Where Do We Start? Or Restart?

Posted by in
Date: February 23, 2017 5:37 am

Hi Boys and Girls,

The start of the Iditarod is less than 2 weeks away. On Feb. 10th the Board of Directors of the Iditarod Trail Committee voted unanimously to change the restart of the Iditarod from Willow to Fairbanks. This decision was made due to poor trail conditions leading up to both Ptarmigan Pass and Dalzell Gorge. This is the third time the race restart has been changed.

So what does this really mean? First the restart will be moved to Monday March 6th at 10 am AST. Why would they do that?   Willow is 70 miles from Anchorage. When the Ceremonial Start is over, the mushers have time to pack up, and move to Willow to get ready for the start. Fairbanks is approximately 360 miles from Anchorage. That’s a long ways to get all the teams, equipment, fans etc, there for a Sunday restart. So moving the restart to Monday gives everyone the time they need to get to where they need to be.

What about checkpoints? How will the trail from Fairbanks meet up with the trail? Some checkpoints had to be eliminated this year. That means new checkpoints are being set up. This is going to be such a fun year. We have new places to learn about.

This years checkpoints are: Fairbanks, Nenana, Manley Hot Springs, Tanana, Ruby, Galena, Huslia, Koyukuk, Nulato, Kaltag, Unalakleet, Shaktoolik, Koyuk, Elim, Golovin, White Mountain, Safety, and Nome. Can you pick out the new checkpoints?

I bet you are wondering how this will affect the teams. It shouldn’t. There will be some changes to race plans and a teams’ rest/race schedule. They will also have to decide the best place to take their 24 hour mandatory rest. By now that should all be figured out and the mushers should have a good idea about how they hope their race will go.

Look at the map of the new trail. You can come up with a race plan of your own. Where would you take your 24 mandatory rest? What checkpoints would you stay at? Where are some good places to camp between checkpoints. How long do you think it will take to get to Nome. Will the new trail make a difference in finish times?

You can then match your race plan to how the race really goes.

Have fun.

Gypsy