How did the storm change the 2009 Iditarod finish

[eorogers]

Did anyone read between the lines on the White Mountain storm in 2005? Only dog teams were able to make it to White Mountain, airplanes couldn't fly and snowmachines couldn't see enough to be safe. If a musher and team got in trouble between Elim and White Mountain, or leaving White Mountain, who could help them?

Normally Iditarod has a pretty good safety net, but sometimes it is just you and Mother Nature. Food for thought, eh?

Keep 'em Northbound

Eric

[MotorWerk]

Food for thought indeed.
Is the equipment in the sled enough to build a proper shelter? The dogs will survive easily enough, but the musher could very well freeze to death. As far as I know there are no Tauntauns in Alaska...

[Moose]

Yes, sir. This ain't no Disney ride. That's for sure.

While stories like these heighten appreciation for the dangers that exist along the trail even today, they make me marvel at the folks who were out on the trails when dogs and sleds were the only mode of travel. And without Gortex or fleece or pack tents or Heet! How did they do it? And how many succumbed to the elements long before others realized they were even out there, making their way through cold and storm?

[eorogers]

Motor

With the older sleds you could climb into the sled bag and get out of the wind (your arctic sleeping bag would be inside the sled bag), but with the sit down sleds the front bag is about 4 feet (1.2 m) or less - not nearly enough. Most mushers do not carry a tent. I carry a tarp - so the answer is not really. But you roll the sled on its side for a wind break and climb into your arctic bag with as much of your arctic gear on as you need and you are pretty good. I always carry a tarp to help, but lost it in the wind on the Yukon. Jon Little has a great post about Joe Garnie surviving the 1991 storm after he lost his team http://jonlittle.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/garnie-survives.pdf. We've been spoiled by warm weather in the last several years - this race will cause me (and I'm sure others) to rethink some equipment and decisions.

Moose

I've frequently think about the old timers. Sometimes on the trail I think I can almost hear Scotty Allen calling up Baldy of Nome. But after this year "To Build a Fire" strikes a little closer to home.

Keep 'em Northbound

Eric

[Moose]

Eric, you started this thread asking how the storm changed this year's Iditarod. The times, they are a-changing. The race, it is a-changing, too. Can I amend your question a bit and ask if you think this year's storm will impact future races? Will the ITC take steps to mitigate dog fatalities or do more to ensure the readiness of teams to face the elements? Will drivers alter their training regimens, re-think equipment and supplies that will go into their sled bags, or take extra precautions on the trail? Or was this storm no-biggy, just a 10- or 15-year event not to be concerned with for another 10 or 15 years?

[eorogers]

Moose

Good question.

To put this years weather in perspective, in 1983 the front runners where held up in Shaktoolik by 70 mph winds that blew for 53 hours (from the summary in the 1988 video) - I'm sure our friends that have been through a hurricane can relate to that. Herbie Nayokpuk, a very accomplished native musher from the coast, tried to go to Koyuk in the storm and got pinned down. He came back about a day later saying it couldn't be done and that was the coldest night he ever spent. It puts Libby doing the same thing at the same place 2 years later in perspective.

I was at the ITC board of directors meeting Friday and nobody said anything about the weather. It was no biggie, but not in the "we don't have to worry about it for 10 years" mode, it was more along the lines of "this is what we should expect, and we should be prepared for worse" mode. How we qualify rookies for the race has always been a major topic of discussion, and that was the focus of attention. Everyone knows that while necessary, just completing a 200 and a 300 mile race is not sufficient to qualify you to run Iditarod. That is particularly true if you run the easy qualifiers. That is why they changed the rules so that you cannot run the qualifiers and the Iditarod in the same year - from now on it will take at least two years, forcing rookies to have that much more experience, but it still isn't enough. How do you take the dreamer from Florida, who has wanted to run Iditarod his whole life and who adds so much to the race by his presence, and insure that he has learned enough to handle the Alaskan wild without making it prohibitively difficult and expensive. Very tough questions. I expect we will see tougher rookie qualification requirements and that it makes it better, but not completely solve the problem.

Another group getting attention is the veteran with just a few races under his belt. It is easy to think that you have seen it all and are ready for anything Mother Nature throws at you, then your reality check bounces. When conditions are good you can get away with a lot, but when Momma gets unhappy....

Any dog death is a tragedy. This year hit us like a body blow. What went wrong? Is this something we should have seen coming? Were there warning signs we should have seen? Are my dogs at risk from something I don't know or understand (this is the big one from a my perspective)? The final pathology results are not in yet, so we don't have root cause of death, but the Iditarod is absolutely committed to finding a solution. Stu Nelson's motto is to "Let no dog die in vain", meaning we should learn from every death and find ways to prevent it. We have come a long way making major reductions in sled dog myopathy, aspiration pneumonia, and this year in stomach ulcers. Obviously we still have a long way to go.

I think most mushers are constantly asking themselves "What will I do if ..." and choose their gear as a result of that. I'm constantly tweaking what I carry and looking for better solutions. This years I had new boots - finally found one I liked, and new gloves - still wish I had better. Jeff King had a new $450 LED headlamp that looks pretty sharp and a new modification to his sled design. I imagine most of us will take another look at what we carry. I think the big change here will be how much dog food we carry. On Sled Dog Central Joe May posted that during the 85 and 86 Yukon Quest they had to carry 25 lbs of dog food / dog for the 200 mile run from Pelly Crossing to Dawson (the Quest actually weighed the load). They ran 10 dog teams, so that meant 250 Lb of dog food in the sled along with everything else for the greatest elevation gain in the race. I think I was pretty well prepared myself, but may add a little more safety factor for some runs now. ITC is considering rule changes here too.

I guess it is a little like watching a duck move across the water. From the shore they look serene and relaxed, but underneath they are working like bandits.

I hope that helps

Keep 'em Northbound

Eric

[fladogfan]

You have a wonderful way of explaining things Eric. The food that's available now as apposed to that in the 1980s is so much better and has more concentrated energy, that I wonder if 25 # per dog would be needed.
Still good to have extra food ready to hand.

[Heidi]

Hey Eric, thanks for keeping us in the loop with the info from the board meeting!

It will be interesting to see what new rules they come up with this year.

[eorogers]

I'm looking at the storm again and Rick Swenson spent 34 1/2 hours in Unalakleet. He dropped from 19th coming in to 28th leaving. I wonder if there was something else going on also.

Eric

[txbennett]

As always, Eric, thanks for the insights.

I do not envy the ITC Board and Staff. They are the ones who have to make the tough decisions, and that always leaves some people second guessing and critical, and even posting angry rantings and raves on our forum from time to time. I know that I could not possibly make these tough decisions and enforce them to everyone's satisfaction.

TXbennett