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 Both were withdrawn from the race.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.
Print article DESHKA LANDING To prepare Sable the sled dog for long, cold nights on the Iditarod Trail, a vigorous plan was deployed by mushers Paige Drobny and Cody Strathe. “She slept outside one night,” Strathe said after the 10-year-old female helped pull him to a career-best 20th-place showing Tuesday in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Sable loves her people and her special status as a house dog at the couple’s Squid Acres Kennel in Cantwell. After Drobny and Strathe finished within a couple hours of each other Tuesday morning at Deshka Landing, all of their dogs but Sable were placed inside dog boxes. Sable remained outside, sleeping in the sunshine while off-lead.
Print article Sheets hang over the windows to block out light at the Two Rivers home where Aliy Zirkle and Allen Moore live. Moore speaks to his wife in whispers, and Zirkle doesn’t go outside or online. Since crashing her sled and her skull on the ice last week in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Zirkle has avoided light and sound because of a head injury. Tuesday was the first day she hasn’t vomited, Moore said early in the afternoon, and she still can’t lift an arm that was dislocated when she hit the ice and was dragged by her team for an unknown distance across glare ice on the Tatina River.
Print article DESHKA LANDING The 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race marked Dallas Seavey’s return to the race he dominated the previous decade, and he came into it wanting to make a statement. He did exactly that with the laser-focus approach that made him a four-time champion before he turned 30. He ran a methodical race that left everyone chasing him and now, at age 34, he’s a five-time champion. Shortly after crossing the Deshka Landing finish line Monday morning to match Rick Swenson as the Iditarod’s winningest musher, Seavey made another statement, a sharp and carefully worded explanation for why he left the race for three years and why he’s back now.