The Mandatory Musher Meeting—Don’t Miss It
9AM—Musher Meeting
With the ebb and flow of traffic like a train station, all seemed chaos at the Millenium Hotel headquarters of Iditarod this morning. Gradually, however, one could discern a more concentrated stream of humanity walking out of the breakfast lounge or through the revolving front doors winding to the third floor meeting hall.
headquarters like a train station
Overheard at breakfast, I heard one of this surge of mushers telling the waiter, “I got to go, I can’t be late for the meeting, the fine will cost me more than breakfast.” Thus begins the first real hurdle bench mark of the race where mushers answer the roll call with a “here” and are introduced to the obligatory sponsor representatives, handed promotional packages, instructed on the logistics of parking and manaveuring vehicles at the start in Anchorage and restart in Willow.
Followed by these formalities, which can also be heard by the gallery of spectators, the mushers are sequestered for the heavy parts of the meeting. All non mushers are ushered from the hall and the doors closed, so that they can focus on a thorough discussion of the rules, veterinary protocols, and the much anticipated trail report by the trail breakers.
Musher meeting 2012, don't be late
Having attended these “closed” meetings as a musher, I can tell you that the “pack” is focused on directives from Race Marshal Mark Nordman, Chief Veterinarian Stu Nelson, and the trail breakers. All the nuances and subtleties of this year’s race could play into a strategy move, so the mushers ask questions. “Will there be water at Cripple (the remote checkpoint between Takotna and Ruby on the Yukon)?” “How deep is the snow out of Rohn (known to be in a notoriously predictable snow shadow, often with trails bare rock)?” “Exactly how is the trail marked on the trail, will all the markers look the same (usually they are with each year identical, but there have been style changes in the markers)?” or “What can we expect on the coast, will the trail cross the ice from Shaktoolik (it’s known that big winds this winter moved the ice into pressure ridges, making it easier but longer to follow the beach on Norton Sound.
Dr. Stu Nelson will remind mushers again to keep their mandatory “vet books” available in checkpoints. This book is carried by the musher in the sled the entire course of the race. After twenty some checkpoints, the annotations of veterinarians in the “vet book” will provide a detailed history of each dog in each team for the duration of the race—a valuable resource for insuring the health of each team and a wonderful archive for researchers, veterinarians, and mushers.
Social Aspects
Certainly many mushers see each other through the winter at events or incidentally at the veterinary checks but realistically this is the first time in a year that Iditarod mushers of the world are gathered in one place and one time. For fifteen minutes prior to the meeting, non stop bantering and shaking of hands dominates. It is impossible to describe the reality of the moment, except to say that a musher mass of humanity has concentrated in a large meeting hall.
Overheard, I understand that Dan Seavey (check out his biography) will be running the 40th Iditarod, an accomplishment in the making as he also was a pioneer on the first Iditarod.
Jim Lanier, known for his team of all white dogs, is 71, fully functional with an artificial hip. “Jim, is the team all cream colored this year?” “No,” he tells me, “I had to break the look of the kennel and throw in a few multi-colored huskies.”
Quick Interviews—to get the flavor of this years race
Ramey Smyth, 2nd place in 2011, appears from the crowd and reports that his team is substantially glued back together, but he did have some annoying injuries amongst his huskies through training. He trains on the initial trail to Skwetna and reported that snow was light and powdery, not heavy and wet as usual, accompanied by cold temperatures. “If the weather warms, the trail could start to dissolve into a sugar bowl of loose snow.)
Hugh Neff, looking very refreshed after his epic victory in the 2011 Yukon Quest, told me he had 12 of his 14 winning Quest team in his Iditarod line up. Notably, his reliable leader Walter—who has not run the Iditarod—will be in the team. Additionally, his seven year old super leader Annie (the mother of the kennel) was left at home during the Quest and will be in the line-up, fresh and rested for this year’s Iditarod. “This is the first race I have ever won. I know the dogs are really well trained. All I know is we will pursue and hunt anybody down (referring to the front pack of close contenders) that tries to break away from the lead pack.”
Paul Gebhardt, the perennial top contender from the Kenai Peninsula, commented on the weather reports—“It doesn’t matter, if the trail longer and slower, we all have to do it.”
Insider Bruce Lee, who has been on the trail and close to the action over the last several years, told me in a little chat about this year’s race, “You will be amazed at the sophistication of the mushers on the trail and the organization in the checkpoints.” We reminisced about the trail twenty years ago and he assured me that the trail breakers and the efforts of the Iron Dog, which precedes the Iditarod, has dramatically improved the trails.
