Yukon Quest, discussion

[mira]

Days of bad news I had a bad feeling of Hugh staying that long.

A bit off topic, but I think the timing of testing Dallas dogs were some pre-arranged deal because they (Seavey) had some own testing and didn't want to stress the dogs. Anyway, that made him an excuse to travel here

So Rob Cook is the red lantern and he has arrived in Dawson.

Severin and Hugh is on trail, still some hours to go to Dawson.

[txbennett]

Dave Dalton is trailing Rob Cooke for the red lantern award. Dave has finished the Quest a number of times and should be able to "earn" the award this year.

[fladogfan]

I hate hearing about Hugh's loss What a year they are having on the trail, so cold.

JLJ you made me laugh ":::Malamute buddy wonders why I'm beginning to growl, so better quit::: " Also thanks for the ITC mushers list

BTW goallengo

[elsietee]

Rob Cooke coming into Dawson:

Q: "Are you ready to answer some questions?"

Rob: "The answer is 'cold'" <laughs>

"It actually wasn't too bad. When we left Earl and Sandy's [Clinton Creek] it was about -30 ... which is pretty good compared to what we've encountered on the rest of the race...and even on the river it was only about -34. It's only since coming in here that it got super-cold - I guess a mixture of the ice fog and the open leads. Only the last 10-15 minutes it got really cold."

Dogs doing really well. They are a bit demotivated by the cold. Didn't run so well coming out of Eagle - a slow start up American Summit, but they really took off after that - until they hit the cold again on the other side, so a slow run into Earl and Sandy's. The cold has been so persistent.

Q: "Any stand outs on your team?"

"All of them! We've got two 2 yr olds on the team and they're doing really well. Ziko was in lead until Circle, then Maddie and Dawkins have been in lead since. ... all doing exceptionally well, probably better than I am. "

The dogs looked *really* great coming in - tails up and wagging, and perky (some of the ones who arrived before him looked a little subdued, although I confess I was trying to watch and work at the same time, so didn't get a really good look at them... but Rob's dogs really did look good).

Rob seemed really upbeat (as upbeat as Rob can be, anyway, esp. compared to two years ago when he came into Dawson looking positively shell-shocked).

[dashdel]

race is for 2nd place..... Allen s team; has to really crash not to win..... Brutal race..

[arcticcircle]

Severin Cathry Withdrawl Retraction
Friday, February 9, 2018
Upon investigation, it was learned that there was an internal miscommunication regarding the details leading to the withdrawl of Severin Cathry.

In a post-incident review due to Cathry's current performance on the trail, Race Marshal Doug Harris contacted Trackleaders to confirm the call for assistance and was informed no SOS was ever sent by Cathry.

Due to these findings, Cathry remains a competitor in the race.

Cathry's race is unaffected as he is unaware of this situation.

The organization understands the severity of the error and a full debrief upon race completion will be conducted to avoid incidents such as this in the future.

[elsietee]

<tee hee>.

Since he doesn't even know, this is a good thing! He's totally unaffected by it (although his handlers, friends, and family must be going around in circles).

He should arrive in Dawson in the next couple of hours.

[libby the lab]

Read that Hugh is intending to scratch in Dawson.

[flowerpower]

Huh. Looks like Severin has been stopped for a couple of hours about 8 miles out of Dawson. Looks like he stopped, went a short distance, stopped again, started, then stopped again. Hugh has caught up to him, so we'll see what happens. Leader issues?

Edit: Severin followed Hugh into Dawson. No word or video yet of what is going on.

[fladogfan]

Thank goodness Severin couldn't know about that mix-up. Good for YQ stepping up and admitting their mistake, up front and out loud!

What a blessing that Hugh was behind him.