I was thinking the same thing, that alcohol (on the part of the snowmobiler) was probably involved. Just seems too reckless for someone to be out at night going that fast, especially during the Iditarod on that very trail...even a stupid reckless person who give pause and re-consider...unless alcohol was involved. We don't know the details, and I'll give pause to demonizing the snowmobiler before I know all the details, but at first blush, I'm madder than heck about this, and deeply saddened. What happened to the snowmobiler, is he/she okay? Reminds me of a tragedy we had at Eielson AFB in the winter of '97 I believe...some pilots and a group of folks were snowmobiling along the pipeline...there were even some medical folks with them...one of the A-10 pilots hit the pipeline at about 40 mph (sound familiar?)...and despite the efforts of the med folks with them, he passed away...was a very sad deal, and he was a good guy, but made a terrible mistake and...as it turned out, the accident investigation revealed that alcohol played a part...so, even a really good guy, who was a very experienced snowmobiler, can make a terrible mistake that ends in tragedy (and that happened in daylight, relatively speaking in Alaska terms)...so, I am trying real hard to remember that tragedy can happen for a variety of reasons....in the end, I hope Jen and Blake and the dogs AND the snowmobiler are all okay. So sad about the lost dog, but very grateful that it wasn't worse. Also hoping that perhaps some better safety measures result from this to help ensure this never happens again.
E