Reporter Eric Goold and photographer Eric Engman will provide daily coverage of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race from start to finish. This is Goold's second trip down the trail after his rookie run in 2005. Engman made his first run in 1999 and this will be his third race. Send the News-Miner trail crew questions and comments.
Published February 21, 2006.
DAWSON CITY, Yukon—Lance Mackey took a wrong turn Tuesday, but still won the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.
Mackey won his second consecutive Quest behind his lead dog, Larry, when he crossed the finish at 7:29 p.m. AST with 11 dogs. He became the race’s fourth multiple champion despite being caught by his closest pursuers and taking a wrong turn as he left the last checkpoint early Tuesday morning.
“It was stressful,” Mackey said after he crossed the finish line in this historic gold rush town.
“I still don’t know how I managed it. Until just now I didn’t know if I was first or third or what happened.”
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Published February 21, 2006.
DAWSON CITY, Yukon—For the Hall family, mushing is less about racing and more about a lifestyle.
Sure, Wayne Hall is mushing in his second Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race. But the annual run from Fairbanks to Whitehorse occupies just a small amount of their time on the runners. Hall’s wife, Scarlett, and son, Garf, both drive dogs and he families use canine power to help sustain their subsistence lifestyle.
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Published February 21, 2006.
DAWSON CITY, Yukon—Lance Mackey took a wrong turn Tuesday, but still won the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.
Mackey won his second consecutive Quest behind his lead dog, Larry, when he crossed the finish at 7:29 p.m. AST with 11 dogs. He became the race’s fourth multiple champion despite being caught by his closest pursuers and taking a wrong turn as he left the last checkpoint early Tuesday morning.
“It was stressful,” Mackey said after he crossed the finish line in this historic gold rush town.
“I still don’t know how I managed it. Until just now I didn’t know if I was first or third or what happened.”
Read more »
Published February 20, 2006.
PELLY CROSSING, Yukon—Dave Dalton has made up a lot of ground in the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, but the Healy musher still has some work to do if he wants to match his best career finish.
Dalton left this Yukon River checkpoint in sixth place Monday, but was just 16 minutes out of fourth place as he chased Gerry Willomitzer and Sebastian Schnuelle into the Black Hills for the Quest’s final 200 miles.
“It’s been a battle getting to this spot,” Dalton said while eating at the canteen.
“I hope I don’t lose it. Anything can happen.”
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Published February 20, 2006.
PELLY CROSSING, Yukon—Michelle Phillips found herself surrounded by the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race’s media group Monday afternoon.
“Must be a slow news day,” she said.
Phillips was a little bit tired after arriving in this Yukon River checkpoint on the race’s 10th day with 200 miles of trail through the Black Hills left.
Actually, more like exhausted.
“I’m not looking forward to going back to those hills, but you do what you gotta do,” the Tagish, Yukon, musher said.
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Published February 20, 2006.
PELLY CROSSING, Yukon—If you catch William Kleedehn at just the right time and in just the right mood, he’ll tell you what he really thinks.
The time not to catch him is just after he has mushed over 210 miles of the worst terrain the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race has to offer.
The Black Hills. The 4,002-foot King Solomon’s Dome. A constant up and down ride that challenges even a Quest-hardened dog mushing veteran like Kleedehn.
When he arrived in Pelly Crossing early Monday morning, two minutes after Hans Gatt, Kleedehn spoke with the media while he ate. He was delirious.
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Published February 20, 2006.
Hans Gatt is up to his old tricks.
The three-time champion is again in the lead of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race after passing Lance Mackey on the trail to Stewart River. Gatt wiped out a deficit of more than six hours Monday on the 100-mile run to the Quest’s impromptu final checkpoint.
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Published February 19, 2006.
PELLY CROSSING, Yukon—It’s impossible to miss Lance Mackey when he comes to town.
Excited Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race fans and volunteers in this small Native village kept everyone posted as he made his way to the checkpoint Sunday. First there were the ringing air sirens, sounded twice in warning that the team was approaching. Then there was the shouting, “He’s coming! He’s coming!” that echoed across the school yard.
Then there were the 12 dogs left in the defending champion’s team. They could heard barking as they made their way down the Yukon River. And to just make sure everyone noticed, they kept it up as Mackey planted his snowhook.
“That’s the sound of success right there,” Mackey said.
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Published February 19, 2006.
PELLY CROSSING, Yukon—Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race officials responded Sunday to accusations by musher Hugh Neff that he was forced to scratch.
Neff alleged that the Quest veterinary staff had it out for him as far back as last year after he scratched Saturday in Dawson City following his mandatory 36-hour layover.
“There was no personal vendetta, and if so, it didn’t start last year,” head veterinarian Kathleen McGill said. “Every individual veterinarian looked at his team, and I removed myself from the decision because I didn’t want there to be any questions about a personal vendetta.”
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Published February 18, 2006.
DAWSON CITY, Yukon—When the hour struck 3 a.m. Saturday, the three front-runners in the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race were wide awake and scurrying about as they prepared to return to the trail.
After a mandatory 36-hour layover at the traditional halfway point of the race, the mushers and their dogs were anxious to get back on the clock.
“All right, ladies and gentlemen, it’s game time,” defending champion Lance Mackey announced.
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