2019 – Joar Leifseth Ulsom Arrives in McGrath
In 1973 sweethearts, wives and family stood with tears in their eyes as the mushers departed the start of the inaugural Iditarod. Would they ever see their men again? They were trying something that had never been done before – racing from Anchorage to Nome by dog team. Many thought it couldn’t be done but there were 34 men with teams of working dogs who were intrigued by the idea and willing to give it a try. Lo and behold, 20 days later the first team reached Nome. Twenty-two teams finished and 12 scratched. Maybe what’s even more amazing is that forty-four teams signed up for the second Iditarod!
I’m intrigued by that uncertainty and how it applies to the 2021 Gold Trail Loop. What will it be like going, as Cindy Abbott puts it, “Up the down Staircase?” How about strategies? Mushers have had 48 years of races to use as a basis for developing strategy for the 1,000-mile run. But in 2021 all but half of that goes out the window. Running out to Iditarod then turning around and heading back to the dog truck… The dogs are going to know something is up!
With the Yukon River and the Bering Sea Coast out of the equation, how will teams from that part of the state react? Take for example John Baker in 2011. When his team reached the Yukon, they knew home was just up and over a few hills, around a few bends and over a few more hills even though Nome was some 400 miles away. The same seems to be true for other teams from out there going all the way back to Libby Riddles. Aaron Burmeister, Richie Diehl and Peter Kaiser have traditionally performed well along the coast. They know the weather and the wind and the dogs know they are heading home.
Athletes of the Iditarod climbing into McGrath in 2019
Where is the optimum place to take the 24-hour rest? Takotna, a favorite location, won’t be an option this year. Will the general wisdom still say rest on day three or will more teams push it to the halfway point? Who wants a jazzed dog team on the tussocks coming back out of Iditarod? What about the 8-hour Yukon River rest that is now the Rohn to Rohn interior rest? Will Ophir be the popular choice?
Bruce Lee, Insider Analyst sees the race as being more of a speed race. He predicts a much closer race to the finish. His words were “neck and neck.” If that’s the case, Skwentna inbound is going to be hopping!
Trail savvy people think the trail will be well packed after 47 teams travel out to Iditarod. That may play a significant role in the 90 mile run from Iditarod back to Ophir and perhaps even further but we all know Mother Nature can have her say be it with snow or warm weather and there’s snow in the forecast. Bye-Bye hard fast trail?
How about the head on passes the Gold Trail Loop requires? Race Marshal, Mark Nordman reminds us that these are well-trained dog teams and deliberate mushers who plan ahead. You can bet they’ve rehearsed head on passes. Nordman says it’s a non-factor as shown in 2003 when teams traveled from Kaltag to Anvik and back again, passing head on as they navigated the Yukon. As a reminder, northbound teams will have cleared Rohn, thus the Gorge, well before and teams return to Rohn on the southbound run to Deshka. Teams won’t be meeting in the Gorge or on the Steps.
Without question the field of the 2021 Iditarod is talented and diverse. If it’s a strategy of speed that prevails and wins, you have to look at a handful of teams that are known for their preference for moving fast. Nicolas Petit has dominated the mid-distance Willow 300 and the Copper Basin 300 for the past four years and he was third in the Kusko 300 in 2021. Richie Diehl and Peter Kaiser took top honors in the K300. Ryan Redington is another guy who trains for and likes speed as seen in his Beargrease performances.
If it’s the tried and true distance team that captures gold there are certainly plenty of capable contestants. Brent Sass was 4th in 2020 and Matt Hall was 6th in 2019 and both own Yukon Quest victories – Sass has three and Hall has one. While defending Iditarod Champion Thomas Waerner observes this one from Norway, previous champions Peter Kaiser and Joar Leifseth Ulsom are eager to be Iditarod Grand Champions. Peter has shown that he performs well in the mid AND long distance platforms and Joar has never been out of the top 10.
Did Martin Buser have something up his sleeve when he announced last year that he’d be running the Happy Trails B-team? Did he see in that group of dogs the potential for a 5th championship pending the bonding and trail experience with himself in the 2020 race?
Dallas Seavey, the youngest person to collect four Iditarod Championships has returned with a hybrid team. He’s combined the best dogs from his kennel with the best dogs from his father Mitch’s kennel. This concept of combining athletes between kennels isn’t unique. It’s a common practice among Norwegian mushers who have smaller kennels and plenty of Alaskan mushers have built coop teams over the years too. Will this be the Seavey dream team and can Dallas tie Rick Swenson’s record of 5 Iditarod Championships? Time will tell.
The race of 2019 saw three women, Jessie Royer, Aliy Zirkle and Paige Drobny, finish in the top 10. Royer repeated at 3rd and Drobny repeated at 7th in Iditarod 2020 and both have had multiple top ten finishes in the Yukon Quest. No doubt in my mind that we could have a three peat with Royer, Drobny and Zirkle in the top ten for 2021.
What about going up the down staircase? Aliy Zirkle, DeeDee Jonrowe and Libby Riddles talked that over during the Women in Mushing Roundtable. Aliy thinks it will be as challenging if not more challenging than little McKinley. DeeDee believes the most difficult section of the trail will be between Rainy Pass and Finger Lake southbound, in other words, the Happy River Steps.
Aliy Zirkle has announced her retirement from competitive mushing following the 2021 race. Aliy is a fierce competitor and her dogs pick up her drive and desire to perform. She and her dogs will come into this race primed and ready to challenge for gold. By the way in her career, Aliy has raced enough miles to circle the earth and is a Yukon Quest Champion.
There are three other mushers who have landed in the top ten repeatedly over the past few years – Aaron Burmeister, Ramey Smyth and Travis Beals. Burmeister from Nome/Nenana has finished as high as third and in the last 8 years has been top ten in 6 races. Ramey Smyth has eleven top tens including a second and 2 third place finishes. Compared to Aaron and Ramey, Travis is a newcomer to the race but he’s finished with 3 top tens in seven starts with 5th in 2019 as his best. These guys always show up with well-trained teams. Incidentally, Ramey lives not far from the Start. When the teams make the loop at Iditarod/Flat and start heading back to Deshka, his dogs are going to know they are heading home.
Experts and analysts can crunch the numbers and stats and weight the possible outcomes all they want but predictions don’t count. The race is what counts and it’s the contest that determines the champion. The Gold Trail Loop of 2021 is going to be a one of kind unique race, no doubt about it. Get set for some excitement. Following by Iditarod Insider and GPS tracker is the next best thing to being there. Enjoy the race!
