By TIM MOWRY
Staff Writer
A 30-hour ordeal did not end until Tuesday morning for a trio of Yukon Quest 300 mushers who ended up stalled on the 35-mile trail between Angel Creek Lodge and Mile 101 due to heavy snow and blizzard-like conditions.
The group included the youngest musher in the field, who was airlifted to […]
CIRCLE—The Yukon Quest 300 was won by a musher competing in his very first race.
The Goldstream Valley was done proud when Brent Sass, the first-time musher who was saved on Eagle Summit by a breathtaking dog named Silver, came off the Yukon River into Circle to win the 300 in convincing fashion at 2:01 p.m. […]
CIRCLE—William Kleedehn was clear about his priorities early Tuesday morning as the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race moved into its fourth day.
“There’s always somebody eager, some leader that wants to break trail,” Kleedehn said after a nap in the Circle firehouse checkpoint. “It’s my job to take care of my dogs.”
Nine teams, including Kleedehn’s, […]
CENTRAL—Lost in the rising tide of panic and then relief Monday at this Steese Highway checkpoint was the fact that the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race is still steaming ahead.
Only 14 teams remain in the 1,000-mile race to Whitehorse, Yukon. Five of the 22 teams that started the race were withdrawn by officials after […]
CENTRAL—Eagle Summit lived up to its reputation as one of the toughest obstacles in all of sled dog racing Monday.
When an early morning snowstorm descended upon the summit, conditions in the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race changed by the minute. Getting off the mountain became a matter of life and death for a handful […]
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 […]
Searchers have found and evacuated the remaining five teams stranded on the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, according to officials.
The mushers and their dogs were airlifted to the 101 Mile Steese Highway dog drop Monday evening, a posting at www.yukonquest.com said.
Nine mushers had been located by 4 p.m., Alaska State Troopers said, and […]
CENTRAL—An airplane spotted four dog mushers stranded Monday afternoon on Eagle Summit during the third day of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, according to Race Marshal Mike McCowan. A dozen or more mushers were stranded or unaccounted for Monday as whiteout conditions wreaked havoc on both the 1,000- and 300-mile versions of the […]
CENTRAL—As of noon Monday, there were five mushers in the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race and eight from the Yukon Quest 300 that were still unaccounted for and possibly stranded on Eagle Summit.
Also lost on the summit at this time is the dog team of 300 musher Randy Chappel.
Dramatic weather and unpredictable […]
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 […]