DAWSON CITY — William Kleedehn sounds like he has conceded the Yukon Quest to Lance Mackey.
Three-time champion Hans Gatt says his problem-riddled race led him to consider scratching.
Gerry Willomitzer said Mackey can be caught but the Fairbanks racer’s pursuers will need help.
That’s the word Wednesday from three of Mackey’s biggest challengers, who are facing major deficits after Mackey seized control of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race by mushing into downtown Dawson City late Tuesday night with his lively 12-dog team.
Kleedehn, who rested five hours on the 100-mile run from Stewart River to Dawson while Mackey ran virtually straight through, now trails Mackey by 4 hours and 22 minutes. He analyzed the race over breakfast Wednesday morning at the Downtown Hotel.
Tales from the trail
“It should be no problem for Lance. It’s too much (of a deficit),” said Kleedehn, who chatted amicably with Mackey while preparing camp as Mackey overtook him Tuesday afternoon. “It means Lance doesn’t have to play any games anymore. He can rest even more than he needs to.”
The only way Mackey can be caught is if he takes a wrong turn (which he did last year) or encounters some other disaster, said Kleedehn.
Gatt, meanwhile, had to slow his team down early on after several dogs suffered wrist injuries on the hard, fast trail.
“Right off the bat, I knew there was something wrong with the team,” said Gatt, in fifth place, 6 hours, 25 minutes behind Mackey. “The damage is done. I just have to find a way to get the remaining team to Fairbanks.”
Gatt has turned his attention to Alaska’s other long-distance race, which starts next month.
“I’m already focused on Iditarod, actually. I was thinking of stopping here and going home,” Gatt said. “I don’t think it’s a possibility any more. I hate to scratch from a race, you know.”
Of the Europeans, only Gerry Willomitzer (fourth, 5 hours, 17 minutes out) seems to be holding out hope.
“Oh yeah, we all can (catch Mackey). We have to have really good runs and Mackey will need to have some problems,” said Willomitzer, the largest musher in the race at 6-foot-5, 210 pounds. “If you don’t believe you can catch him, it isn’t going to happen. I believe it’s possible.”
But Willomitzer said he probably hurt his chances after overfeeding his team heading to Stewart River, thus having to shut his dogs down for six hours.
The mushers shared tales of extreme overflow in the King Solomon’s Dome area Tuesday night.
“The overflow is so high some (trail) markers are now submerged. Unreal,” said Kleedehn.
Willomitzer recounted a harrowing run over a sloped “glacier” a few hundred feet long and a 100-feet wide.
“It was pretty wild. A lot of these glaciers were coming alive again. This one had an eight-foot vertical drop at the (edge of the trail),” said Willomitzer. “So I started sliding towards the edge and I chose to bail from the sled and actually jumped down the wall. I looked at the sled from the bottom and just held it there. I told the dogs to go and they hauled it back up.”
Former leader Hugh Neff of Skagway is third, 4 hours 44 minutes behind, after losing considerable time on Tuesday.
Thirteen mushers had arrived in Dawson for their 36-hour layover by Wednesday night, including seven from Interior Alaska.
The other locals who topped out on King Solomon’s Dome and followed the long gradual descent through historic gold mining country are:
Aaron Burmeister of Nenana in seventh, 10 hours and 41 minutes behind Mackey. The Iditarod veteran is in position to earn the Quest’s Rookie of the Year Award but had hoped to contend for the title. His race has been plagued by injured dogs. He has only nine remaining on the gangline.
Rookie leader
John Schandelmeier, eighth, 15 hours, 30 minutes back. The Maclaren River musher who says he doesn’t want to race anymore is more than holding his own.
David Dalton of Healy came into Dawson just seven minutes behind Schandelmeier. Dalton is running his 17th Quest and was fourth last year but has struggled in recent days for unknown reasons.
The young trio of mushers from the Fairbanks area, Mike Jayne (10th), Fairbanks’ Brent Sass (11th) and Two Rivers’ Richie Beattie (12th) all arrived Wednesday within 37 minutes of each other, with Jayne passing the other two on King Solomon’s Dome.
Fifteen mushers are still on the trail, including Yuka Honda of Healy in 21st; Benedikt Beisch of Nenana in 22nd; Regina Wycoff of Healy in 23rd; Greg Parvin of Two Rivers in 24th; and Bob McAlpin of North Pole is mopping up the trail in 26th.
Contact staff writer Matias Saari at msaari@newsminer.com.
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