All’s well that end’s well
CENTRAL—After a tense day of anxiety and quiet fear as authorities in planes and helicopters searched Monday for several missing mushers and their dogs, Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race officials, volunteers and handlers greeted news that all were safe with a palpable sense of relief.
About a dozen dog teams competing in the 1,000-mile race and simultaneously in a 300-mile qualifying race were unaccounted for at one point Monday. Worried Quest officials called in the Alaska State Troopers and Alaska National Guard to conduct an air search after a ground search was forced back by whiteout conditions on Eagle Summit.
Race Marshal Mike McCowan said all mushers and dogs—including the team lost by Randy Chappel as he descended the summit—were safe and accounted for.
“There’s been so many lows, then highs,” said Frank Turner, a longtime Quest veteran whose son, Saul, was missing with the family dog team. “I just about cried when I heard. It’s been quite a ride.”
Race officials and followers were deeply concerned about the welfare of mushers on Eagle Summit after a February storm brought snow and rain to one of the trail’s most inhospitable sections.
Mushers Saul Turner, Jennifer Cochran, Phil Joy, Yuka Honda and Kiara Adams and their dogs in the 1,000-mile race were stranded between the 101 Mile Steese Highway dog drop and the Central checkpoint. All were airlifted by National Guard helicopter back to 101 by late Monday afternoon.
McCowan withdrew the group from the race, along with eight Quest 300 mushers who turned back at either 101 Mile or Angel Creek, the race’s first checkpoint. Fourteen long-distance mushers continued down the trail toward Whitehorse as the sun set Monday. Six remain in the 300-mile race, which finishes in Circle.
McCowan said there was no choice but to withdraw the teams after launching a full-scale search.
“There was a massive amount of assets on the line to find these folks and a massive effort to put them in a safe situation,” McCowan said.
Perhaps most remarkable of all, the dogs in Chappel’s team were all in good shape, lined out and ready to go when found. The dogs were also taken by helicopter to 101 around 6:30 p.m.
When asked if she was surprised the dogs weathered a potentially deadly situation, Quest head veterinarian Kathleen McGill said: “I’m surprise by everything on this race. But I have faith in the dogs. … These dogs are conditioned athletes. They are trail-wise dogs and they knew how to handle themselves.”
McCowan and Race Manager Wendel Carey praised the volunteers of Central who helped organize the search and mounted a snowmachine rescue party.
“The Quest spirit is more than alive,” McCowan said. “It is pumping hard and strong.
“A lot of people risked their lives today. There were a lot of people who put it all on the line to bring together this incredible effort.”
McCowan said past Quest pilot and current volunteer Gary Chamberlain was particularly essential in piecing together the air operation to get the dogs and mushers safely back to 101.
And the ham radio operators tied together communication between officials, Central searchers and airborne authorities.
“The ham guys were right on,” McCowan said. “They’re just right on the money at every checkpoint and at every dog drop.”
Turner, who ran the first 22 Quests before passing on his team to his son this year, recalled a time when he and five other mushers were stranded on Eagle Summit for two days.
“But it was different then,” Turner said. “We were going uphill, not down, and there was snow. This time, the lack of snow was the biggest concern.”
Turner summed up the nature of the problem for the four mushers.
“They just got really lost,” he said. “If you don’t know where you are going when you get to the top, and you can’t see where you’re going, in these conditions it is extremely easy to get lost. You have no bearings.”
Throughout the day, the usually low-key Turner grew increasingly nervous. He wandered the Steese Roadhouse checkpoint, swayed back and forth with various waves of misinformation and grew steadily more anxious as the day went on.
“I had my concern,” he said. “If you’re a parent, you still have that protective instinct no matter how old your child is.”
The road over Eagle Summit remained closed Monday night and is not expected to open until later today, so Turner was not able to get to 101 and see his son.
Until then, Turner took a break and was able to smile for the first time since the Quest started.
“I’m gonna have a couple of brews,” Turner said. “There’s something special about the beers in Central.”