The Iditarod trail is meting out early punishment for all of the teams. Extremely rough trail conditions due to lack of snow are adding a level of difficulty not seen in recent years. Mushers who make it through the worst sections between Rainy Pass and Nikolai are feeling more like survivors rather than competitors. The last real "low" snow year over this stretch of trail was 2007, but conditions that year were better than what teams are traveling over today.
The snow-covered hard-pack ice encountered in the first 100 miles has been replaced with frozen dirt, rock, and ice. Amazingly, the sled dogs tend to fare well over such treacherous trail conditions. Besides a few minor injuries to their feet caused by the wear of frozen earth on their pads and the occasional sprained wrist or shoulder from slipping on the ice -- as humans do all the time -- most of the dogs will make it through this challenge unscathed.
It is the mushers who pay the price for the rough and unforgiving trail. One wrong move traveling under the dark of the moonless sky can easily smash a sled, or injure a musher. Just holding on to the sled over the jarring forces and slippery side hills can be a challenge.
Judging by musher interviews in Nikolai, there is a deep sense of relief from mushers who've made it through the worst sections -- and a deep sense of fear and concern for the mushers that have yet to come. While resting in Nikolai, veteran musher Nick Petit was concerned about his mentor Jim Lanier, who at 73 is by far the oldest musher in this year's event. "Jim (Lanier), somebody call Jim and tell him don't do it. It's not worth it." Not long after Petit uttered those words, a battered Lanier scratched in Rainy Pass for the first time in an Iditarod career dating back to the 1970s.
Petit then turned his attention to the rookies behind him on the trail who tend to cluster towards the back of the pack. "All those rookies that have no clue what's coming up, they're gonna have a good time." Buser was more direct in his assessment of the trail, "I think if I had known how rough it is, I might have said 'I'm sending my son.' Rohn Buser is an accomplished musher who won the Kuskokwim 300, the world's richest middle-distance sled dog race, in January.
Musher injuries are piling up, and some may prove to be race-ending. Leader Martin Buser has a very swollen ankle. Both Aaron Burmeister and Nicolas Petit, two mushers capable of top-five finishes, have injured knees. Bumps and bruises for all mushers will need to be tended to over the course of the race. At this point, there are no broken bones, but the bulk of the pack has yet to get through some of the roughest trail between Rohn and Nikolai. The worst may be yet to come.
Petit's advice: "You've just got to hold on and pray. But I'm not a praying kinda guy."
Iditarod yard sale
Damage to sleds and equipment is piling up quickly. Sled bags have been ripped to shreds as the sleds drag on their sides over the bare frozen ground. Two-time Iditarod champion Robert Sorlie lost the entire rear section of his sled containing his cooler, ladle and dog bowls. The replaceable plastic runners mushers use are wearing out rapidly, requiring multiple changes between Rohn and Nikolai. Mushers who lacked the foresight to pack extra plastic in Rohn will run the risk of doing permanent damage to the wood and metal runner bases.
Hose clamps and bailing wire have become precious commodities as mushers work to splint together broken stanchions, brush and driving bows. Many of the drivers have shipped replacement sleds to McGrath, about 50 trail miles away. They will need to limp along atop what is left of their sleds, or risk a long wait and expensive Bush flight to ferry their sleds to them.
The good news is that the worst is over, at least for the middle third of the race. Beyond Nikolai the trail is covered with a decent amount of snow, enough to set a hook in most places and even soft enough to help with the dogs' hydration. The next 500 miles to Unalakleet should be relatively easy going, at least compared to what the teams have just come through. Nobody is even thinking about the Norton Sound coast, yet.
Race strategies are beginning to unfold, and it's looking like a repeat of 2013 with a few new twists. Buser has modified his bold strategy from last year and expanded it to a 260-mile run from the start with only one substantial four-hour rest stop at Rainy Pass. Buser has been making frequent short stops of 10-15 minutes along the trail to snack and rehydrate his dogs. Part of Buser's decision to stretch his opening run out to Nikolai was to avoid leaving Rohn with a rested team following the mandatory 24-hour break that every musher must take somewhere along the trail. This year, Buser will take the break in Nikolai. The time advantage Buser has gained appears to be less this year, even discounting his four-hour pit stop in Rainy Pass. It is possible that his frequent trail stops are disrupting the flow of his dog team, which is used to running four to six hours practically non-stop in the middle-distance races.
Hard-and-fast trail suits Buser
Buser had to run a very long way from the start with only one break just to earn a seven-hour advantage over his competition. Once again, he is hoping that advantage will hold up later down the trail after all teams have taken their 24-hour mandatory layovers. Buser's 2013 "advantage" in Rohn was approximately 10 hours, so it appears that he has lost three hours worth of advantage this year by stretching his run out to Nikolai. The real difference, and question, is what effect the strategy will have on Buser's dog team performance in the second half of the race.
Buser is hoping that he has picked the right plan for the right year. Last year, Buser ran into soft and wet trail conditions that contributed to his teams dive in the standings in the latter half of the race. This year's hard-and-fast trail conditions are more suited to his training and racing style.
A gaggle of veteran teams are within 10 hours of Buser at Nikolai, all with the talent and experience to win. Perhaps more important, they possess the patience necessary to succeed in this nine-day ultramarathon. Hugh Neff, Aliy Zirkle, Jeff King, Aaron Burmeister and Sonny Lindner all arrived within an hour of each other. More importantly, they are all within seven hours of Buser and all have had much more rest along the trail to this point.
Zirkle and Lindner would appear to have the hottest teams, balancing an extremely fast run schedule with deliberate three-to-four hours rests at even intervals. If either of them can get out of Nikolai with a healthy team, sled and body, they will be ones to reckon with down the trail.
Both Zirkle and Lindner camped and took a four-hour rest halfway between Rohn and Nikolai -- a smart move allowing them to make any necessary sled repairs and maintain their team's endurance.
Defending race champion Mitch Seavey and his son, 2012 champion Dallas Seavey, are running in a very familiar position, lurking right behind the top 10 teams in a calculated effort to pace themselves through the race. They could both care less about their relative position to the other teams. They have a plan that gets their teams to Nome in what they think is the fastest time possible. Don't look for either of these champions to adjust their predetermined schedules until very late in the race.
Zack Steer, a five-time Iditarod finisher, owns and operates the Sheep Mountain Lodge with Anjanette and two young boys. Zack will bring a competitive racer's analysis to this year's Iditarod coverage. Follow Zack's race analysis at Alaska Dispatch.