Iron Dog . . . 2008

Alaska has been in an Arctic chill the last few weeks with high pressure bringing us clear skies over most of the state which means there is no cloud cover at night to hold the temperatures leaving the darkness plenty of time suck out any remaining heat from the limited amount of winter daylight.

Let’s get outside & take a little snowmachine ride out in the county . . . Not!

How about a 2,000 mile ride on a snowmobile racing over some of the coldest and toughest terrain in the world in some of the harshest conditions on Earth. This year, six to eight teams stand a chance to win the $25,000 first prize, part of a $100,000 purse sought by a record 40 teams, the biggest field in Iron Dog history.

You would think a couple of thousand miles would be distance enough to sort out the world’s best riders.

Not necessarily.

The last five Tesoro Iron Dog snowmobile races . . . 2,000 miles of rough tumble racing from Big Lake Alaska to Nome out on the sea coast and then on to Fairbanks . . . have been decided by an average of less than 25 minutes. Drivers don’t expect much to change in this year’s race.

Two years ago, a single second separated champions Dwayne Drake and Andy George from Scott Davis and Todd Palin at the finish line in Fairbanks. Davis and Palin protested, but the result stood up, and a year later Davis and Palin ended a run of three straight second-place finishes by topping young Tyson Johnson and Tyler Aklestad by nearly 48 minutes.

For safety, the Iron Dog requires racers to travel in pairs across the vastness of the largely uninhabited Alaska Interior and Bering Sea Coast, and partners must finish the race together with each racer driving his own sled.

Race Start from Big Lake in Wasilla Alaska

Bitter cold temperatures could take their toll. National Weather Service Forecasters were predicting nighttime lows sinking as low as minus 30, with wind chills to minus 50 at McGrath, Kaltag and other checkpoints this week. With snowmobiles traveling 50 to 90 mph, the wind chills drop out of sight.

Cold? Just another day at the office for many of these riders who will actually work up a sweat over the rugged terrain going over the Alaska Range making their way to the Bering Sea Coast to Nome, the halfway point which is also preparing for the Iditarod in a couple of weeks.

They follow the Iditarod Trail to Nome and then backtrack on much of the same course to the Yukon River and eventually the Tanana River for a finish in Fairbanks.

Trail Map from the Anchorage Daily News (adn.com)

Here’s another view of the start with bush plane ski landing at the end.

The Iron Dog is not to be confused with the annual Arctic Man competition where a skier races down a mountain while teaming up with a snowmachine partner at the base screaming at high speed to be pulled up the mountain at over 70 mph for another high speed run down to the finish line. Both sports should be seen to be believed showing the world Outside that these crazy Alaskans find all sorts of things to entertain us during the winter.

Next up . . . Fur Rondy (running with the reindeer) and the Iditarod.

Ice