Veteran mushers blindsided by storm during Kobuk 440 thearcticsounder.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thearcticsounder.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Print article Wind blows over Jeff King s resting dog team between Ambler and Shungnak during the Kobuk 440 Sled Dog Race on April 4, 2021. (Robin Gage photo) After he lost the race trail, Jeff King stopped his dog team and draped his sleeping bag over his head to block the battering wind and blowing snow. He was somewhere between the villages of Ambler and Shungnak in Alaska’s Arctic northwest competing in the Kobuk 440 Sled Dog Race. Conditions ranged from howling to furious. The last few hours took exhaustive effort to move straight into fierce headwind. So when King stopped seeing trail markers, he thought better than to guess about how to correct his course.
Ryan Redington wins Kobuk 440 as only musher to complete entire course April 7th 2:08 am |
Emily Hofstaedter and Carey Restino
Extreme weather causes mid-race changes, multiple search-and-rescue missions
By Emily Hofstaedter and Carey Restino
Arctic Sounder
In what mushers and race organizers both say was an unimaginably tough race this year as mushers battled storm after storm, high winds and zero visibility, along the course through Northwest Alaska, one musher prevailed as not only the winner, but also the only musher and team to make it around the entire 440-mile course from Kotzebue to Kobuk and back.
Ryan Redington prevailed through the entire course, which caused early leaders Jeff King and Nic Petit, to press their help buttons between Kobuk and Ambler, causing them to be withdrawn from the race. The 38-year-old musher from Knik is the grandson of Iditarod founder Joe Redington, Sr., finished in 48 hours, 48 minutes. Ryan Redington also won the Kobuk 440 in
Ryan Redington declared victor in ‘brutal’ Kobuk 440 as the only musher to complete the course
, The Arctic Sounder
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Print article In what Kobuk 440 competitors and organizers say was an unimaginably tough race as mushers battled storm after storm and “zero” visibility, one musher was not only the winner but had the only team to complete the entire course from Kotzebue to Kobuk and back. The 38-year-old winner from Knik, the grandson of Iditarod founder Joe Redington Sr., finished in 48 hours, 48 minutes. Ryan Redington also won the Kobuk 440 in 2019 and said he encouraged other mushers to try the race in the future during a livestreamed award ceremony Tuesday night in Kotzebue.
Kobuk 440 rerouted after snow and extreme winds pause race
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Print article The Kobuk 440 Sled Dog Race in Northwest Alaska resumed Monday after dangerous weather paused the race on Sunday and organizers rerouted the course. The conditions caused two veteran mushers, Jeff King of Denali and Nic Petit of Girdwood, to activate their distress signals. Both were withdrawn from the race. “This feels like the most difficult 440 that we’ve ever had, weather-wise,” said Paul Hansen, president of the race. The race was originally set to kick off Thursday in Kotzebue, but many mushers had difficulties reaching the town due to heavy winds, fog and frigid weather, Hansen said. The start was pushed to Friday.