Brent Sasse was just miles away from fulfilling his dream of winning the Iditarod Trail sled dog race in Alaska when 60-mph (96-kph) winds blew in from the Bering Sea, reducing visibility to about 10 feet (3 m) and had to be hauled down from his sled when his dogs were covered in snow.
“I didn’t make that stop voluntarily,” laughed Sass, who was seeking his first Iditarod victory last year, but a few miles behind him was five-time champion Dallas Seavey. “We got blown off the trail and it took me an hour to get all my stuff back and figure out where I was.”
Sass won the world’s most famous sled dog race, the Iditarod, on his seventh attempt, leading his team of 11 dogs through the Bering Sea ice and down Nome’s main street to the iconic Buried Arch finish line.
Sass is back to defend his title at the race, which begins Saturday with a fan-friendly 11-mile (18-kilometer) run through the streets of Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city. Thousands of people are expected to line up to cheer on the mushers carrying lucky auction winners “Iditariders” on their sleds for the ceremonial start.
Things get serious on Sunday with the competitive start of the race, which will cover nearly 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) in Alaska. It begins in Willows, about 70 miles (113 km) north of Anchorage.
It is the 51st running of the Iditarod, but its 33 Mushrooms is the smallest field ever to start the race. Mushers and race organizers point to the retirement of some experienced mushers; others taking a break to recover financially after the pandemic; Inflation, and the loss of deep-pocketed sponsors amid continued pressure from the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
PETA took out full-page newspaper ads in Alaska’s two largest cities denouncing the cruel mistreatment of the dogs, which were forced to haul their mushrooms and gear on the thousand miles of the race. The group protested outside the annual mushroom banquet on Thursday.
The six mushers responsible for 18 Iditarod championships are not racing this year. Last year, the sport lost a four-time winner when Lance McKay died of cancer. Mackey was named an honorary musher for this year’s race.
Only 823 mushers have reached the finish line in the Iditarod’s first half-century, and only 24 individual mushers have won the grueling event in all. The mushers and their dog team have experienced some of the harshest conditions in Alaska, crossing the Alaska and Kuskokwim mountain ranges, trekking through monotonous flat tundra, and navigating the treacherous Bering Sea ice. Let’s face it.
Along the way, they stop at several, largely Alaska Native communities that serve as checkpoints.
“It is a celebration of spring for villages across the state. It brings communities and people together for an event that celebrates our state’s history and the dog’s mouth,” said Aaron Burmeister, an Iditarod musher who grew up watching the race end in his hometown of Nome. and who finished in the top 10 eight times in the last decade.
Climate change has and is likely to continue to play a role in the way the race is run.
A warming climate forced organizers to move the event 290 miles (467 km) north from Willow to Fairbanks in 2003, 2015, and 2017 due to a lack of snow in the Alaska Range. Rick Thoman, a climatologist at the Center for International Arctic Research at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said it will become more common as the weather warms, and the Bering sea ice leading into Nome could also become thinner and more dangerous.
Challengers are mounting for the world’s largest sled dog race, said Bob Dorfman, sports branding specialist at Pinnacle Advertising in San Francisco.
“With the threat of high expenses, low payouts, dwindling sponsorship support, PETA pressure, all of it, it just seems more like a trend than an anomaly,” he said. Sass earned $50,000 for winning last year’s race.
Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach says the race is financially healthy, and he hopes the Iditarod will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2073.
Dorfman didn’t disagree but said the 2073 race might not look much different from this year’s race.
Dorfman said, “I don’t see that much change in fortunes.” “I don’t know that it’s going to be more than 30 participants.”
The 43-year-old Saas is believed to be the frontrunner to win the 2023 race. Pete Kaiser, the first Yupik, and fifth Alaska Native to win the race, is the only other ex-champion in the field.
The winner is expected in Nome nine or 10 days after Saturday’s start.