Iditarod mushers reached the Yukon River at Tanana on Tuesday night. Teams are ready to launch their race plans as the eight-hour and 24-hour rest periods come into view. But first, they must run the longest stretch of the race between checkpoints and make it through the early race with their teams intact.
Iditarod
After a bruising 2016, Martin Buser upbeat for 2017
Last year, Martin Buser had a tough Iditarod. He finished in 37th place, his lowest position on the leader-board in a decades-long career. But this year, as the four-time champion charges through the race’s early checkpoints, a lot of things are going better.
Mushers adjust to deep cold near Manley Hot Springs
During the first night of this year’s Iditarod, teams endured frigid temperatures on the Tanana River to reach the second checkpoint of Manley Hot Springs. Teams are adjusting to the deep cold and preparing to push to the Yukon River, where the race will unfold.
Ask a Climatologist: Record cold at Iditarod start won’t last
Mushers can expect warming temps along the Iditarod trail but not a flake of snow.
As mushers race to Nome, a Chicago educator will teach on the trail
The Iditarod trail won’t be full of just mushers: a teacher will be following along as part of a yearly program. For two years, Annie Kelley, of St. Andrew’s School in Chicago has been preparing for a new type of lesson plan.
Proper packing becomes more important as mushers kick off from Fairbanks
Mushers are on the rivers heading out of Fairbanks right now, as the 45th Iditarod starts in earnest. This is the second time in three races that the restart has been in Fairbanks. And a lot of the mushers have vivid memories of the 2015 race, so this year, they’re trying to pack accordingly.
Iditarod says 2017 race could start in Fairbanks
The official start of this year’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race could take place in Fairbanks because of poor conditions on key parts of the nearly 1,000-mile route from Anchorage to Nome. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the Iditarod Trail Committee announced Wednesday that a decision on the location of the restart, which marks the…
Iditarod could move back to Fairbanks for a third time
Though the decision has not been made, low snow conditions along difficult parts of the trail are prompting officials to consider moving the race’s re-start from Willow to Fairbanks, as they did in 2015, and for a first time in 2003.
Officials ban trailers for carrying dogs in Iditarod
Trailers fixed behind the primary sled have grown in popularity as a way to cycle dogs through rest.
Mushers frustrated over allowing cell phones on Iditarod trail
The race’s Trail Committee is upholding rule 35, which for the first-time ever will allow the use of two-way communication devices, including cell phones and satellite phones along the trail.