Scratches

[elsietee]

From his wife Bler:

[elsietee]

And more on Twitter re. Nic:

[libby the lab]

I figured that Quince would get withdrawn at UNK. Airport there so easier to get dogs out.

[mira]

In the given situation I can understand this. I do wonder a bit of the rest of the teams scratched at Unalakleet, like.. if it was a discussion and "we have agreed upon" or not. Since almost all other sporting events in the western world are canceled and the general advice is to have less people traveling it makes sense to shut down checkpoints as soon as possible.

Karin scratched in Shaktoolik, but she is listed in Unalakleet since Shak isn't a checkpoint.

But the list is sad this year, at the moment it is 17/57, that is 30% percent. In a year with not that many teams. Now really storms either, but deep snow

[flowerpower]

Showing Petit scratched. He had a rough trip this year.

[libby the lab]

And now Robert Reddington

[fladogfan]

He was on ice between Elim and WM last I saw him, a few hours ago. But he was stopped "resting". Sorry he scratched, I wonder what happened?

[fladogfan]

https://www.ktva.com/story/41860703/idi ... ve-updates

This is a blog from ktva. It has news about a lot of the mushers, as of this time Nic Petit is at top of the blog. It says Nic activated his SOS button.



"Veteran musher Nicolas Petit, bib 21, has scratched from the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race between the Elim and White Mountain checkpoints.

"In combination of weather and resulting trail conditions, Petit was not able to continue, and by activating his SOS, Petit scratched," a release from the Iditarod reads.

Golovin Search and Rescue helped the Girdwood musher find the shelter cabin between Elim and White Mountain.

Petit confirmed with race marshal Mark Nordman via satellite phone that he and his team are fine.

When the weather clears, the team will go to either Elim or White Mountain to be taken off the trail.

Petit had 11 dogs in harness when he decided to scratch at 5:20 a.m. Thursday.

Copyright 2020 KTVA. All rights reserved."

[txbennett]

It appears the mushers between White Mountain and Safety may be at the shelter cabin just short of the blow hole. At least they have each other for company. Having shed all "unnecessary" items to lighten their load and race to Nome hopefully they still have all necessary items to meet their needs -- and they can move along together and assist each other without trying to race when they catch a change in the weather.

[flowerpower]

From Nic's kennel page:

It’s with a heavy heart that we share this final bit of race news after what can only be called a SUPER challenging year. Grateful to ITC and Golovin S&R for getting the team to shelter. Can’t say how much I look forward to getting Nic and the Team home to Big Lake...but alas, this storm isn’t supposed to let up until noon on Friday. Nome locals referring to it as the “storm of the season.” So proud of them for making it nearly 900miles into a race they almost called off back in the first 200miles. Always full of gratitude for what we DO have in this kennel which is the love of a family, tons of laughter, perseverance and slobbery dog kisses. Onward.