White Mountain-Safety-Nome

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White Mountain-Safety-Nome

Postby libby the lab » Tue Mar 15, 2022 12:35 am

Woke up so decided to check on race. Appears weather in blowhole is dicey. Brent stopped an hour moved a few miles stopped again but is moving. Only 9 miles between him and Dallas. Dallas has yet to go through that area so we will see????
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Re: White Mountain-Safety-Nome

Postby elsietee » Tue Mar 15, 2022 1:21 am

I've been posting updates... in the wrong thread (since I'm watching Brent/Dallas and the rest of the chasers).

Brent is now loping along at 9.6 mph (maybe running scared?), while Dallas just hit the blowhole and has slowed to 1.9 mph...
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Re: White Mountain-Safety-Nome

Postby mira » Tue Mar 15, 2022 1:36 am

We could have continued to use the other one.. Really doesnt matter. It's interesting to see what the distance are when they are both passed the blowhole. But 9 miles is an hour..
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Re: White Mountain-Safety-Nome

Postby Another UK Fan » Tue Mar 15, 2022 1:55 am

Thanks for the updates - really helps
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Re: White Mountain-Safety-Nome

Postby elsietee » Tue Mar 15, 2022 2:00 am

The wind must have dropped - Dallas had less trouble in the blowhole, but Brent has kept up the pace - still loping along at 9.3 mph, and his lead has inched out to 11-12 miles. He's ten miles from Safety.

Dallas is travelling at 7.6 mph along the beach.
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Re: White Mountain-Safety-Nome

Postby elsietee » Tue Mar 15, 2022 2:33 am

From Danny an hour ago, because, as he says, who's sleeping anyway... :)

What's it like to mush a dog team through 45mph winds?

Brent Sass should be having the mush of his life. He's 40 miles from Nome and his first, and very hard earned, Iditarod championship. He left the last camp with a two and a half hour lead, and his team looked great.

Then the wind happened. Right now he's huddled behind his handlebars, while the 45-60mph winds whip his fur ruff around his face. It's a good thing he has it too, no man made materials will keep you alive in this weather. There's a space inside that ruff just bigger than his head, sort of like a big helmet, that's habitable to humans. Outside that space, the world is a million little flakes of snow tearing at his face and clothing, creating a blur of indistinguishable foes.

He can't open his eyes for very long, the wind-whipped snow pellets sting. But when he closes them moisture from his breath freezes his eye lashes together. It's a constant battle to get them to open or close.

He can barely breath. The wind is crosswise to his hood a creates a vacuum, and at times a near-panic feeling hits when he can't breathe.

He can't stand up. If he does, the wind will catch his parka like a sail and send him sliding across the ice.

And the sound. The wind is a near deafening roar. Like the mountains themselves are coming for you.

If he catches his breath and looks up, and manages to get his headlight in the right direction, he can just see the back couple of dogs. Somehow those $#&*ing amazing little dogs can run though this. In principal he knows they have fur, have evolved to do this, are wearing coats, etc. but it doesn't seem possible anyway.

Not only can they run through it, they are doing so fairly quickly, and they seem to know where they're going. Although he can't see them, the lead dogs are somehow staying on the trail, as evidenced by the occasional reflector he sees as the sled goes by. He can't see the next one, but every marker he passes is a momentary relief.

How they can find the trail he doesn't know, but it's a good thing they can, because he sure couldn't. It's pitch dark. His light only shows a few feet through the snow. The markers are too far apart to see from one to the next. The snow has blown from the ice underneath, so there's no definition or track to follow.

Worse, if he gets off the trail, the sea ice is only a few feet over. And a few feet more is open ocean water. And the wind is blowing him that way.

So he puts his head back down, puts his life in his lead dogs paws, and says a little prayer every time he goes past a marker.

He though he loved his lead dog before. They've been though so much together. It's not a 'who's a good dog' kind of love, nor a 'this dog is my kid' kind of love. More of a this dog has saved my life kind of love. But it's more than simply saved, it's an ongoing dependence. A recognition that without that dog Brent would be curled up on the ice crying or dying or both right now. That dog is his freaking hero.

It was dicey for a while. When the gusts hit 60 he couldn't go. Dallas was catching up. It's ridiculous to think of competition in a life and death situation, but he can't help it. He can't fail right at the end. He has to keep going.

But it's getting better, every marker he passes he gains a little more confidence. Nome is one step closer. The wind is a little less.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. But for Brent to be the new champion, he has to beat the old one. And he never expected it to be easy.

Danny Seavey, because who's sleeping now anyway.
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Re: White Mountain-Safety-Nome

Postby mira » Tue Mar 15, 2022 2:48 am

If you look at weather observations (ok, there isn't many in the area, but all airports have) you can see that it has generally calmed in the area in the last couple of hours. Of course, there aren't any right there, but the tendency still tale the tell.

For instance this one, for Shaktoolik.
https://metar-taf.com/PFSH - you can see the last 24 hours, which gives a quite good idea.


Metar is observation, TAF is the forecast - all airports must have metar/taf to be able to operate.
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Re: White Mountain-Safety-Nome

Postby elsietee » Tue Mar 15, 2022 3:17 am

If you check https://www.windy.com/?64.278,-162.867,8 it gives a good overview.

Brent is safely through Safety and half-way between there and Cape Nome. Dallas has ten miles to go to get to Safefy. The gap between them is still 12 miles.
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Re: White Mountain-Safety-Nome

Postby Another UK Fan » Tue Mar 15, 2022 3:28 am

Thanks elsietee for posting Danny Seavey's account. Vivid.
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Re: White Mountain-Safety-Nome

Postby Another UK Fan » Tue Mar 15, 2022 3:29 am

mira wrote: for Shaktoolik.
https://metar-taf.com/PFSH - you can see the last 24 hours, which gives a quite good idea.

Metar is observation, TAF is the forecast - all airports must have metar/taf to be able to operate.


Thanks Mira - I didn't know this.
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