VRROOOMMMM!!!

VRROOOMMMM! One one-thousand. Two one-thousand. Thr—VRROOOMMMM!

When the river became a racetrack this week, our quiet cabin sat on the front row. The world’s longest, toughest snowmobile race crosses 2,031 rugged Alaska miles from Anchorage to Fairbanks via Nome, along the Unalakleet River twice, on the way to and from the gold rush city.

This year, the race began last Sunday, February 18th, in Anchorage with 49 teams of two. The first team crossed the finish line in Fairbanks at noon today, February 24th, while I was writing this post. Less than half of the teams will finish the race due to injuries and mechanical problems.

There are checkpoints along the route approximately every 100 miles, sometimes nothing more than a tent and fuel that was air-dropped to the location months prior, and costs the racers up to $8 per gallon.

The Trail Class teams whizzed down the river Monday afternoon; one team even stopped to chat with Gregg as he was out checking his trapline. Then, the Pro teams came racing down the river in the middle of the night; 18 teams came through overnight, to be exact. Eighteen pairs of snowmachines, one just a few seconds behind the other, traveling at 80mph fifty feet below our bedroom window, over and over, all night long. The remaining five teams continued to race past until early afternoon, after which I took a much needed nap on the couch.

Because of severe weather, strong winds and blowing snow, the racers were kept in Unalakleet on a weather hold for 30 hours, before continuing the trek north to Nome. While in town, Jacob Evans, from team #15, was directed to Gregg’s small engine repair shop for a brake lever. Apparently, his had broken a hundred miles back and he had driven into Unalakleet (sometimes upward of 80mph) without brakes. Gregg, always ready to help, removed the working brake lever from a snowmachine in his shop that was going to be turned into scrap after going through the sea ice earlier this winter. He told Steve just to mail it back to him when he was through with it, since Steve had a new one waiting for him in Nome, his next major stop. With a smile on his face, he left Gregg’s shop, brake lever in hand.

After a mandatory layover in the city where gold was discovered by “Three Lucky Swedes,” the Iron Doggers began their journey to Fairbanks, which took them back south through Unalakleet, to avoid impassible mountain ranges. Thankfully, their pass through this time happened late morning through early afternoon yesterday, Thursday.

2,031 miles in six days with 37 hours of actual driving, 46 hours of mandatory layovers, and a 30 hour winter-weather hold, these tired souls crossed the finish line in Fairbanks, and this is just the start of the racing season out here.

Next up is the Iditarod Trail Invitational, a thousand-mile, bike, foot, or ski (the racer’s choice) marathon that begins in less than 24 hours just outside of Anchorage, traveling the same route to Nome that the Iron Doggers just did, right in front of our cabin. At least this race is much quieter! The world’s longest, winter marathon will have 22 competitors this year. Even though that race can last up to thirty days, the true Iditarod dogsled race will have its start in Anchorage next Saturday, March 3rd, race past our cabin around the 7^th, and the leaders will most likely cross the finish line in Nome sometime on Friday, March 9^th.

It’s a busy few weeks on the river and signals to us that spring is just around the corner, but the next few weeks are crucial. We need more cold and we need more snow in order to get the most out of our traplines and have a smoother caribou hunt next week.

www.irondog.org

www.visitnomealaska.com

www.iditarodtrailinvitational.com

Iditarod.com