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!

Northern Light Media Journal

The Northern Light Media Journal site has been updated for the 2008-2009 racing season, and the new site starts out with a three-part slideshow of the Sheep Mountain 150, featuring many photos of the mushers and their teams in the starting chute which have not appeared on other sites.

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.

Musher's Tales: Sheep Mountain 150

As we come across websites and blogs of the mushers from the 2008 Sheep Mountain 150, we'll share the links and interesting excerpts:

Kasilof musher Jon Little shares his experiences at his Trail Notes blog:

My goal going into the race was to maintain a good, fast pace but not go overboard. I kept my pledge for the first leg, but had a tough time keeping my dogs’ speed down as we took off from the Eureka checkpoint for the second leg. It must have been about 11 p.m. and in the single digits below zero F, under a full moon. The dogs were amped. I was a few minutes behind Hans Gatt, Sebastian Schnuelle and Allan Moore, and 14 minutes behind the leader, Jessica Hendricks.

Jamaican musher Newton Marshall's site sports a victory picture and warm congratulations:

Newton placed 21st out of 48 in the 150 mile Sheep Mountain race held this past weekend in Alaska. Big smiles and huge congrats go out to Newton for his accomplishment........Folks at home are so proud of you Newton!

There's a quick note from Zoya DeNure at her Crazy Dog Kennel Journal:

We're here at the Sheep Mountain 150 sled dog race, parked quietly on a plowed road about 13 miles from the start watching teams go by....hard to sit and just watch!

Zoya, John Schandelmeier and their baby girl Jona were on their way home from Anchorage the opening day of the race...

Got a link to a Sheep Mountain 150 musher's site or blog? Send it to helen@northernlightmedia.com - and thanks!

Jessica Hendricks wins Sheep Mountain 150

Judy Currier of Fairbanks, Alaska at the Sheep Mountain 150 on Saturday, Dec. 13. Photo: Helen Hegener

The Go Mush site reported the Two Rivers musher Jessica Hendricks won the Sheep Mountain 150 at 12:30 pm Sunday:

...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.

Sheep Mountain 150 Dogs

Photos from the Sheep Mountain 150 start, December 13, 2008.
All photos ©2008 by Helen Hegener, Northern Light Media.
All rights reserved.

Great Expectations!


Bootying up!


Gerry Willomitzer's leaders waiting patiently


Ryan Redington's wheel dogs


Jeff King's dogs


More Jeff King dogs


Handler with Mark Sleightholme's dogs


Robert Bundzten's leaders


Robert Bundzten's dogs


Kris Boyer's Alberta leaper


Michael Suprenant replacing a bootie


Clint Warnke's team moving to the start line


Two of Nancy Yoshida's dogs


Hans Gatt's team ready to go


Blake Matray's team arrives unassisted


Dallas Seavey's serious workers


Berhard Wiljes Yukon stylin'


Yearling teammates left behind


Hey! What about me?

The Sheep Mountain 150 Start

Sheep Mountain Lodge, Glenn Highway


View looking south across the Glenn Highway


Mountains behind the lodge


The Lodge


Bib #1, signed by the mushers


Lodge's holiday decor


The Sheep Mountain 150 starting point


Banner close-up


Gerry Willomitzer leading out


Team safely out onto the trail


Dressed for the occasion


Smallish spectator


A handwarmer keeps the starting watch warm


Watching the departure

All photos ©2008 by Helen Hegener, Northern Light Media.

Sheep Mountain 150

Ken Anderson, photo by Helen Hegener

Initial reports from the Go Mush news team on the start of the Sheep Mountain 150 provided news, numerous photos and a race update scoreboard:

Mushers 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.

Go Mush

Theresa Daily's new Go Mush website offers many great features to help fans and mushers "Stay on Track," including race reports, breaking news and frequent updates from around the sled dog racing community. Recent posts include a report on the many long distance mushers headed to this weekend's race season opener, the Sheep Mountain 150, and a previous update on the Yukon Quest Trail conditions by Quest Trail Coordinator John Schandelmeier:

The latest updates on the Quest trail are not all good news. The Yukon River from just above Eagle downriver to near Circle is jumbled badly. Schandelmeier later notes: ...the current concensus is that the River can't be done without several feet of snow.

Also available at the dynamic new Go Mush site: a new Forum for discussion of mushing and the many upcoming sled dog races, an events calendar, musher profiles, memorial tributes, the history of mushing, product and gear reviews, mushing-related links, and much more.

Go Mush and stay on track this racing season!

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.