Musher Details

2016 Iditarod » Mushers » Geir Idar Hjelvik

Geir Idar Hjelvik

Bib Number: 79
Hometown: Norjordet, NORWAY


Biography

Geir Idar Hjelvik, 59, was born in Molde, Norway and raised in the village of Hjelvik. He lived in Trondheim for 18 years working as an excavator operator. Fourteen years ago, he moved to the Norjordet to work, to mush and for dancing competitions. Geir has been a traditional log cabin craftsman for 20 years. He began mushing in 1987 because of a friend, Frode Holten. Under Frode’s mentorship, he began skijoring with a German Shepard and later Frode mentored him and introduced him to sleds and Alaskan Huskies. His first litter of Alaska husky pups was born in 1989, bloodlines from Susan Butcher and Jerry Austin. That sparked his original interest in the Iditarod and he began thinking seriously about the Iditarod after a couple of competitive finishes in the Femundløpet and the Finmarksløpet in the 90’s. Geir ran his first Iditarod in 2016, finishing in 26th place. He has finished the Iditarod twice, the Femundløpet nine times, and the Finmarksløpet three times. He maintains a kennel of 30 dogs in Norway, but is running a team from Dallas Seavey’s kennel in the Iditarod this year. When not mushing dogs, Geir is a competitive Norwegian folk dancer. He is the father of Mår, age 18. He is a member of the Femund Trekhund Klubb and Roros Folkdanislag. He lists his hobbies as Rorospols (Norwegian folk dancing), knife making and wood working.

Awards

Jerry Austin Memorial Rookie of the Year Award — Sponsored by Jerry Austin\'s family

2016 Standings

Checkpoint Time In Dogs In Time Out Dogs Out Rest Time Previous Layover Status Distance
Enroute Time Speed (mph) 8hr 24hr
Anchorage 3/05 12:49:00 16 3/05 12:49:00 16 0h 0m
Willow 3/06 16:34:00 16
Yentna 3/06 20:25:00 16 3/06 20:31:00 16 0h 6m 3h 51m 10.91 42
Skwentna 3/07 03:10:00 16 3/07 03:27:00 16 0h 17m 6h 39m 4.51 30
Finger Lake 3/07 12:54:00 16 3/07 12:56:00 16 0h 2m 9h 27m 4.23 40
Rainy Pass 3/07 16:36:00 16 3/07 20:35:00 16 3h 59m 3h 40m 8.18 30
Rohn 3/08 01:29:00 16 3/08 01:40:00 16 0h 11m 4h 54m 7.14 35
Nikolai 3/08 16:02:00 16 3/08 21:02:00 16 5h 0m 14h 22m 5.22 75
McGrath 3/09 02:41:00 16 3/09 02:41:00 16 0h 0m 5h 39m 8.50 48
Takotna 3/09 05:07:00 16 3/10 05:23:00 16 24h 16m 2h 26m 7.40 ✔ 18
Ophir 3/10 07:52:00 16 3/10 08:03:00 16 0h 11m 2h 29m 9.26 ✔ 23
Cripple 3/10 22:15:00 16 3/11 02:49:00 14 4h 34m 14h 12m 5.14 ✔ 73
Ruby 3/11 15:53:00 14 3/11 21:09:00 14 5h 16m 13h 4m 5.36 ✔ 70
Galena 3/12 02:51:00 14 3/12 11:08:00 14 8h 17m 5h 42m 8.77 ✔ ✔ 50
Nulato 3/12 17:37:00 14 3/12 21:40:00 14 4h 3m 6h 29m 5.71 ✔ ✔ 37
Kaltag 3/13 01:50:00 14 3/13 08:02:00 13 5h 12m 4h 10m 11.28 ✔ ✔ 47
Unalakleet 3/13 21:19:00 13 3/14 02:56:00 13 5h 37m 13h 17m 6.40 ✔ ✔ 85
Shaktoolik 3/14 08:41:00 13 3/14 12:05:00 13 3h 24m 5h 45m 6.96 ✔ ✔ 40
Koyuk 3/14 19:12:00 13 3/15 00:17:00 13 5h 5m 7h 7m 7.03 ✔ ✔ 50
Elim 3/15 06:05:00 13 3/15 07:59:00 13 1h 54m 5h 48m 8.28 ✔ ✔ 48
White Mountain 3/15 14:01:00 13 3/15 22:16:00 13 8h 15m 6h 2m 7.62 ✔ ✔ 46
Safety 3/16 05:03:00 13 3/16 05:05:00 13 0h 2m 6h 47m 8.11 ✔ ✔ 55
Nome 3/16 08:24:10 13 3h 19m 6.63 ✔ ✔ 22