Iditarod Air Force

The magic of Iditarod does not happen by accident or by some unknown force. The yearly race from Anchorage to Nome Alaska with Dog Sled teams traveling over 1,100 miles through wilderness, frozen rivers or tundra cannot be done without the efforts of many volunteers.

Along the Iditarod Trail the mushers make their way through two dozen checkpoints that are manned by volunteers. At each checkpoint there are supplies for the competing teams, medical personnel for both human and animal patients, and in the few populated checkpoints even a fan or two cheering everyone on. The couple of villages that the race travels through on the way have been known to have the entire population turn out to wish the mushers well. It does not seem to matter what time of day or night as the excitement of the dogs can be heard coming into the checkpoint.

The logistics of bringing off this massive effort supplying the trail falls to a hardy group of people known as the “Iditarod Air Force”. There are many members, both pilots and logistical support personnel who have been involved for many years now.

During the race, they will:

• Move hundreds of dropped dogs back to Anchorage.

• Transport tons of dog food to the checkpoints.

• Move more than 500 bales of straw so each team has fresh straw at every checkpoint.

• Bring in lumber for tent camps and carpenters to build the camps.

• Fly four dozen veterinarians to checkpoints.

• Move communications volunteers, race judges, race photographers, and dog handlers.

Merrill Field is a sort of hub for the "Iditarod Air Force" where this year 29 pilots will fly just about everything into and out of the various check points along the trail. It is a massive effort that begins weeks before the race and could not happen without the help of hundreds of volunteers.

Mushers also are coming from many countries this year: Canada, Norway, Germany, Argentina and Serbia along with Americans make up this years crop of adventurers. The mushers are responsible for preparing their own food drops and taking them to a collection points at Anchorage or Fairbanks.

The Iditarod is responsible for sending the food out to the checkpoints along the trail, but mushers must pay the race 37 cents per pound for the shipping and handling. No roads are along the Iditarod trail so everything is flown out by bush planes that are part of the "Iditarod Air Force."

The mushers back their trucks up to the loading dock several weeks before the race begins to deliver more than 2,000 pounds of dog food each, divided into bags with the musher's name and checkpoint destination written in large block letters on the outside. The dog food -- approximately 86 tons -- is stockpiled at more than two dozen checkpoints, where mushers can rest their dogs on straw beds, fill up their food bowls and perhaps get a little sleep themselves before heading out on the trail again.

Here is a sampling of items and the approximate amount each musher might send out to the trail:

400 pounds of dry dog food

600-1000 pounds of meats and fats for the dogs

150 pounds of human food and drinks

50 pounds of personal gear (gloves, socks, mittens, extra boot liners, etc.)

40 pounds of dog booties (A set of booties for every dog in the team at every planned rest stop and check point.)

100 pounds of extra equipment for sleds, runner plastic, spare parts, etc.

10 pounds of batteries for musher headlamps.

The mushers and fans of “The Last Great Race” want to thank the many volunteers and the “Iditarod Air Force” for helping bring the world another fantastic adventure in The Last Frontier.

For a look at the pilots who make up the Iditarod Air Force, check

Anchorage Daily News video of the start

http://www.adn.com/photos/multimedia/iditarod/

Ice

Sources for this blog post: Anchorage Daily News, KTUU news, Iditarod Air Force, and the official site of the Iditarod.