Eye on the Trail: Kaiser First into Kaltag

Posted by in Iditarod
Date: March 9, 2019 6:31 pm

Kaltag checker Richard Burnham congratulates Pete Kaiser as the winner of the Bristol Bay Native Corporation’s FISH FIRST award for being the first musher to reach the Kaltag checkpoint on Saturday March 9th during the 2019 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Photo by Jeff Schultz/ (C) 2019 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Peter Kaiser made Kaltag at 16:48 with 11 dogs in harness to earn the Bristol Bay Native Corporation Fish First Award.  Kaiser is a veteran musher from Bethel, Alaska is wearing bib #9.

As the first musher into Kaltag, Peter is the recipient of the Bristol Bay Native Corporation Fish First Award.  The award includes a certificate for 25 pounds of fresh-caught, wild Bristol Bay salmon filets, a check for $2,000 and a wood-burned art piece by BBNC shareholder and artist Apayo Moore.

Bristol Bay is home to the World’s largest wild sockeye salmon fishery and BBNC has endorsed a “fish first” priority for land and resource management in the area.

“Bristol Bay Native Corporation is excited to present an award that supports our Fish First value,” said Jason Metrokin, BBNC president and chief executive officer.  “Dog mushing and fishing are long-standing traditions in Bristol Bay.  We congratulate Peter on winning the 2019 Fish First Award.”

Pete Kaiser runs on the Yukon River as he makes his way to be the first to the Kaltag checkpoint on Saturday March 9th during the 2019 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Photo by Jeff Schultz/ (C) 2019 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Kaiser departed Eagle Island for the 60 mile run to Kaltag at 07:45 Saturday morning.  Traveling at 6.63 miles per hour, the run to Kaltag took Peter’s team 9 hours and 3 minutes.  Kaiser arrived in Kaltag 3 minutes ahead of Nicolas Petit.  Moving at 4.30, Petit’s run from Eagle Island took 13 hours and 58 minutes.  Looking at GPS tracker, Petit rested his team for about 4 hours during the 60 mile run and Kaiser snacked approximately every three hours.  Petit’s rest certainly accounts for the difference in speed for the run. 

Kaiser and Petit will soon be joined in Kaltag by Joar Leifseth Ulsom and Jessie Royer. There are ten additional mushers out of Eagle Island who are behind Royer heading to Kaltag. 

Now it’s time to do some calculating as to when the first musher will make the Bering Sea coastal community of Unalakleet.  Since leaving Anvik, the teams have spent 130 miles on the Yukon River heading north.  The river is noted for fierce headwinds.  The majority of the teams are on the Yukon River.  Only nine teams have yet to make Anvik.