Some thoughts from the River

There are several factors which contribute to the outcome of the Iditarod. Weather always pays a huge part in any dog race. This year’s Iditarod will prove this theory. Mushers live in several different climate systems throughout the state (country, nation) hence, they train in a variety of conditions. Of course it is helpful when the conditions the dogs train in, match the weather conditions of the race itself. Dog size is also a factor closely tied into the weather. Dog size whether large or small, goes through trends depending on the musher‘s philosophy about how to get to the finish line in the fastest amount of time. Bigger, slower dogs i.e., Sebastian’s, are running around on their natural set of snow shoes. These dogs have huge paws, and thick coats. This heavy type of dog performs great in heavy snow, but not so super in warm weather. Smaller dogs who were first bred for sprint racing ( 3 days of 20 mile races), have, for the last decade and a half, been bred into many musher lines. King's dogs are this type, very skinny and well muscled. King’s dogs respond to verbal commands better than any other team. His philosophy includes letting the puppies train with the team unharnessed so they are familiar with all verbal commands from a young age. This is a part of the training regiment that Jeff focuses on.

It is used to be a rule of thumb that these “skinny” dogs needed a six hour rest for every six hours of running. They needed frequent rests but they were faster than the big dogs, and handled the wind and icy conditions better. Then Lance came along and blew the theory of small dogs needing to run on the six-six schedule. Lance runs with medium sized dogs and with these dogs, he runs longer amounts of time, and cuts his rests. It was so different from the old way, that people are still shaking their heads about this approach.

Dogs only sweat from their paws and their mouth. It is important for them to be able to dip (put their mouth down when they are running and grab snow) throughout their runs to be able to stay hydrated. During the Kuskokwim 300 this year, some of the thicker pelted dogs were unable to dip enough snow and were getting dehydrated. DeeDee and Dave DeCaro (Jeff King’s second team) were extremely concerned over this issue. The temperature was OK during the run to Aniak, it was just that there was a crust of ice on top of the snow. This crust prevented the dog during a run to be able to quickly dip on the move and get a mouthful of snow.
So with style of dog training, snow conditions, weather temperature, ice, dogs size and pelt thickness, it is very difficult to foresee how a team will perform. Weather does play an important role, so I will update you on the "interior weather" and let you all know if things change. Of course the coastal conditions include wind, glare ice, white outs, etc.

We have had the snowiest winter I have experienced in my twenty years of living here in the interior at Crow Village. Normally during the winter, we get snow and a few melts which take away the depth of the snow pack. However this year we only had one big melt (right before the K300). There also has been tons of wind throughout the winter, so it has been difficult to keep even the well traveled trails open. Lately, it snows at night (four inches) and slows down during the morning. The sun remains hidden through the rest of the day with overcast conditions. The last couple of days the weather crept above 32 a few times and we got a bit of rain. Therefore, presently a crust of ice (1/2 inch thick) is sitting on top of tons of snow. The weather looks like the future will be a continuous pattern of lows coming through (with low is snow). The next front being a Siberian low (cold) followed by a Japanese low (warm) how long it takes these lows to pass through the interior is anyone’s guess. But we should not have any lasting cold snaps (Highs) for a week at least. That means the first 2/3s of the race will be run with tons of deep drifty spongy snow, e.g., 100 inches on the Yukon, probably around 10-30 degrees, and overall slow trail conditions. Of course this could all change in a snap. Like anything in Alaska, nothing happens till it happens.