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 12, 2006.
CENTRAL—Even by Alaska standards, the weather during the first two days of the 2006 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race has been terrible.
Snow and rain socked in the already formidable Eagle Summit late Sunday afternoon, casting a dark shadow upon the second day of the 1,000-mile race to Whitehorse, Yukon. Racers who had made it into this second checkpoint in the race after crossing the summit called conditions, “horrible” and, “really, really scary.”
“There’s a real hard wind blowing,” said race manager Wendel Carey, during an evening news conference conducted by Quest officials at the Steese Roadhouse.
“Boulders are showing on the south side of Eagle Summit. The wind and rain are really blowing, and it’s not making it pleasant for mushers.”
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Published February 12, 2006.
ANGEL CREEK—The warm temperatures that greeted the 22 mushers in the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race did not slow them down on the first leg.
Kelley Griffin of Wasilla led the field into the first checkpoint at 8:22 p.m. Saturday night, just two minutes ahead of defending champion Lance Mackey. The duo covered the 82 miles of trail from Fairbanks in about nine hours.
“The trail was beautiful,” Griffin said as she fueled up on pasta at the Angel Creek Lodge. “These are the nicest conditions I’ve seen all year.”
Griffin’s dogs were hot, but they ran strong on the Chena River and on the Winter Trail into a moonlit night.
“They were bothered by (the heat) a couple of times,” Griffin said. “I have a thermometer and we were pushing 50 degrees. But this run today was awesome.”
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Published February 12, 2006.
When the 23rd Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race got under way Saturday morning on the Chena River, one temperature sign in downtown Fairbanks read 38 degrees. Another just a couple hundred feet away reported 42 degrees.
The near-record temperatures were a balmy reminder that the weather decides the fate of Quest mushers.
“We’re slaves of nature,” Race Marshal Mike McCowan said after the last team panted out of the starting chute.
The Quest began under some of the warmest temperatures in recent race history. Sled dogs prefer the temperature to range from 10 above zero to 10 below.
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Published February 12, 2006.
Just minutes before the start of the 2006 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race late Saturday morning, it was business as usual for the mushers.
In the dog yard positioned a few hundred feet away from the Chena River start chute under the Cushman Street Bridge, there was a flurry of activity as 22 mushers prepared their teams for the trail.
But in the middle of all the pre-race chaos and mayhem of the dog yard—packed full of race officials, fans, media, handlers and barking dogs—it was the mushers who appeared most at ease.
“I’m usually pretty calm before a race,” said Sebastian Schnuelle, Whitehorse, Yukon, a veteran who drove the last dog team onto the Chena wearing bib No. 22. “It takes time to get into a groove.
“All the preparations, all the little worries, you’ve just got to go with what you have. Once you pull the hook and get going, you’ve made the last of your choices.”
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Published February 11, 2006.
Mackey Mania will sweep through Fairbanks once again.
When the 23rd annual Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race begins at 11 a.m. today on the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks, defending champion Lance Mackey will drive an exceptionally talented and experienced dog team out onto the 1,000-mile trail to Whitehorse, Yukon.
“They’re the team everybody keeps talking about,” Mackey said Friday.
Leading the way will be Hobo and Larry, the two dogs who paced Mackey to win the 2005 Quest in his rookie season. Nine of the dogs that won the race last year will be back this year.
“Hobo and Larry are kind of the superstars, and then Hanson is kind of a young guy who’s waiting to be a superstar,” Mackey said.
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Published February 10, 2006.
Kyla Boivin will drive the first dog team out of the starting chute on the Chena River on Saturday to begin the 23rd running of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, and she is not happy about it.
“Yuck,” said Boivin, a veteran musher from Whitehorse, Yukon who drew the No. 1 bib at the Quest Start Banquet on Thursday night in the Gold Room of the Westmark Hotel. “I hate it. It won’t matter once we get out on the trail, but who wants to be first?”
The banquet featured all 22 mushers in the race drawing dog booties from a hopper to determine the starting order for the race, which begins at 11 a.m. underneath the Cushman Street Bridge. Read more »
Published February 5, 2006.
Yukon Quest head veterinarian Kathleen McGill is a dog person.
At Summit Logistics on Saturday, McGill and members of her staff completed the annual pre-race vet check. A similar gathering was held in Whitehorse.
“I come for the dogs,” said McGill. “They just happen to be attached to people.”
According to the rules of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, the vet check is held at one central location and is mandatory for rookie mushers. Veteran mushers can opt to have veterinarians come out to their kennels and do the check-ups there. Read more »
Published February 5, 2006.
The start of the 2006 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race is six days away, and despite a difficult training season and unusual weather patterns, the 1,000-mile trail from Fairbanks to Whitehorse is ready to go.
“It’s good,” Race Marshal Mike McCowan said on Saturday. “It’s not a neat snow trail or anything, but we’ve got a good trail to mush.”
The Quest begins on Feb. 11 at 11 a.m. on the Chena River underneath the Cushman Street Bridge. Read more »
Published January 30, 2006.
The Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race is less than two weeks away, and mushers and race officials are making the final preparations to run what many call the world’s toughest sled dog race.
The 23rd edition of the 1,000-mile race that traverses old mail and gold rush routes throughout Alaska and the Yukon begins on Feb. 11 on the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks.
For the 23 mushers signed up to vie for the crown, a key moment in the race came on Sunday, when the Quest food drop took place in Whitehorse and Fairbanks. Read more »
