AAS record time

[jonnybegood]

Hi buds, Looking through the All Alaska Sweepstakes history I noticed the record time for this race was set in 1913. In fact a lot of the early years had faster times for this race. Were the trails better because of the gold mining times? Were there gold mining short cuts that are not here today? Did early mushers get some kind of help from miners?
It seam with better equiptment and dog training today the times should be faster. Just Wondering??? JBG

Sorry I missed the awards party. You all are just to much fun!!

[Heidi]

Were the trails better because of the gold mining times? Were there gold mining short cuts that are not here today?

I'm not sure about any shortcuts, but I did read somewhere yesterday that the trail berween Nome and Candle was much better in those times. Sorry I don't have the link.

Nice to see you here jbg!

[mira]

I'm not sure about any shortcuts, but I did read somewhere yesterday that the trail berween Nome and Candle was much better in those times. Sorry I don't have the link.

I think it is written several places (or hints).

From http://www.adn.com/mushing/story/357298.html:

Thousands flocked Front Street to watch man's best friend power mushers down a trail that, at the time, was a busy transportation corridor.

That's no longer true. Trailbreakers were out in force this past week, and some returned with horror stories.

..and even more specific here:

http://iditablog.com/2008/03/26/race-updates-coming-in/ (Joshua Rogers blog, very good )

This trail is going to start getting tricky as once the teams pass Council, they will be heading even further north, but they will also start to be on trails that are very rarely used. I was talking to a friend here in Nome and he was expressing the fact that even some of the most hardcore outdoor enthusiasts in the area don’t venture past death valley (after Telephone), even on snowmachine, and many local mushers don’t usually make it out to Council.

[Heidi]

Thanks mira! I think I did read it more than one place.

Speaking of the gold mining, I wish there was such a thing as a time machine that could take me back in time to that period. Then I could find a bunch of gold and bring it back with me to the future (now)!