If you enjoy following the Iditarod, you will enjoy it more by following the race with a Fantasy Iditarod Team. Just before I left my students in Iowa, we held our own draft for Iditarod mushers. With their team names created and their teams selected, my students are geared up for the race to begin. …
“Will it be a boy or a girl this year?” This is the question Barb Redington asked the junior mushers last night at the Junior Iditarod Mandatory Meeting. There are eleven juniors racing this year, six girls and five boys. Ten out of the eleven young mushers sat in the front row at Iditarod Headquarters …
The Junior Iditarod is 3 days from starting and preparations are starting to be made. Last night four eager Junior rookies sat in the front row at the annual Junior Iditarod rookie meeting held at Iditarod Headquarters. The night was filled with speakers providing advice, information, and guidance as they begin their journey as a …
As mushers leave “the place where the east wind blows,” they won’t be losing the blustery wind by any means. This next leg of the journey for mushers is approximately 38 miles to Shaktoolik, another village along the coast. Depending on weather it should take teams 4-6 hours to complete. As teams leave Unalakleet, the …
10 days remain until the start of the 2015 Iditarod. You can sense it, you can feel it, you can see it, and you can touch all things Iditarod here at the Millennium Hotel, Iditarod Headquarters. Walking around the Millennium Hotel I can begin to sense a change. Tables are set up in different places, …
Last week we followed musher Cindy Abbott to Kaltag. This week our journey will take us about 82 miles to Unalakleet. Depending on if mushers decide to camp along the trail, this leg of the journey could take them 10-15 hours, and depending on the weather could even take up to 20 hours. Weather conditions …
It is a beautiful spring day outside today. The only problems with the unseasonably warm temperatures are, I am in Alaska, it is still February, and the Iditarod starts in 11 days. Yesterday as I finished packing my bags in Iowa, it was well below zero with the windchill and there was still snow on …
One of the most asked questions I hear from people is, “What are you going to wear to stay warm?” I have to laugh a little bit, because it has been colder here in Iowa than it has been in Alaska. Yesterday morning, February 19, my school had a 2-hour late start due to cold …
We have had to make a change in our journey. Due to lack of snow and poor trail conditions on several sections of the Southern route, the Iditarod Trail Committee has decided to move the restart to Fairbanks. This was a tough decision, but it is what is best for the mushers and dogs. A …
After studying the history of Alaska, my students focused on the culture of Alaska. Alaska is full of unique and interesting cultures. There are many Alaska Native that have participated and still participate in the Iditarod each year. The Iditarod and sled dogs are a big part of Alaska’s culture. The students in my class …
