Husky News

Mushers won’t have to deal with sled-burning descent through the boulders.

Despite temperatures that hovered around minus 40, hundreds of spectators lined the bridges and banks of the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks on Saturday as 24 teams took their first steps down the trail of the 25th Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.

Frosty eyelashes and facemasks were all that could be seen on all but the most hardy of the mushers, handlers, spectators, media and race officials milling around the dogs.

But as the race started and teams began filtering to the starting line, held back by teams of handlers and a snowmachine tied to line, the temperatures started to rise measurably.

The teams are headed to a dog drop in North Pole, about 33 miles from the start. From there, they’ll go on to the first checkpoint at Chena Hot Springs Road. Because of rough trail conditions, the teams will be trucked to the dog drop at Mile 101 Steese Highway, cutting off a 42-mile stretch of trail including the notorious Rosebud Summit, which is reported to have little to no snow in places.

“Trail conditions … are not adequate for safe travel of the dogs,” first-year race marshal Doug Grilliot said at a prerace meeting. “There’s not enough snow to control a dog team with 14 dogs.”

Of particular concern were steep descents on the backside of 3,640-foot Rosebud Summit that are littered with exposed sharp rocks, Grilliot said.

“With the snow up there we probably could do it, but we’re going to err on the side of caution,” Grilliot said, adding that the final decision was solely his but that he collected considerable input over the last several days.

The change means that mushers reaching Chena Hot Springs, 99 miles into the race, will have five to six hours added to a mandatory two-hour break, Grilliot said. That will give teams time to drive back down Chena Hot Springs Road and up the Steese Highway to Mile 101.

The decision came after much debate, Grilliot said.

“We thought long and hard about it. We don’t want to change the integrity of the race,” Grilliot said.

Race rookie Julie Estey supports the change.

“From a rookie standpoint, I’m breathing a sigh of relief that the Quest has my dogs’ interests at heart,” said Estey, who before this year was the Quest’s executive director.

But there is also a tinge of lament. Estey knows the beauty of the area because she went there by snowmachine to clean up after the 2006 race.

“As a rookie, you want to see all these things you’ve been hearing about, but not at the dogs’ expense. It’s disappointing, but it’s not worth risking the dogs’ or the mushers’ health or the sleds’ health,” Estey said.

Brent Sass of Fairbanks, a musher who trains and thrives in tough conditions, was been looking forward to tackling Rosebud Summit despite the reports of rough trail.

“It’s kind of a bummer. I wish it would be in there,” said Sass, who had not visited Rosebud this season but last Monday went on a proofing mission over nearby Eagle Summit and gave race officials the thumbs up there.

“I fully respect Doug’s decision for doing it,” Sass said, adding that it will have little impact on his race strategy.

Rosebud Summit, followed by Eagle Summit — which remains part of the race route — typically wreaks enough havoc that several teams end up scratching before the race is 200 miles old.

The lost distance will not be made up, shortening the 1,000-mile Quest to about 960 miles.

In the previous 24 runnings of the Quest, dogs have been trucked because of poor trail conditions on several occasions, including during the inaugural 1984 race (60 miles from Carmacks, Yukon, to Fox Lake) and most recently in 2003 (79 miles from Braeburn to Carmacks).

Source: The Anchorage Daily News