Kuskokwim 300

The Kuskokwim 300 is considered one of the the Big Four of Alaska distance mushing, along with the Copper Basin 300, the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod, and there's a great article about the Kusko by reporter Mike Campbell in the Jan. 13th Anchorage Daily News:

...as usual, the Kusko field is stacked. Entrants include:

• Four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King, whose eight victories in Bethel make him the winningest Kusko musher in history;

• Fellow four-time Iditarod champ Martin Buser, who has prevailed twice at the Kusko;

• Defending champ Mitch Seavey of Sterling, who last year earned more prize money in a single season than any musher in history. In addition to the Kusko ($20,000), Seavey was seventh in the Iditarod ($48,000) and won the All-Alaska Sweepstakes' $100,000 winner-take-all jackpot.

• Ken Anderson of Fairbanks, whose second place in the Yukon Quest, followed by fourth in the Iditarod, suggest he's poised for a championship breakthrough.

All are chasing the winner's $20,000 share of the $100,000 purse, mushing's biggest prize after the Iditarod and Quest.

The more interesting part of Campbell's article, however, is about the many Native distance mushers, both those entered in the Kusko and it's related shorter races - the Bogus Creek 150, and Akiak Dash, and those who've now retired. It's a good article, and the Kusko 300 is going to be a great race!

Musher's Tales: Sheep Mountain 150 Part 3

Jamaican musher Newton Marshall's blogger Susie Rogan had an interesting update and perspective on the Sheep Mountain 150:

It was like Sundance Film Festival of dog racing with mushers such as Jeff King (4 time Iditarod winner), Ken Anderson, Sebastian Schnuelle, Gerry Willomietzer, DeeDee Jonrowe (second place Iditarod), Aily Zirkle (1st place Yukon Quest), and Hans of course (3 times first place Yukon Quest and champion of many other races), etc. etc. Many were running this as a first race of the season, being careful and checking out their dogs under race conditions. The race could have been a lot more competitive if these people were giving it all they had, but they were preserving their teams for bigger races later in the season.

Also a great note about Newton's race effort:

Newton also could definately have gone a lot faster but instead ran a perfect race and finished with all his dogs in great shape. The race vet approached me and said, "In case I don't get a chance to talk to Hans and Newton, would you pass on to them that Newton looked extremely good out there. Very professional. He had his check point routine down almost perfectly. You could tell he was having to think, but he didn't miss a thing."

Mush, Mon!

Musher's Tales: Sheep Mountain 150 Part 2

Continuing the reports from Sheep Mountain mushers, Colleen (Cole) Robertia's blog has a lengthy entry detailing her adventures on the trail, including losing her brake and getting off the trail, then getting badly bitten by an entangled dog from another team:

Cole finished 13th out of the 50 mushers that started the event, which exceeded our own expectations given the talented field. Our goal was to place between 10 and 20th position, and we had expected to come in around 18th, so 13th place was a great feeling of accomplishment. Overall, the weather and course were pretty favorable. The highs were around minus 5 most of the time, and the mercury dipped to near minus 20 during the night leg of the race, which is almost perfect for the dogs to run in. In addition the full moon was out, so the night leg was well lit, and there must have been some sort of meteor shower that night too, because there were a million shooting stars.

Sebastian Schnuelle's Blue Kennels had five teams entered in the race, and his blog has a handful of Sheep Mountain-related entries:

With Sebastian there is also Ray Edwards and Mark Sleightholme at the Startline of the Sheep Mountain. The Sheep Mountain is a race over 150 miles (240 km) passing awesome landscapes. A beautiful day for the start of the 4th annual Sheep Mountain 150. Sunshine and a light wind helped the record 47 mushers get on down the trail today. Temperatures loomed between 5 above and minus 20°F (-15 to -30°C), depending on where you were standing.

And Jeff King reported from his Husky Homestead near Denali Park:

Just got back from a weekend mushing my rookie run of the Sheep Mountain 150. Boy do Zack and Anjanette Steer know how to put on a dog race! Extremely well organized, great trail, awesome weather, full moon, shooting stars and hot babes table-dancing in the bar. What more could a musher want? Our second year star handler Dave DeCaro also ran a team of 2 year olds in their first ever race ~ and fun was had by all.

ADN: Sheep Mountain 150 is Back

The Anchorage Daily News posted an article by Kevin Klott, "Sheep Mountain race is back," which details this weekend's 150 mile race from Sheep Mountain Lodge to Eureka Lodge and back. The Sheep Mountain 150 was cancelled last year due to minimal snow conditions, but this year the snowfall has been good and the trails are ready for the largest field of mushers in the race's four year history:

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.