Matt Hall Praises his Leaders

Matt Hall has completed his second Iditarod in the same number of years.  Hall placed 11th in 2018 and has moved into the top ten in Iditarod XLVII.  Hall and Page Drobny, both 2019 Yukon Quest finishers made it interesting for GPS observers.  They ran together and rested together as they approached Safety, one passed the other and then was passed by the other.  Folks at the Burled Arch were wondering who it would be on Front Street leading the way between the two.  It was Hall.

Matt has been mushing since the young age of two.  Hall completed his first long distance race, the Yukon Quest at the age of 22.  Hall claimed Yukon Quest gold in his fourth run between Whitehorse, YT and Fairbanks, AK.  In 2018 Hall raced the Quest for the 5th time and also finished Iditarod as a rookie.  Hall did the Distance Double again in 2019, finishing 5th in the Quest and 6th in Iditarod. 

During the summer, Hall works on the Denver Glacier for Icefield Expeditions.  He and his wife, Amanda, maintain their off-grid life style by hauling water and firewood with their 35 Alaska Huskies.  Matt and his wife Amanda maintain Smokin’ Aces Kennel that sits on 49 acres next to the Chena River.  Winters are spent training and guiding tours and expeditions for their new aspiring tour company, Last Frontier Mushing Co-op.

Now here’s a musher who is completely qualified to answer the question of which is tougher, the Yukon Quest or the Iditarod.  Hall didn’t skip a beat when he answered the Iditarod.  We dealt with every condition possible along the trail this year except extreme cold.  Iditarod was definitely more difficult than anything we faced in the Quest.