Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

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Re: Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

Postby mira » Tue Mar 13, 2018 8:22 am

Joar into White Mountain half an hour ago, averaging 6.76 mph.

Rest! Rest! Rest!
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Re: Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

Postby mira » Tue Mar 13, 2018 11:25 am

Nicolas into WM, Mitch 15 miles to go..I guesstimate Nicolas to be 3-3.5 hours behind.
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Re: Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

Postby elsietee » Tue Mar 13, 2018 12:32 pm

In the same way I was really hoping Joar didn't lose the race by the extra 2.5-3 hours that it took him to break trail to ID (or god forbid, the 25 minutes it took him to go back to Ophir to get his people-food when he realised he forgot to grab any), I'm glad that Nic didn't lose the race by the 1.5 hours he was AWOL on the ice.

Yes, you could argue that being AWOL "took it out" of his team, but you could argue the same for Joar on his way to ID (you only had to watch his tracker crawling along at 5.5 mph for the last couple of hours in to ID to see that). The difference was the mistake happened later in the race for Nic, so less easy to bounce back from.

But that's the nature of long-distance races.

In the same way successfully summitting Everest isn't getting to the top, it's getting back down again safely (something that many climbers have failed to grasp and paid the ultimate price because of it), winning ID is getting to the finish line with all your mental faculties about you and dogs in fine shape - not getting so far in front in such a way that you start making mistakes.

What's interesting is, in theory Nic wasn't as tired as some of the mushers around him. He himself - during the interview in the shelter cabin - said he doesn't do as much on the back of the sled, so doesn't get so tired, so is still sprightly when it comes to taking care of the dogs when they stop. The interviewers remarked that he seemed in so much better shape than the others around him.

The argument that the trail wasn't adequately marked could be made, but Joar was only 23 minutes behind Nic out on the ice, and although ground blizzards can obliterate the trail, that's something that all mushers have to deal with (it looks like Wade and Travis got caught in a similar way and backtracked back and forth. Travis bounced back from it [travelling further back in the pack and surging at the end - less wear and tear on the team?] while Wade is still in Koyuk recovering [perhaps earlier moves in the race caused erosion?]).

Joar said he had to switch out his leaders about five times because he didn't have one that was outstanding, so it's not like he had a Kühling out in front of his team.

Anyway, race well-run from both Joar and Nic and we just have that final "little hurdle" of the 70+ mile run into Nome to contend with (and god-forbid, please no repeat of Brent's issue with the dogs not wanting to leave White Mtn). I was a little scared this morning when I woke up and checked the tracker and saw Nic still resting and Joar still poking along without rest, but hope that his good speed coming in to W-Mtn indicates his team being in good shape. I'm sure Joar won't be taking anything for granted.
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Re: Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

Postby elsietee » Tue Mar 13, 2018 12:36 pm

(I was all excited because it looked like Pete had caught Ray after Elim... until I realised Ray's tracker hadn't updated in 45 mins ;) )
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Re: Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

Postby Eggs » Tue Mar 13, 2018 12:56 pm

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Re: Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

Postby mira » Tue Mar 13, 2018 12:57 pm

Auch.. :(
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Re: Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

Postby elsietee » Tue Mar 13, 2018 1:07 pm

Oh no!

I wondered when he hadn't left - thought perhaps his team had taken a hit from them having to turn around on the ice and back track back and forth. That's too bad.

He hasn't sounded super-healthy from the start (same could be said about Ritchie who has been hoarse for days - is he brewing illness, or losing his voice from talking to the dogs in the wind?).

Good thoughts to him and his team.
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Re: Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

Postby mira » Tue Mar 13, 2018 1:22 pm

Mitch into White Mountain
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Re: Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

Postby Eggs » Tue Mar 13, 2018 1:32 pm

From an hour ago:
Anchorage Daily News was live. 1 hr ·
Hi, everyone! Tegan w/ ADN here. I’m in White Mountain, a community 77 miles away from the Nome finish line. Joar Leifseth Ulsom and his team arrived this morning. Nic Petit and his dogs recently pulled in.
https://www.facebook.com/akdispatch/vid ... 039318207/

https://twitter.com/teganhanlon
(1/2) After this video, I talked to Petit while he waited for water to boil about losing the trail & how he felt.
He said that on his run out of Elim, "I started bawling like a little baby. This race can be an emotional rollercoaster."
(2/2) "I just let out what I needed to let out and then pulled my head out of my rear-end and went back to just doing what I do with my dogs," Petit said. "Because who cares. Everybody knows what my dogs did."
Last edited by Eggs on Tue Mar 13, 2018 1:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

Postby elsietee » Tue Mar 13, 2018 1:35 pm

Joar in White Mtn:

His team looked good upon arrival - trotting in unison (as Mitch's team had looked, leaving Koyuk). He gives them kissy-faces and his version of baby talk, which reminds me of how a gnome might talk :)

(Can someone who knows dogs take a look - is there anything suspect about the gait of the white dog in front of the wheel dog on the left (right on camera) of the team? It's hard to see, since it's a short clip. He just looked a little funky, but it might just be the way the line was pulling on him? or that he's trying to lope?)

Overall I really like how the team looks - after a nearly 14 hour run on three snack breaks. (looking at his tracker analytics - I like the way he snacked them (red circles) after each push over the hills (terrain shown as a dark blue line).

Joar-run-to-WMtn.JPG




Joar:

Leaving Koyuk, I basically walked next to the sled for three hours [thought it looked like the team took a while to warm up :) ], it felt like it was so slow going.

And then we got on the other side of the mountain and they picked up the speed. We were rolling coming into Elim going up those hills, so I decided to just keep on going when they were doing so good.

We had a problem-free trip coming here - it was awesome.

Q: The trail was good?

J: yes, it was perfect

Q: Did you have thoughts of maybe stopping in Elim and then decided because the dogs were doing so well you'd just go?

J: yah, if they'd've needed the rest, I would have stopped, but they were charging there, all the way from Moses Point [where is that?], so I knew it was good.

Even if I could just get them up over the hills and then they needed a break, I could've stopped. But they were rolling.
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