It's time for Team and Trail to pick up on the Yukon Quest, which started on February 14th in Whitehorse, and is heading for Fairbanks, 1,000 miles away. The teams are just coming off their mandatory 36 hour rests in Dawson City, and the big news as they get back on the trail again is three time Quest champion Hans Gatt's not joining them. He scratched from this race to refocus his efforts on the upcoming Iditarod. Details at the Yukon Quest site, Northern Light Media Journal, and no doubt many other sources.
For his time on the trail he’ll take home 25% of the $18,000 purse, or $4,500, and his name will be added to the base of the handsome race trophy. Previous winners of the Copper Basin 300, billed as “the toughest 300 miles in Alaska,” are listed at the CB300 website.
Among the front runners who also left the Sourdough checkpoint in the running for first place position were Hans Gatt, Brent Sass, and Allen Moore, three time winner of the CB300.
Congratulations, Lance!
No one in sight behind him! Photos in a few minutes…
...with 11 strong dogs and a smile on her frosted face.An article by Jillian Rogers in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner also reported Hendricks' win:
The 26-year-old Iditarod veteran won the race with a total running time of 12 hours, 52 minutes, beating out Allen Moore of Two Rivers by six minutes and Whitehorse, Yukon’s Hans Gatt, who was just two minutes behind Moore. Kasilof’s Jon Little was a minute behind Gatt, the three-time Quest winner. Jeff King, who has won the Iditarod four times was fifth in his first Sheep Mountain 150 with a total time of 13:17.The News-Miner article reported more about Whitehorse musher Hans Gatt:
Gatt is mentoring Jamaican musher Newton Marshall with the goal of getting the rookie dog driver through the Yukon Quest in 2009. Marshall entered the Sheep Mountain race with some of Gatt’s top dogs for more practice before the 300-mile Copper Basin in January and the Quest in February. Marshall finished the 150-miler in 21st place.Complete race statistics for the Sheep Mountain 150 are available at the Go Mush site, and photos of the race are available at Go Mush, with additional photos in separate albums from photographers Helen Hegener and Donna Quante.
Ken Anderson, photo by Helen HegenerMushers started rolling into Eureka Lodge, 50 miles, at 5 pm today, with Jessica Hendricks in first place, Sebastian Schnuelle second, and Allen Moore third. As of 8:54 pm all mushers arrived at Eureka for their first 5 hour layover. Trail breaker Stan Smith said "the trails are in great shape this year, we have a good amount of snow for the mushers, and we are out there working on them to be sure they are well marked and trouble free."In an article titled "Hendricks leads Sheep Mountain 150 pack," with the subtitle "Schnuelle, Moore, Gatt and Little are right behind," the Anchorage Daily News staff noted:
The talented young Hendricks has finished as high as 15th in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Two years ago, she finished second at Sheep Mountain, just 21 minutes behind winner Lance Mackey.Initial photos from the race start can be found at the Go Mush gallery, and discussion of the race is going on at the Go Mush forum.
The field includes big-name mushers such as four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King of Denali Park, perennial top-10 Iditarod finishers DeeDee Jonrowe of Willow and Ken Anderson of Fox and three-time Quest champion Hans Gatt of Canada. Missing is two-time Iditarod champion and four-time Quest winner Lance Mackey -- the 2006 Sheep Mountain champion.Klott's article includes a listing of the mushers entered.
