Willomitzer’s wild ride
101 MILE STEESE HIGWAY—For Gerry Willomitzer, Sunday was one of those days that made him wonder why he ever wanted to be a dog musher with a dream of winning the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.
“I had the worst crash I’ve ever had,” Willomitzer said as he ate granola bars inside the warm cabin at this windblown, icy mining camp that serves as a dog drop and convenient rest stop.
The second day of the Quest was brutal on all of the mushers, particularly in the 15-mile stretch from Rosebud Summit to 101.
“I was on a downhill-sidehill glacier combination,” said Willomitzer, who sported several abrasions and scratches on his face. “It was about 70 yards to the bottom. I fell and got sideways under the sled.”
Willomitzer’s freefall ended in a jumble of stumps.
His team was tangled, but OK.
“The dogs came out of it all right. A few are working on minor shoulder injuries. I’m not sure if I will drop any yet,” Willomitzer said. “They were better off than I was. It was painful.”
The collection of mushers who gathered for lunch at 101 after the difficult stretch all bore the signs of the Quest trail’s wrath.
Hugh Neff had a mangled hand and a bruised shoulder. Dave Dalton and Kelley Griffin sat in the back of the cabin, soaking in the warmth of a potbellied stove, too tired to move. Their boots were frozen blocks of ice.
Sebastian Schnuelle slept in the back room, finding some comfort while nestled on the floor between two empty beds.
William Kleedehn, a veteran of 10 Quests, said it has been some time since he saw trail conditions like those on view Sunday.
“In 1990, in the old days, the trail was not brushed that often,” Kleedehn said. “All the mushers carried saws to cut free from trees. But this is as bad as I remember.”
The Quest has forged its reputation as the world’s toughest sled dog race for a reason. The trail offers every challenge imaginable and some no one could anticipate.
“Usually I train for that—massive amounts of ice and overflow and not much snow,” Kleedehn said. “That’s what I’ve had all year.”
Geoffrion, Boyce scratch
Paul Geoffrion of Whitehorse and Rod Boyce of Two River became the first mushers to scratch from this year’s Quest.
Both dropped out at 101 Mile Steese Highway. It is unclear why they scratched and the race’s Web site offers no explanation. About a third of the field scratches each year.
Nineteen mushers remained on the trail as of midnight.