The 26th musher to cross the finish line in Nome during Iditarod XLIV was rookie Geir Idar Hjelvik. His run time for the northern route was 9 day, 17 hours and 24 minutes. He earns Rookie of the Year honors over Lars Monson by three places. Ketil Reitan claimed 28th place. Monson finished in 29th place and rookie Dag Torulf Olsen finished in 30th place. Tore Albrigtsen finished his second Iditarod on St. Patrick’s Day in 36th place.
Norway mushers have all completed Iditarod XLIV
Gier is serious about mushing, dancing competitions and crafting log cabins. His mushing career started skijoring behind a German Shepherd. His kennel in Norway is based on bloodlines from Iditarod veterans Jerry Austin and Susan Butcher. After competing in the Femundløpet and the Finmarksløpet in Norway, he decided he was ready for the Iditarod. While Geir has his own kennel of thirty dogs, he’s running a team of young dogs from Dallas Seavey’s kennel. When Gier reached the burled arch he congratulated and thanked each of his dogs. He did his gear check and commented that he was happy to be in Nome and felt that he’d had a good race. Gier is a competitive Norwegian folk dancer. He also accomplished at knife making and wood working.
Finishing in 28th place in Nome today was Ketil Reitan. He was greeted by fans and friends as they shouted BRAVO and waved Norwegian flags to welcome him. Ketil has finished the five longest sled dog races in the world. He’s done Iditarod four times, the Yukon Quest, La Grande Odyssee, the Hope Race from Nome to Anadyr and the Finmarksløpet in Norway. He got his start with dogs through the Mushing Club in high school. Ketil came to Alaska for work on his Master’s Degree in Fisheries Science, specifically whaling. He came from Norway to Kaktovik to study Inuit Whaling. Since 2010 he’s been taking people out by boat to photograph polar bears around Kaktovik. Reitan completed Iditarod 1991 through 1994. He placed 10th in 1992 with a time of 11 days, 14 hours and 38 minutes. He has established a new personal best this year covering the northern route in 9 days, 21 hours and 18 minutes.
Iditarod was yet another chapter in the adventurous life of Lars Monson. Lars was born in Oslo, Norway then later moved to the northern part of Norway. He began mushing in 1990 and decided he’d like to run Iditarod after his friend Robert Sorlie ran the race. He has participated in the Femundløpet 600 eight times and the Finnmarksløpet 1000 five times. To that he can now add a 29th place finish in Iditarod. Lars worked as a teacher before he decided to dedicate his energies to adventure and writing. He’s written 18 books and has been on many expeditions. His books are based on some of his long duration travels in Alaska, Canada and Norway. He has crossed Alaska in 10 months, gone the length of Norway in a year and crossed Canada in three years. Lars can now add to the list a 1,049 mile trek by dog team across Alaska in 9 days 21 hours and 52 minutes.
At the Iditarod restart, I notice the sled bag Lars was using. It looked like wax paper and was somewhat transparent but had the durability and waterproofness of nylon fabrics that are much heavier and stiffer. Noah Burmeister had a similar sled bag. For those who aren’t familiar with wax paper, it’s what was used years and years ago to wrap sandwiches in before baggies were invented. Louise Russel of DogBooties.com was taking a serious look at the fabric. It might be the newest greatest thing for sled bags. If so, she’ll add it to her line of products.
The 30th musher to finish Iditarod XLIV is Dag Torluf Olsen from Hammerfest, Norway. He’s been running dogs since 1993. He set his sights on Iditarod in Y2K. Dag says, “Mushing is a big part of my life and that includes a good breeding program in our kennel.” The blood lines of his kennel include Mitch Seavey dogs and Lance Mackey dogs. His family is well known in the mushing community in Norway.
Tore Albrigtsen of Norway completes his second Iditarod
To round out the teams from Norway, Tore Albrigtsen came into Nome at 0205 on St. Patrick’s Day. While it was very early in the morning, people at the Burled Arch wore green festive beads and green derby hats. That will be the case throughout the day and every restaurant in Nome will have Corned Beef and Cabbage on the menu.
Tore has wanted to do Iditarod ever since Stein Fjestad ran in 1977. Fjestad was the first Norwegian Iditarod racer. Fjestad completed the race in 18 days, 15 hours and 23 minutes for 21st place. Today, Tore earned 36th place with a time of 10 days, 11 hours and 5 minutes. Back 10 years ago, he completed his rookie Iditarod in 10 days, 14 hours and 30 minutes for 29th place. Before attempting his first Iditarod in 2006, Tore skied the Finnmark and the Iditarod Trail on classic skies with one dog, not once but twice in the late ‘90s. After he completed his first Iditarod, he climbed Mt. McKinley in 2007. By profession, Tore is a wilderness guide in Tromso, Norway leading kayak and mountaineering adventures as well as sled dog tours.
