2007 Yukon Quest

A modest Sebastian Schnuelle took two of the top honors for the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race at Saturday night’s Finish Banquet at the Westmark Fairbanks Hotel, then wasn’t especially eager to talk about it.

“I really don’t like speeches. What the hell is this?” joked Schnuelle, who had never won either the Sportsmanship Award or the coveted Veterinarian’s Choice Award in four previous Quests. “I really appreciate this.”

The Veterinarian’s Choice Award, an etched burl bowl plus $1,000 in veterinary care from Uncommon Journeys and Veterinary Clinic, went to Schnuelle for the extra time he spent outside caring for dogs during the frigid 24th annual race.

Schnuelle wasn’t expecting the veterinary honor.

“It’s pretty cool,” said the frizzy-haired musher from Whitehorse, Yukon, who finished seventh, just after the near-capacity banquet ended. “You know, I made a couple of decisions against pushing and for resting.”

The Sportsmanship Award, selected by fellow mushers, came with a pair of beaver mitts donated by the Alaska Trappers Association, and went to Schnuelle for his extra effort in helping three fellow mushers scale Eagle Summit.

“I really don’t like speeches but I definitely like the mitts. This comes in very handy for the Iditarod,” he said on his second of three trips to the stage.

The banquet lasted more than four hours, and featured the U.S. and Canadian national anthems, a buffet dinner, a dessert auction, a host of speakers and then the most anticipated portion of the program — an opportunity for the mushers themselves to talk. Many did so at length, thanking friends and family, sponsors, handlers, volunteers, organizers, officials, trail workers, cabin owners, fellow mushers and course, their dogs, which ultimately made the 1,000-mile journey from Whitehorse to Fairbanks possible.

Two of those canines, Lance Mackey’s leaders Hobo Jim and Lippy, received the Golden Harness Award and were each treated to a cooked steak served on a plate.

The visit to the Westmark’s stage was the third for Hobo Jim but first for Lippy, a 4-year-old female who Mackey said was the key to his record-breaking third straight win.

“I’ve never been prouder of a dog than this one. She took control and was actually the main leader,” Mackey said of Lippy as she wolfed down the steak. “It’s an honor and a privilege to drive these fine animals.”

Mackey also won the Dawson Award, 4 ounces of placer gold provided by Joe and Wendy Fellers for being the first musher to reach Dawson City.

The Challenge of the North Award, a caribou jaw bone formed into a miniature mushing sled, went to Mike Jayne. He was chosen by race officials for “best exemplifying the spirit of the North.”

“A lot of people deserve this as much as I do,” said Jayne, a Quest rookie who grew up north of the Arctic Circle in Chandalar Lake.

Aaron Burmeister placed fifth and won the Rookie of the Year Award, which came with a beaver hat.

“I really didn’t feel like a rookie,” said Burmeister, 31, an Iditarod veteran who appreciated the advice doled out — about things like the terrain ahead and good camping spots — from other Quest mushers near the front.

Had there been one, Benedikt Beisch would have gotten the longest speech award, as the German kept the audience entertained by questioning the existence of global warming and telling how his thermometer broke at minus 60 degrees. He also expressed gratitude to a hospitality stop near Pelly Crossing.

“I want to thank those people at Stepping Stone,” said Beisch, who handles for Burmeister in Nenana. “They just treated me like a king.”

Greg Parvin of Two Rivers would have earned the most humorous speech award. Parvin made fun of himself for a run that started at Scroggie Creek and ended there without him realizing it eight hours later, a mistake that contributed to his scratch a couple of days later.

Twenty finishers spoke at the banquet, with the 20th place musher — Kyla Boivin — arriving just in time.

“She just crossed the finish line and came right here for the banquet,” said Alaska Quest executive director Julie Estey, and the crowd responded with hearty applause for Boivin, who mushed into downtown Fairbanks at 7:11 p.m.

That leaves only North Pole’s Bob McAlpin still on the trail. McAlpin will get the Red Lantern Award when he crosses the finish line in Fairbanks. McAlpin left Chena Hot Springs at 5:26 p.m. Saturday and could reach Fairbanks as early as 7 a.m. today.

“I’d like you to give him a round of applause, and hopefully he can hear it on the trail,” said Estey.

Hessert correction

J.T. Hessert, the musher withdrawn in Dawson City primarily for lacking a handler, said Saturday that his frostbitten left heel is healing quickly and his dogs were retrieved from Mile 101 and in good condition in Fairbanks.

Hessert, after watching a film about the 2004 Quest Saturday at the Alaska Public Lands Information Center, also corrected where his frostbite occurred. The location was inaccurately reported on Saturday.

“I frostbit (my foot) not on Eagle Summit but on Birch Creek on the way to Central,” Hessert wrote in an e-mail Saturday. “I then continued on with the foot in bad condition up over Eagle Summit before making the decision to see a doctor at (Mile) 101.”

Hessert, frustrated that his drop bags were opened in Eagle and some of his supplies were used there, contended in the e-mail that after withdrawing him, Quest officials made “direct and significant efforts to hinder my progress down the trail.”

Hessert said he would consider returning to the Quest, just not in 2008. Hessert, a 23-year-old from Maine, added that he plans to run the Kobuk 440 beginning April 5.

“Needless to say, I won’t be at the (finish) banquet,” Hessert wrote Saturday.

Contact staff writer Matias Saari at 459-7591 or msaari@newsminer.com.