ASK THE MUSHER Vol. 11: Ed Iten

Here we'll stuff all those things we want to keep for later reading. Like the "Ask the musher"-series.

Suggestions for topics to be moved here are welcome!

Moderators: fladogfan, libby the lab, mira, mamamia, sc-race-fan

Re: ASK THE MUSHER Vol. 11: Ed Iten (starts 12/15)

Postby tilstede » Wed Dec 17, 2008 1:56 pm

Hi, Anne from Norway has some questions for you:

For a couple of years ago I used to go see hockey matches in Norway. In the beginning I arrived half an hour before match start - and by that got to see the teams warming up. After some months, I was able to predict which team who would win the match, only by watching them warming up. The key signs to look for where attitude and self confidence, and the way they skated that particular day.

So my questions are:
- After years of participating in Iditarod - are you able to predict who will win and by what point do you fell pretty sure? Are there indications to be found at the very first day? And - can you predict who will make it all the way to Nome - and who will for sure not?

Thanks :-)
User avatar
tilstede
 
Posts: 1049
Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:01 pm
Location: Romerike, Norway

Re: ASK THE MUSHER Vol. 11: Ed Iten (starts 12/15)

Postby mamamia » Thu Dec 18, 2008 4:53 am

Hi Ed! Thank you for spending a little time with us and taking the time to answer our questions. count me in iwth your other fans who think that it is past time that you won the race. Good luck in '09.

Currently there are only 69 mushers signed up for the "09 Iditarod. Certainly the curent economic climate has a lot to do with that as does the increased entry fees. How do you feel about the increase in the fees to the current level and its effect on the shoestring kennel? How do you feel about the dramatic decrease in the size of the field?
User avatar
mamamia
 
Posts: 3065
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 9:33 am
Location: Georgia

Re: ASK THE MUSHER Vol. 11: Ed Iten (starts 12/15)

Postby Heidi » Thu Dec 18, 2008 5:16 am

HI Ed & Ruth-

Thanks so much for joining us. It means a lot to us that you took time out of what must be a very busy schedule to participate. Not to mention the hassle of having to fire up the generator to get online! ;-)

Okay, let's get to my questions:

1) What's the latest news on Bugs? On Zoey?

2) Does your family own any animals other than the sled dogs?

3) What's your favorite Iditarod memory?

Thanks!
User avatar
Heidi
 
Posts: 3203
Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2008 6:57 am

Re: ASK THE MUSHER Vol. 11: Ed Iten (starts 12/15)

Postby sc-race-fan » Thu Dec 18, 2008 8:22 am

This question is for Ruth. Being a Carolina's boy and having hiked some of the AT, what sections have you working on now and when would you be in the SC-NC sections? Maybe I could provide some trail support!! Wow, starting a generator to get connected to the internet, and to think I get mad when I have to use a slow dial-up to get on line!!
Proud PaPa of the triplet litter; Aidan (B), Bailey (G), and Cameron (B). Cameron is on top in picture; Bailey, of course, is the bowhead!!
User avatar
sc-race-fan
 
Posts: 721
Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:09 am
Location: formerly Columbia, South Carolina, now residing in Mooresville, North Carolina

Re: ASK THE MUSHER Vol. 11: Ed Iten (starts 12/15)

Postby Editen » Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:54 pm

tanglefoot wrote:its great to hear of guys still traplineing dogs. do these same dogs on your trapline team then get to run in the A team, do you find the old ways of running a trapline with dogs makes dogs that will fair better on the tougher trails that occur during iditarod than others?

Although it takes time to put the line in early winter checking it with our main team is incidental to a long training run. Being that its all in deep back country there is a lot of slow trail breaking and siwash camps due to frequent storms. The dogs learn to take it all in stride as tough trails are normal to them as well as less than ideal camps. The line provides supplemental income but I wouldn't say its an ideal training technique. I believe it tends to make for a slightly slower traveling team and all the stops can turn an eight hour run into a ten hour or more slugfest. If we ever get back to a deep snow Iditarod trail I should be all set.
Editen
 
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 5:16 pm

Re: ASK THE MUSHER Vol. 11: Ed Iten (starts 12/15)

Postby Editen » Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:20 pm

SuldalsXpressen wrote:Thank you Itens for being here!! This is christmas come early :D

1.You are a fast finisher! Do you sometimes feel that you should have pushed hard a bit earlier and then won?
2.What, if, would you change about the Iditarod race? Fewer checkpoints, less teams, etc...?
3.Winter/summer, what's your favourite?
4.Who do you consider your hardest opponents for this season?
5.Is there a musher, besides yourself, you really would see win the Iditarod?

a norwegian greeting from Eskil


1. There are a lot of places in a ten day race to make up a half an hour to win the thing. Pushing a team harder at the beginning is becoming somewhat mandatory to finishing at the front of the pack if not winning. If I had a handicap, it would be that I have to make money racing in order to come back again. My conservatism is a result of trying to lock up front five money versus crashing and being teen somthing with half the money. As I race more I find that I need to take chances if I'm going to win.

2.I'm not in favor of limiting teams, and the checkpoints and mandatories seem reasonable. The thing that will drive us out of the race is the soaring freight and product costs for a bush team as well as the ever increasing entry fee and associated costs. Without a major money sponsor I am trying to cover all of this with my summer wages and it about has us on the ropes.

3. Fall, winter spring, anything but summer.

4. Anyone in the top twenty-five from last year plus a few surprises.

5. There have been a few close and several probably deserve it. I'm always happy for any low budget underdog to win.
Editen
 
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 5:16 pm

Re: ASK THE MUSHER Vol. 11: Ed Iten (starts 12/15)

Postby Editen » Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:32 pm

Spock wrote:Ed, thanks for taking the time to do this. Just a few questions...

1. What is your typical day like living in the bush? What is most challenging? If you could expound a little... (I wonder if I could do this.)

2. What is your opinion of the Ion Earth system? Does it give anyone an advantage?

3. Do you think drug testing should be mandatory for the mushers before/during the Iditarod?

And for Ruth...

What was the Appalachian Trail like? What section did you do and was that your first time on the trail?

Ed, the Iditarod. Ruth, the Appalachian. Wow... Impressive!


Ok, you want to hear about yesterday? We woke up to an early phone call from our 19 yr. old daughter who is attending Univ. of New Mexico. She needed to change her plane tickets home for Christmas because she has a final the day after she was scheduled to leave. It took us half a day to make new arrangements.

In the mean time the dog handlers were preparing to take the back trail to check the shee fish nets on the Sound. This trip typically takes two and a half hours. As they were prepping the three teams to leave (blankets and all) we had a red fox charge into the yard and attack our beagle (house dog). Once it was off the beagle I was able to wound it and then had to track it down and kill it due to the high probability of rabies. By that time a storm blew in and I knew our three teams in the back country were in trouble. By eight thirty at night I was working on our broken snow-go to put on a search for them. I returned home at 1:45 AM after driving through a blizzard for five hours with near zero visability . I successfully found them holed up at a camp fifteen miles away. Hauling wood was put off for another day.
Editen
 
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 5:16 pm

Re: ASK THE MUSHER Vol. 11: Ed Iten (starts 12/15)

Postby mithious » Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:04 pm

Thanks soooo much for taking the time out of your schedule to do this for us :D :D :D

Seems sometimes mother nature dictates the days events when you live off grid/in the bush :D :D :D I miss those days :cry:

You mentioned having a high snow year in the Iditarod would be more helpful for you and your team......I've been watching you and have been impressed greatly with your style of racing..... :D :D :D

Do you think you could win in a year that didn't have the snow you need? Looks to me like you could? ;)

and if so...what, if anything...could/would you tweak in your team to accomplish that?

Thanks again...good luck in this seasons racing :D :D :D Merry Christmas to you all :D :D :D

One more thing...I too like it when an "underdog" underfunded team wins :D :D :D :( ;)
Nay, be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought.
Henry D Thoreau
Happiness depends more on the internal frame of a person's mind than on the externals in the world.
George Washington
User avatar
mithious
 
Posts: 1618
Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2008 3:03 pm
Location: Maine
Skype ID: laurie.brown9

Re: ASK THE MUSHER Vol. 11: Ed Iten (starts 12/15)

Postby MossyOakJW » Thu Dec 18, 2008 4:38 pm

Jeff King and Ed Iten, two of my favorite mushers in the same week? This is great! Thanks so much for joining us, Ed.

My questions are, living the kind of survival of the fittest lifestyle that you have in bush Alaska, do you feel there is any benefit from that when it comes to the Iditarod compared to those who run out of Fairbanks, Anchorage or out of state?

And also, what is the worst situation you've been in with you dog team while so far away from main civilization?
MossyOakJW
 
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2008 1:24 pm
Location: Limestone, Maine

Re: ASK THE MUSHER Vol. 11: Ed Iten (starts 12/15)

Postby Heidi » Thu Dec 18, 2008 5:16 pm

Editen wrote:In the mean time the dog handlers were preparing to take the back trail to check the shee fish nets on the Sound. This trip typically takes two and a half hours. As they were prepping the three teams to leave (blankets and all) we had a red fox charge into the yard and attack our beagle (house dog). Once it was off the beagle I was able to wound it and then had to track it down and kill it due to the high probability of rabies. By that time a storm blew in and I knew our three teams in the back country were in trouble. By eight thirty at night I was working on our broken snow-go to put on a search for them. I returned home at 1:45 AM after driving through a blizzard for five hours with near zero visability . I successfully found them holed up at a camp fifteen miles away. Hauling wood was put off for another day.


:shock: Wow! Well, that spells things out quite nicely - bush life, I mean. I'm glad your beagle is okay!!! :( Poor thing. And I'm glad your three teams were okay too!

You should consider writing a book. :)
User avatar
Heidi
 
Posts: 3203
Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2008 6:57 am

PreviousNext

Return to Archive

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests

cron