This past weekend 40 mushers with 400 dogs assembled in Cantwell to run the Denali Doubles. The Doubles is the brain child of mushing innovator Jeff King. 2 Mushers share one team of 20 dogs. 20 dogs in one string, 20 dogs in 2 strings separated by one sled. 20 dogs pulling one sled with 2 mushers. Or 20 dogs pulling 2 sleds with 2 mushers. Variations are as individual as mushers tend to be. This was the 3rd running of the Doubles and the race is invitational. The latest invitee ended up bringing home top prize. None other than Buser and Buser from Happy Trails Kennels in Big Lake. This was the 3rd consecutive win for Rohn Buser this season, or in other words, winning every race he entered. It is not Rohn who is piloting the Happy Trails Team down the Iditarod trails, it the “ hired help” Martin who is wanting to win his 5th Iditarod Title. They sure seem to have the dogs, a speedy bunch, this year and the team looked great at the finish line. Not that I have seen them there personally, as I ended up getting to the finish some 7 hrs later.
Why did I leave my arm chair to begin with? On day one I did not wonder that. We left Cantwell at 4.30 p.m. in perfect conditions, pleasant temperatures, hard fast trail and the moon rising over the Alaska Range. 20 dogs charging up the hills, us mushers riding the drag mat. The more the race progressed, the more I wondered why I had left the comfy armchair and now found myself running up some fairly long hills, snow coming down steady and boat dog Mike snoozing in the sled bag for 64 miles.
This race is clearly designed for Iditarod Mushers wanting to take a last close look at their complete Iditarod team lineup. There is not many places where you can safely run a 20 dogs team. The Denali Highway is, although some of the side hills and side winds can be very challenging. There are some notorious windy spots, namely Mile 13 Hill. Often it gets so windy there, that the highway is being blown clear of snow and showing bare pavement. Now combine that with 30 mile an hour side winds and things get nasty in a hurry, when the team is been blown into the rocky ditch. Not so this year. The warm weather had even reached this part of the world and the highway had the best snow cover I have seen in all my years training there. The rain had glued the snow to the pavement and the winds pretty much behaved. The only windy spot this year was at about Mile 30 to Mile 37, going down MacLaren Summit towards MacLaren Lodge. Allen and Susie Echols who operate the remote lodge used their personal pisten bully trail groomer to groom the trail all the way from Alpine Lodge at Mile 68 to Paxson at Mile 0 and back. Keep in mind that the Pisten Bully runs at about 10 mph. A long and slow trip. They did not make it all the way home and broke down at Mile 30 with a hydraulic pump failure. A tough and cold recovery project is laying ahead of them. The great trail was sure appreciated by us mushers, but it did come at a price for Allen and Susie.
General placings in the Denali Doubles pretty much painted the same picture as most of the other races this season have. It is interesting that the 2 dominant kennels this season have not gone head to head in any race. SP Kennels with Aliy and Allen from Two Rivers have won every race they have entered, so have the Busers. But they were not once together in the same race. And they sure will be in the Iditarod. The Husky Homestead Teams are never far off pace with Ellen Donohue and Lisa Frederic placing a strong third. They sure seemed to have enjoyed each others company as mushers, but no so much the sled setup they drove as they said it should go into the museum as a one and only experiment
Jake Berkowitz of Apex Kennels finished second with Zack Steer. Notably Jake did not drop a dog from his team, and according to a facebook post did not drop a single dog in any race his kennel has participated in this season. That for sure is not an easy feat and a testament to good dog care and breeding. Jake has also finished Iditarod will all 16 dogs in the past and received the humanitarian award in the 2013 Iditarod.
4th place went to two Two Rivers women, Abby West and Jessica Hendriks. Jessica is no stranger to Iditarod, but she is sitting out this year. It is going to be Abby´s rookie run to Nome. She is no stranger to long distance mushing with having finished many Yukon Quests and her kennel partner being the very bush savy Jay Cadzow.
5th place were Iditarod Musher and race Judge Warren Palfrey and Jessie Royer. Jessie has been the top finishing female before Aliy Zirkle took over that place 2 years ago and Jessie is back at the starting line for another run to Nome. Her and Warren have combined kennels for this winter. Jessie is tough as nails, so are her dogs and I am sure we will find her in one of the top places.
6th was Nathan Schroeder who drove up all the way from Minnesota. He was quick to mention the $ 2700 price tag for his fuel bill during his finishing speech. And that was only one way. Nathan has won the prestigious Bear Grease Sled Dog Marathon and as a dad of 3 young children he is fulfilling the dream of a lifetime to run Iditarod.
Next up in 7th and 8th place where the two “ Kusko “ Delta teams of Richie Diehl and Peter Kaiser, both of whom trained a lot with Aaron Burmeister out of Nenana this winter, as the Kusko Delta has some dismal snow conditions. Aaron finished in 10th place running the team together with his wife Mandy. And both were all smiles after the race and were still talking. Robert Bundtzen´s team was 9th and that rounds out the Top 10 of the Denali Doubles, all very compeditive Iditarod Teams.
There even have been 4 scratches. Scratching in the Doubles is not easy, as than you are stuck on the “ other side “ of the highway. Only 135 trail miles, but to call in your dog truck, and that is if it will start, it is a mere 9 hrs drive around via Fairbanks and Delta Junction. Thanks Jeff King and Husky Homestead crew for putting on a phenomenal race once again. The full standings can be found here: Denali Doubles
Yesterday the announcement was made that the Iditarod start remains as originally planned in Willow. Most likely a sigh of relieve for many organizers yet some concerns are voiced by some mushers. Personally I have to say that I fully trust Iditarod in their decision. Every year I ran, the trail was prepared to the best of their abilities. Has the race had some tough spots in the past? By golly it did. I vividly remember running across the burn in 2007 in next no snow, seeing the ITC trail drags sitting beside the trail broken down. The run to the ghost town of Iditarod was not much better. Nobody says the trail to Nome has to be perfect. It is nothing new, that there are stretches of no and low snow. This has always been part of the challenge in the past. If ITC says the trail is doable, as I musher, I fully trust their judgment.
For many mushers now the last minute scramble begins. Be it the team of Ralph Johannsen dealing with the daunting task of driving from Norway to Frankfurt, than shipping the dogs across the big pond and another long drive north to Anchorage. Or be it teams like Ed Stielstra having to drive all the way up from Michigan. And those drives not always go smooth, just ask Karen Ramstead of her adventures a few weeks ago, as she made the treck from Alberta a bit earlier and has been training near Eureka Lodge. Not only mushers from all corners of the continent are beginning their journey to Anchorage. Fans and volunteers are also getting geared up. The Iditarod Insider Crew is getting geared up also, trying to bring you the best coverage possible first hand from the trail. My snowmachine is going into the shop tomorrow for a haul over. I have the gut feeling I am in for a rough ride. If you have not already done so, please make sure to get your front row seat with becoming an Iditarod Insider. Thank you! http://iditarod.com/insider/
Happy trails.
Sebastian ( My gang and me were sure happy to be back on the couch after the Doubles, as you can see they did leave my armchair empty )
