 hours last year.
“I’m hoping to crush it,” Ellis said of his record.
Frenchman Didier Moggia and Becca Moore of Willow are back after dropping out on day two last year at the Mile 101 dog drop. “I need to finish what I started,” Moggia said.
Also among the 29 mushers who will start — more than a dozen others entered but later withdrew — are 21-year-old Josh Cadzow of Fort Yukon, the first Alaska Native musher in years; Wayne Hall of Eagle, who is familiar with the challenges waiting on the Yukon River; and Yuka Honda, who is drawing plenty of attention from a Japanese film crew following part of the race.
Reports so far predict a hard, fast trail on the Canadian side, while Quest veteran John Schandelmeier, filling the newly created Alaska trail coordinator position, got a head start breaking out and marking the second half of the route. Complaints were rampant about trail conditions in Alaska last year, particularly on a neglected section of jumble ice on the Yukon.
One negative in this year’s race is that only $151,000 of a planned $200,000 purse is guaranteed so far. The shortfall is due partly to a decrease in sponsorships because of the lagging economy.
“There’s a lot of little things that should have been done,” Dalton, who is starting his 19th Quest, said about the organization’s fundraising efforts. “Mushers feel they’re getting hurt in the long run.”
Correction
There are three mushers who have won the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest sled dog races in different years — Rick Mackey, Joe Runyan and Jeff King. Lance Mackey is the only musher to have won both races in the same year. He did it in 2007 and 2008, but he is not entered in the Quest this year. Rick Mackey is the only one of the four who won the Iditarod before wining the Yukon Quest. Rick Mackey won the Iditarod 1983 and the Yukon Quest in 1997. A story in Friday’s News-Miner incorrectly stated that King and Runyan were the only other mushers other than Lance Mackey to win both long-distance races.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Volcano looms over Iditarod dogs
Clipped from CNN.com
By Jim Spellman
CNN
STERLING, Alaska (CNN) -- From the Seavey dog sled kennel you get a clear view of the Redoubt volcano, and the Seavey family is watching closely.
The volcano is expected to erupt any day now, and the Seaveys are trying to find a way of keeping their prized sled dogs safe from the ash that may fall over a large portion of Alaska. The ash is highly abrasive and dangerous to breathe in for both humans and dogs.
"How we react to the volcano is going to depend on the scope of it, I guess. We have my grandfather's kennel we can move to about 200 miles from here," said Danny Seavey, adding with a laugh: "If it's so big that it covers most of the state then I don't now what we're going to do. Move to Russia or something, I guess."
But moving the dogs 200 miles away is no easy task.
The Seavey kennel has about 100 sled dogs that are training for the Iditarod sled dog race that begins in early March. The race spans 1,150 miles, from Anchorage to Nome. To make the run, the dogs must be in tip-top shape. The Seaveys can't afford a break from training the dogs, and they can't allow the dogs, who sleep outside in small crates, to be exposed to the dangerous falling ash.
"They are very well fed, highly trained athletes," said Seavey. "We're only a month from the Iditarod. They need to be training right now."
Seavey expects to have very little time to get the dogs to safety.
"Oh, yeah, it would be in a hurry. At the current wind conditions we would have about two hours from when it blows to when the ash gets here," he said.
"We have big trucks, and each dog has a little kennel that they can hop in ... so we have three of these trucks, and we can move 60 or 70 dogs that way."
Seavey says the canine exodus is "going to look crazy, a bunch of dog trucks and horse trailers running east. That's our only plan right now."
Plans are easier to come by for the human population of the Kenai Peninsula. Scott Walden is the emergency management coordinator for the Borough of Kenai.
"It can create a sense of panic," Walden said. "It's sudden. It's hard to predict when and where it's going to hit."
He was fire chief when Redoubt last erupted in 1989 and says the biggest hazard is the slippery driving conditions the ash will present. The borough plans to close schools as soon as Redoubt blows, hoping to get all the kids home safe in the two hours they will have between the eruption and the ash hitting the ground.
Walden is instructing people to take shelter and hopes to keep most people off the road for about a day while the ash falls.
He says everyone should have paper respirator masks, plastic sheets to seal up their houses and a weather radio to monitor the situation.
Down the road at the Home Depot, manager Mark Pierson says business in Redoubt-preparation supplies has been brisk
"The biggest thing that we're selling is the dust masks," says Pierson, who had to order extra stock. "We've bent over backwards to make sure we have these for the customers."
Pierson grew up on the Kenai Peninsula and was here when Redoubt erupted in 1989 and when the nearby Augustine volcano erupted in 1986. He saved ash from the Augustine eruption in a jar. He says people here are used to dealing with nature and the hardships that come from living in a place that can be beautiful one minute and dangerous the next.
"I think people here want to be prepared, but I don't see too many people over-reacting," he said. "You learn not to panic, you learn to be prepared."
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Anderson optimistic this will be his year in the Iditarod
Image via Wikipedia
Wednesday, 04 February 2009
Cliff Buchan
News Editor
Could this be Ken Anderson’s year in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race?
Anderson is hoping the stars in Alaska are aligned as he prepares for his ninth run in what is billed as the world’s greatest sled dog race, the 1150 mile push from Anchorage to Nome.
At 36, Anderson is no stranger to racing dogs. The former Forest Lake resident has been at it since moving to Alaska in 1994 and is a veteran of the Iditarod. He earned his best finish ever a year ago when his team crossed the finish line in fourth place.
If Anderson is looking for good karma as he prepares for his ninth run in 2009, there are positive signs.
Anderson and his wife, Gwen Holdmann, saw the birth of twins Leif and Marais on Aug. 28, 2008 in Fairbanks.
He labored last summer and fall on building a new 2000 square foot log home on their property in Fox, a small community 20 miles north of Fairbanks.
The hectic family days of the second half of 2008 were rolled in with sled dog training duties, manning the Windy Creek Kennel for sled dogs and working summer shifts giving sled cart rides to tourists in Fairbanks.
In the past month, he has put his racing dogs through a series of races in Alaska in preparation for the Iditarod which starts on Saturday, March 7.
Optimistic man
Anderson remains optimistic that his busy schedule may be just what is needed for this year’s Iditarod.
Race preparation has changed for Anderson. In past years he has entered teams in long distance races similar in length to the Iditarod. But not this year.
In a change of strategy, Anderson ran more mid-distant races in Alaska covering 200 and 300 miles. His dogs trained well and he picked up some top places and prize money to support the operation.
He is as confident as he has ever been one month prior to the big race.
“They are in good shape and I’m optimistic,” he said of his team. “I’m shooting for a win this year. I’m as prepared and as confident as I’ve ever been.”
Training conditions have improved, too, he said, as the temperature has moderated from early January when readings of 40 to 50 below zero were common.
At stake in the Iditarod this year is the top cash prize of $69,000 and a 2009 truck.
After last year’s fourth place finish, a good training winter for his dogs and a number of Iditarod veteran dogs in the mix for his team of 16 dogs, Anderson says he has to be optimistic. He believes his chances are good, barring serious accidents.
He has had three top 10 finishes in his previous eight races.
Inspiration
Anderson says 2009 has opened with new inspiration and purpose, now that he and his wife have started a family. The twins are the major addition to the Anderson family that also includes 75 dogs ranging in age from puppies to the retired team dogs that call Windy Creek Kennel home.
“My first priority is being a good dad,” Anderson said, adding that his time away racing the dogs is bittersweet because he is not with his family.
“They are an inspiration to do my best,” he said.
The couple has managed with some help from family.
Gwen’s parents, Robert and Erika Holdmann, spent most of the summer and fall in Alaska helping with childcare while Gwen and Ken were working and the new home was being built.
Three days after giving birth, Gwen returned to her job as organizational director of the Alaska Center for Energy and Power in Fairbanks which she helped found.
Ken’s mother, Betty Anderson of Forest Lake, is now in Alaska helping with the family duties.
Even with the new family responsibilities and running the kennel business, Anderson said he still has the desire to race.
“It’s become a lifestyle,” he said of the dog raising and racing. “I enjoy the dogs and the challenge of preparing for a race. I am competitive and like to travel.”
One more sign
Could karma be on Anderson’s side this year.
His balancing act of so many responsibilities has worked like clockwork, so far, he says.
And then there was the trip last month from Fox to Anchorage, a journey of 360 and the jumping off point for one of the in-state mid-distant races.
On the way to Anchorage, Anderson’s truck struck and killed a large moose. “I had just paid off the truck,” Anderson said.
The truck was damaged but was serviceable and Anderson continued on his way.
“It was scary,” he said of the untimely meeting with the animal. “I was lucky as the moose almost came through the windshield.”
More good signs as Anderson and his dogs prepare for the Iditarod.
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Sunday, February 1, 2009
Quest mushers put strategy into food, staple planning
Clipped from Nwesminer.com
By Matias Saari
Published Sunday, February 1, 2009
FAIRBANKS — Of the countless things Wayne Hall packed for the upcoming Yukon Quest, the musher from Eagle made sure not to short himself of one crucial item.
“Copenhagen,” Hall said with a laugh, exposing a dip of chewing tobacco. “Enough to keep me goin’. That might help keep me awake when I’m sleep deprived, I hope.”
Josh Cadzow of Fort Yukon packed several unique comestibles for his huskies, including bear meat, prime rib donated from The Vallata restaurant and even “spoiled fish snacks.”
“It’s fish that’s been sitting on the ground for awhile, caught in a fish wheel on the Yukon in the fall,” the 20-year-old said of the king and chum salmon. “It stinks. (The dogs) like it, though.”
Dave Dalton of Healy said what’s different in his drop bags is what’s lacking.
“No cholesterol,” Dalton, 51, said. “No cookies, candies and all that sweet stuff. Basically just a bland diet of oatmeal and crackers.”
The aforementioned trio was among 22 mushers — 15 from the 1,000-mile Quest and seven from the Quest 300 — assigned to drop off their supplies (or have a handler do so for them) on Saturday afternoon at Summit Logistics off Van Horn Road.
From there, the hundreds of 40-pound woven plastic bags will be moved in two 40-foot Lyndon Transport trailers to nine checkpoints between Whitehorse, Yukon, (where the race starts Feb. 14) and Fairbanks (where it will end about two weeks later). Bags will be flown to road-inaccessible Eagle on Monday.
That’s one place Hall doesn’t need to worry about shipping supplies, since he lives there. The logistics of the race require not only time but brain power, he said.
“Things like the food drop ... we probably got 40 hours just in putting bags together,” said Hall, who was assisted by wife Scarlett. “That doesn’t mean chopping (meat) and gathering and logistics and figuring your run/rest (schedule) and how you’re going to feed. It’s a very mind-boggling experience.”
It might be tedious, but packing is a crucial task.
“Once your drop bags are done, that’s it. You can’t change anything, so you really have to pay close attention,” said Hall, who left Eagle on Jan. 13 and mushed 170 miles just to reach his truck near Tok. From there, Hall drove to Fairbanks a few days later.
Cadzow’s travel came earlier, as in December he left Fort Yukon for Goldstream Valley, where he’s been staying with his parents.
As a rookie, Cadzow figures it’s better to pack too much than too little. He dropped off three bags per checkpoint.
“I think I packed enough,” Cadzow said. “I don’t want to run out of nothing.”
The task was not a last-minute scramble for Cadzow and his helpers.
“We started it early this week, chopping meat. We were ready for a couple days now,” he said.
For Dalton, this will mark his 18th Quest.
“It’s pretty much down to a science these days,” he said about packing.
One might think Dalton would be trimming his loads to save weight, but instead he’s now packing more of everything — clothes, sled parts, meat — to prepare for the wildly varying trail conditions and weather that the race can produce.
“I have about 40 bags,” Dalton said. “I think my first Quest I had 22.”
Roster at 30
The 2009 Quest looks like it will have 30 starters, up from six a year ago. Ken Anderson of Fairbanks, the runner-up in 2008, and Abbie West of Two Rivers dropped out last week, becoming the ninth and 10th mushers to withdraw since the entry list peaked at 40 mushers in December. Also, Carmen Perzechino of Sterling is racing the 300-mile Don Bowers Memorial Sled Dog Race in Willow, which she needs to complete to be Quest-eligible.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Yukon Quest adds major sponsor
Clipped from newsminer.com
By Matias Saari
Published Friday, January 23, 2009
FAIRBANKS — Faced with the likelihood of a decreased purse, the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race announced good news on Wednesday — TransCanada Corp. has upgraded to become the biggest sponsor for this year’s race.
TransCanada is now the race’s only major sponsor, a category classified by a donation of at least $25,000. The Quest therefore is guaranteeing a purse of at least $150,000, which is still short of the planned $200,000. It continues to seek a full purse through fundraising and sponsorships.
“This is a significant development for the Yukon Quest,” Stephen Reynolds, the organization’s executive director in the Yukon, stated in a press release. “Like many events who rely on sponsorship, the recent economic situation is having an impact on our partners, and TransCanada’s decision to substantially increase their support strengthens our organization and the race itself.”
TransCanada, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, has about 3,850 employees and owns a network of pipelines that taps into almost every major gas supply basin in North America, according to the release.
“We are proud to take on a more significant role with this renowned event,” TransCanada spokesman Peter Kruselnicki said.
On its Web site, the Quest lists more than 130 sponsors. They include one major sponsor, nine supporting sponsors, 21 lead dog sponsors,
21 team dog sponsors, 37 summit sponsors, 30 trail sponsors, 14 government sponsors and three media partners.
The race begins Feb. 14 in Whitehorse, Yukon, and will end about two weeks and 1,000 miles later in Fairbanks.
Withdrawals
and signups
As the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest field declines, the field for the Quest 300 is going up.
The full Quest peaked last month at 40 mushers, which would have been the fourth-largest field in the race’s 26-year history. However, since then, six mushers have withdrawn, the most recent being Peter Bartlett and Scott Smith of Willow and Simi Morrison of Marsh Lake, Yukon.
“We have seen this in previous years as well, that mushers withdraw for various reasons,” Quest Alaska executive director Tania Simpson said Thursday, citing causes such as financial trouble and dog injuries.
Four-time defending champion Lance Mackey and 2008 runner-up Ken Anderson also have said they each plan to withdraw, but both still were signed up as of Thursday.
The deadline for mushers to withdraw and get back all but $150 of their $1,500 entry fee has been extended one week to Jan. 30, Simpson said. A day later, mushers will drop off supplies at Summit Logistics in Fairbanks, from where the supplies will be transported to checkpoints along the route.
Meanwhile, the Quest 300 has a record 28 mushers signed up. The latest to join are Iditarod veteran Ramey Smyth of Willow, Quest veteran Richie Beattie of Fairbanks, Kathleen Frederick of Juneau, Will van Randen of Yukon, Spencer Thew of South Colton, N.Y., and Juho Ylipiessa of Tornio, Finland. Yukoners Rene Lapierre of Whitehorse and Kyia Bouchard of Dawson City have withdrawn.
The Quest 300 field initially was maxed out at 25 mushers, but organizers recently opened extra spots to those on a waiting list. That’s because organizers have prepared for 65 mushers at checkpoints in the Yukon and the 1,000-mile race withdrawals freed up room.
