News, Articles, and Interesting Stuff 2023

[tanglefoot]

https://alaskapublic.org/2022/12/07/thi ... behind-it/

[tanglefoot]

Remember the iditapod podcast is broadcasting again this year

[Moose]

Did anyone else notice how many mushers we've come to expect on the trail have backed away this year stating their desire to spend time with family? I didn't count them, but definitely noticed it as a shared thread from multiple kennels. With children growing, race expenses climbing, and the low number of competitive kennels on the trail, this just might be the year to take a pass.

[tanglefoot]

yes, the older guys have called it a day and retired, the younger ones from years past are now parents of human puppies (yours truly included) and then there is the generation who either are single / not ready for human puppies or are focusing on the race and then the rookies. Could be a good year to place high and make some money to cover the race fee's.

[tanglefoot]

it's those little female leaders showing they have the biggest hearts again!

https://alaskapublic.org/2023/03/03/dus ... st-energy/

go dusty!

[elsietee]

Loved the short interview with Ryan Redington at Willow - he has some chunks of metal taken out of the leg of one of his dogs (on the team this year) - Wildcat - who was hit by a car (hit-n-run) late last year. He says the dog is doing great - this hardware has been removed, and the dog still has a piece in there.

[elsietee]

From Stump Jumpin' Kennel - Wade Marrs

Day 2- Teams are traveling up and over the Alaska Range with Rohn on the mind. Maybe not what's ahead going to Nikolai...

But first, no big surprises yet! If you read my first post things really are playing out as such. Petit, Kaiser, Porsild, Diehl, Sass, Redington all up front as mentioned.

I guess if you're waiting for *something* to ponder on I wasn’t 100% expecting rookie Hunter Keefe to trail on Ryan Redington this early, and now I’m curious how long it will last. Certainly two teams of talented Redington dogs, yet vastly different levels of dog driving experience and overall training. Fun little fact, Ryan Redington trains his dogs during the winter about 30 minutes from where we now live in Wisconsin.

Wade is right on track deploying his short run/short rest strategy. I have to think he chuckled at some point sitting alone in Yentna last night in last place, that was definitely a first. Even though I 100% know Wade 100% knows what he is doing, it’s nice to see him floating around names like Royer and Smyth who are perennial top finishers that execute strong race finishes. We have time to talk about run/rest, but it in the end it really boils down to how you train your dogs based on how they perform best, and this too can be vastly different from team to team.

[elsietee]

part 2 (for some reason it wouldn't let me post the whole thing at once:

If you’re new to this whole Idita-tracking thing one of the most important things to remember, especially right now, is to not get hung up on placement… yet. Placement really doesn’t hold much value until teams start completing and leaving their 24 hour mandatory rests and start time differentials are taken into account. Right now if a musher is in 3rd or 23rd it really doesn’t matter, save your anxiety for after the 24, you’ll need it

With a 33 musher field, the traditional “front/middle/back of pack” I think is going to have a very different look than what we are used to. In that same reference, I’ve never heard so many mushers say they have a “Top 10” team. With the smaller field, breaking into that specific category is going to a battle all the way to Front Street in Nome.

Stay tuned folks as tough mushing ahead, Iditarod Race Director Mark Nordman reported that the route from Rohn to Nikolai has the worst moguls in race history.

“Imagine a washboard except every ridge is 4ft high. So it’s just up and down, up and down.”

Just watched Wade and Jessie Royer arrive into Rainy Pass on the livestream. A nap in the sun and they'll be off into the night to Rohn!

Sarah Moody!

[Moose]

"...the worst moguls in race history"? I can't imagine. Sure hope there's video.

[flowerpower]

https://www.gq.com/story/dallas-seavey-iditarod