Icewind's Ramblings

It’s Speed Week in Daytona Beach and there is a lot of racing going on with qualifying for the Daytona 500 on Sunday. Thursday had the two Gatorade twin qualifier duels each a 60 lap race to set the remaining field for Sunday’s race.   In the first race it went pretty smoothly with only one small crash on lap 9 and another mishap by Michael Waltrip as he exited pit row. On the last half of the lap Danica’s car was hit and then skidded across the apron and hit a safety barrier wall at almost 180 mph.   Fox did a great job having several camera angles for point of view shots from above, alongside, & inside the car and lastly one watching Danica drive the car. In real time it happens so fast that from being hit, skidding, and impacting the wall is just a couple of seconds.   What is amazing is watching the training and instinct kick in as Danica prepares for hitting the wall violently. In Indycar races she was taught to let go of the steering wheel just before i...

We’ve had cold temperatures below zero for a couple weeks now and it is slowly warming up (to about 5 degrees) as we are getting some snow this afternoon and tonight.   It is nice to see the flakes floating around as day turned to nightfall giving things a soft glow from the street lights. I am glad this is a short week as everyone at work seems to not be into things or it is taking a little longer to get into the rhythm of the New Year.   To think back to an event in warmer times I thought I would share this with everyone.   This is some pretty awesome pictures from last fall @ the 2011 World Submarine racing Championships in the Gulf of Alaska. It’s pretty neat if you like submarines and with all of the water activities here during the summer months it seemed like a natural.   As Jimmy Buffett says, “This one is for all of us with a little pirate in them.”   Well, what did you really expect to see . . . it’s a submarine race . . . Now h...

The Race restarted Sunday afternoon at 2 PM Alaska Standard Time (AST) in Willow on the frozen lakebed with another throng of people waving, hollering, and wishing well their favorite musher on to Nome. They ran through the night and into the bright sun of an Alaskan spring morning as the leaders headed into the Alaska Range and climbed their way to Rainy Pass.   Several of the mushers are on a blistering pace to Rohn checkpoint an abandoned cabin which is about 200 miles into the 1,150 mile race to Nome.   Robert Bundtzen with his 16 dogs arrived in Rohn at 5:17 PM with defending champion Lance Mackey arriving just 18 minutes later but after his time check was off again and back on the trail headed to the Farewell Burn. Other events of the day . . . 5 time Iditarod champion Rick Swenson crashed on the Happy Valley River steps leading into Rainy Pass and is considering his options after it was confirmed he appears to have a broken collarbone.   He should decide sh...

Aliy Zirkle who has ran the Iditarod since 2001 when I first moved to Alaska.   She was the first woman to win the Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race in 2000 a similar long distance race held in February that covers the expanse from Whitehorse, in the Yukon Territories of Canada to Fairbanks.   She has been one of my favorites to watch and follow since I came to Alaska. She and her husband run SP Kennel (Skunk’s Place) a premier sled dog racing kennel in Two Rivers, Alaska.   Aliy Zirkle (runs Team Red) & her husband musher Allen Moore (runs Team Black) on their website, and have videos on YouTube.   Last year she ran the race with a video camera mounted to her sled and gave a totally unique view of what it is like to run dogs over 1100 miles through some of Alaska’s most beautiful and rugged landscape.   Saturday Morning’s Ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage is a 15 mile run beginning on Fourth Avenue and then making a right turn onto “A” Street where it lea...

It’s March which means it is time again for “The Last Great Race” . . . The Iditarod, pitting men, women and their dogs against the extreme and many times harsh elements and terrain of the Alaskan wilderness.   Over a thousand mile distance to work out the rhythm of the dogs and one’s inner self in a place that sometimes defies description. From humble beginnings to a world class sporting event. Iditarod Information from Iditarod.com In 1925, part of the Iditarod Trail became a life saving highway for epidemic-stricken Nome. Diphtheria threatened and serum had to be brought in; again by intrepid dog mushers and their faithful hard-driving dogs. The Iditarod is a commemoration of those yesterdays, a not-so-distant past that Alaskans honor and are proud of. An Event for All Alaska Anchorage is the starting line — a city of over 250,000 people, street lights, freeways and traffic. From there the field of dog teams which grow in number each year, runs to Eagle River, Checkpoi...

When we were younger there used to be a distinction between the movies & television .  The movies at the theater were called the Big Screen while television seen at home was the Small Screen .  Today, it would be a misnomer to say that.  From the big screen analog to the flat screen High Definition TV’s of today, the television of today is also the Big Screen. I would probably like to say . . . my name is Icewind and I'm a TV addict.  I've only recently admitted this, and I probably would still be in denial except for the fact that we just brought into the house a fourth HDTV cable box (digital video recorders).  Mind you they are not all for my watching as I travel somewhat but when I am home like to see my favorite programs.  We've got the big (42”) flat screen TV in the living room, and there is an older television in the bedroom (20”) for my wife to get away from all of the chaos from the grandkids.  She will fall asleep with that one on...

I finish this series of Iditarod 38 with SP Kennel’s musher’s view of the last legs during the run along the coast to the burled archway finish line in Nome .  It has been a long trail, cold this year but the weather and winds of the last few years subsided for an almost record pace. We begin these last few video’s “On the Coast” with evening setting over the frozen Ocean as nightfall takes over Aliy’s run and transition the next morning to daybreak between Unalakleet to Shaktoolik.  It gives us another massive expanse of Western Alaska and the isolation of the trail.  This next video is pretty incredible as the trail this year cut out across the middle of Norton Sound where in years past it ran closer to the shoreline from Unalakleet to Koyuk.  Looking at this with the GPS tracker on the sleds the other night around midnight it looked like Lance Mackey and Jeff King had gone way off course running during the night as they veered out across the middle of the...

We continue the Iditarod experience with Aliy Zirkle and her Red Team making their way down the mighty Yukon River , a two to three day run for some teams. Yukon River Part 2 – Excitement to break the monotony . . . Plane on the River1 After traveling all night . . . early morning dawns on the Yukon River with temperatures minus 40 below. Yukon River Part 3  Starts just before dusk heading for arrival in Kaltag. On the Portage Trail between Kaltag and Unalakleet still forty below and extremely cold.  It’s been clear weather for most of this year’s run to Nome with snowy weather the first two days. Into Unalakleet is a video of Aliy and the Team running with the first part shot about 30 miles out and Aliy shares her views of the beautiful scenery and the different kinds of trail markers along the way.  The last part picks up after the Team has slogged through a ground blizzard.  Aliy recounts her efforts on behalf of the dogs, swapping race time for the...

Saturday evening Montana rookie musher, Celeste Davis (Bib #58), made her way under the Burled Arch of Front Street in Nome Alaska with 9 dogs on her team bringing a close to the 2010 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.   The 37 year old musher made the trek from Willow to Nome in 13 days, 5 hours, 6 minutes and 40 seconds, landing her in the Iditarod record books with the fastest Red Lantern in race history! From the Iditarod web site . . . Iditarod Traditions The Story of the Widow’s Lamp During the days of Alaska sled dog freighting and mail carrying, dog drivers relied on a series of roadhouses between their village destinations. Since these mushers ventured out in most all kinds of weather, for safety reasons they found the idea that pilots rely on, known today as the flight plan. Word was relayed ahead that a musher and team were on the trail, and a kerosene lamp was lit and hung outside the roadhouse. It not only helped the dog driver find his destination at night, but...

This is Aliy Zirkle’s video Odyssey of Iditarod 38 with insight of the trail, the scenery, and the varying conditions in the extreme isolation of the Alaskan Frontier. The Journey continues past Rainy Pass and the decent down the “The Happy River Steps” to the valley below.  Enjoy the ride as it is like a sled dog roller coaster.  Listen and you can hear Aliy hitting the brakes to slow the sled to not overrun the dogs.  Watch it full screen for the best view.  You can also see a few television camera crews who have been dropped off to film the mushers making their way through this difficult part of the trail.  Enjoy. The Happy River Steps Dalzell Gorge has been a place where technique is the difference between continuing on the Iditarod Trail or possibly crashing into a tree or limb.  Falling off the sled or broken bones has ended many people’s dreams.  Over the years it has taken out many a musher, experienced and rookie alike.  Just be...

Thanks to Aliy & her SP Kennel (Skunk’s Place Kennel) for an amazing adventure for those of us who long to experience this unique and wonderful sport.  I’m trying to keep these videos in a logical order of the run but they may upload more that might be out of sequence later on as there is rumor of a video descending the ice falls in Dalzell Gorge which should be pretty spectacular and maybe some night runs. These next videos are making the climb up to Rainy Pass the highest point on the Iditarod Trail and shows Aliy going through the Finger Lake Checkpoint where you can see the check in process, a quick review of the dog log and continuing on towards Rainy Pass.   The camera is mounted on the sled and shows the dogs eager to run and the instructions given them.  The first couple of days the weather was pretty nasty with snow, winds and at times blizzard conditions.  The chase planes and helicopters were grounded for a couple of days so making sure the mu...

For something a little different . . . Iditarod 38 is ‘over’ with a champion crowned but there are still 16 teams on the trail heading for Nome .  After the excitement of the race to be first there are some other interesting stories and things beginning to show up that I think you will like.  These videos were provided by SP Kennel’s Aliy Zirkle (finished 16 th Team Red) & her husband musher Allen Moore (finished 35 th Team Black) on their website, from YouTube, and KTUU Channel 2 News.  These video clips will give you a sled’s eye view of what it is to run the Iditarod, the beauty of the countryside, the solitude and loneliness of no one around for miles except your dogs . . . and possibly the wild animals in the Alaskan wilderness.  Please take the time to Enjoy! This before the start of Iditarod 38 is a KTUU Channel 2 interview with Aliy Zirkle who has ran the Iditarod since 2001 when I first moved to Alaska .  She was the first woman to win the Y...

Iditarod 38 has a new 4 time winner who has won consecutively the last four years . . . Lance Mackey a never before feat of endurance and dog handling with a never tiring pack of champion dogs.  It is after all, The Iditarod.   Lance arrived in Nome , Alaska this afternoon with the races second fastest time at 2:59 pm . . . arriving just under 9 days from the start in Anchorage . With true grit and determination after a ‘comment’ by 4 time champion Jeff King just after the halfway point gave added incentive for Mackey to push hard to take the lead and not look back.   Winner’s podium under the burled arch on Front Street in Nome with Rev, Mackey, and Maple. Here’s a fun reprint from The Washington Post of a Norman Chad parody of the Iditarod from the four legged viewpoint.  It’s a funny read . . . Couch Slouch checks in on the Iditarod, and its canine correspondent By NORMAN CHAD Monday, March 15, 2010 The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race -- often called ...

This is the big weekend for Daylight Savings Time where those that observe this will set clocks forward one hour in the spring and set them back an hour in the fall. We pushed forward last night losing an hour of sleep during a time I seem to need more.  It’s been busy these last few weeks and my stress level I’m sure is elevated too even though I try not to let on. Friday evening I felt a big bump on the back of my neck which was quite painful but did not have the redness one would think of.  I thought it might an ingrown hair or possibly an ‘old fart’ pimple and went to sleep with some discomfort but no real thought about it.  I woke up Saturday morning for my breakfast meeting and felt more swelling and tenderness on the back right side of my neck.  It was painful and when I returned home after a few hours I felt totally like crap and had chills and was wiped out.  I took a couple of Aleve and lie on the sofa and fell asleep for a few hours.  This ...

I’ve been fascinated with the Iditarod for many years now and spent some time around current and former mushers who over the years given me different insights into this crazy and wonderful sport. In the first days out from the Willow restart as you leave the relative flat terrain around the Parks Highway and start the climb into the Alaska Range and the white knuckle experience heading down the steps into Dalzell Gorge. The miles covered these days are very exciting.  Martin Buser has said, "It takes 2 days to climb to the top of the range and less than two hours to get down the other side."  I’ve wondered why these people endure the conditions found on the trail and what it takes for one to run in the Iditarod.  Courage would have to be toward the to of the list, the love of the outdoors and spending endless hours alone with the forces of mother nature . . . both good and bad.  Those traits with a love for dogs, and you have the makings for a musher. If yo...