The Iditarod Trail Committee (ITC) announced after the Anchorage Ceremonial Start that it will route mushers down the Happy River Steps during this year’s race.  In early February, ITC made the decision to use a winter trail established last year that circumvented the Steps that added a little over a mile to the distance between Finger Lake and Rainy Pass.

“While teams were still leaving 4th Avenue today, we heard from our trailbreakers that the winter trail was no longer the better option based upon the amount of snow and wind in that particular section of trail over the last day,” said Mark Nordman, Race Director.