A deep freeze swept over much of Interior Alaska this week. Not only was Chicken the cold spot in the state with a low of -57F, their high ended up being only -50F. They hold the spot as the first location in Alaska to officially see a high of minus fifty or colder this season.
By comparison, the thermometer outside the cabin read a balmy -33F Monday morning.
After what was described as a successful inauguration of the Ironman Triathlon in Alaska, the governing body has cancelled plans to return to Alaska’s capital city. By all accounts Juneau put on a decent event, and athletes enjoyed the setting, but logistics were a problem. Bikes, in particular, were more difficult to get to Juneau than anticipated, although with the practice, I expect Alaska Airlines would be able to cut down on those issues, considering how many coolers of salmon and moose racks they transport with ease.
Admittedly, getting to Alaska isn’t exactly a cheap ticket, and once you get here, warm waters to swim in are pretty hard to come by, but I feel for the city of Juneau, because I know the effort Alaskan communities put in, to get an event like the Ironman.
I won’t even get started on Alaska’s attempt to get these two:
The “other” sled dog race in Alaska is the Iditarod. Like the Yukon Quest, mushers have been slow to sign up to run in 2023. As of last week, 34 mushers had committed to race. Only one year had such a low number, and that was the first year in 1973.
Several factors have entered into the low number, but the price tag to train a team of dogs right now seems to be the driving factor. The price of gasoline, dog food, and even straw has gone up considerably this past year. A team of 45 dogs can go through six pallets of dog food a year. The average price of a pallet of food has increased by $700 in Alaska, if you train on the road system.
Legends of the sport are also seeing their careers wind down. Jeff King, Dallas Seavey, Mitch Seavey, Joar Leifseth Ulsom and Martin Buser have won a total of 17 races among them, yet none of them have signed up to run in 2023.
The past ten years have seen an average of 64 mushers at the starting line, and 2016 had 85 mushers in the field.
The race to Nome will follow the southern route through the abandoned mining town, and race namesake, Iditarod. Then through Anvike and north to Kaltag, where it rejoins the main trail to Nome.
The ceremonial start in Anchorage is set for March 4, with the restart in Willow the following day.
Major changes have come to the Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race. The international race could not survive the Covid pandemic, with Alaska and Canada going their separate ways. Sad news to be sure, since the big appeal to the 1000 mile race was the international aspect of it.
Alaska officials are hoping there is still some interest in an All-Alaskan race, even with it being shortened to 550 miles. Time will tell, but only 13 mushers have signed up to run the 2023 race, to date.
The race will start on the Chena River in Fairbanks, and follow the traditional route to Eagle, Alaska, but after descending American Summit, instead of going on to Dawson, the route will turn south to Chicken and the finish line at Tok, Alaska.
The Yukon Quest 550, as well as a 300 mile race and an 80 mile “fun run”, will all start the morning of February 4th.
John Gaule started to plow open hockey rinks and skating trails on Trail Lake back in the 1980’s. The community rink near Moose Pass has grown considerably since then. One thing that hasn’t changed is that the trails and rinks on Trail Lake are 100% volunteer driven.
Today the rink is plowed with a pickup truck, rather than a 4-wheeler, and there are now loaner skates and hockey sticks available for anyone to use, but the feel of the community hub is still the driving force. There can be as many as 50 people skating at any given time, and the skating trails can be a mile long. These days, Gaule even has a skate sharpener, which he charges $5/ pair, with the money going into rink maintenance.
The snow plowing begins when there is 6 inches of ice, and the ice is usually thick enough for skating to run through most of March.
This coming weekend will have both the hockey rink and skating trails open to anyone who wants to lace up a pair.
