Rescue or miscue?
There seems to be a lot of debate in the mushing community about the rescue of the Yukon Quest mushers from the storm on Eagle Summit.
As the wife of a musher who was lost for nearly a week and was widely thought to be dead during a race a few years ago, my perspective is obviously skewed. I was happy to hear that Quest officials called in the National Guard to rescue mushers stranded in Sunday’s storm on Eagle Summit. I don’t want anyone to have to go through the ordeal I had.
From secondhand comments I’ve heard from some of the rescued mushers, they’re darn happy to be alive and out of the storm too, despite also being out of the race. I don’t know if they all feel that way. One friend I talked to Tuesday said he wondered if they were given a chance to refuse the rescue, or if they knew they’d be withdrawn for accepting outside assistance.
Some mushers, including Quest and Iditarod veterans I talked to, are saying the Quest shouldn’t have rushed to the rescue, that the mushers should have been able to hunker down until the storm passed. Or that the mushers should have just stayed in the checkpoint until the trail over the summit was safe.
Still others have said Quest officials should have “frozen” the race for everyone, including those already over the summit and heading for Circle, until conditions were safer.
Of course, we weren’t on the scene and don’t know all the calculations that went into the decision to call for help. It was truly a horrific storm, and I’m grateful no person, or dog, was seriously hurt or killed.
Monday morning quarterbacking is generally futile, but I think some good questions have been raised. I also am grateful that all of the mushers who were caught in the storm are alive and in good condition and can add their voices to the debate, if they wish.