Bond of brothers endures toughest Iron Dog race in the event’s history

Towing his brother Klint VanWingerden’s disabled snowmachine toward Shaktoolik enroute to Fairbanks, Kris VanWingerden pressed hard on the throttle to accelerate and skip the sleds across a stretch of open water. But he didn’t have enough speed. The pair quickly reached safety and watched helplessly as their machines sank. Shaktoolik Search and Rescue soon aided the pair and recovered their machines. After 18 hours of removing water, drying, changing fluids and making other repairs; they finally grabbed a couple of hours’ sleep. The next day they were back in the race and on their way to Unalakleet.

Kris, 31, of Wasilla is a controls and automation engineer for BP Alaska and is based on the North Slope. His brother Klint, 34, of Big Lake is an automation manager with Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., which operates and maintains the Trans Alaska Pipeline System on behalf of BP Alaska and other owners. Lifelong Alaskans, they always dreamed of competing in the Iron Dog. But they didn’t expect to be running their machines across snowless tundra, rocks and open water.

Kris and Klint’s team, Sons of Thunder, No. 49, was among 37 teams that started the race Feb. 21 (ceremonially) from Anchorage; and at the Big Lake re-start Feb. 22. Among those starters, 17 scratched along the 2,030-mile route to Nome and then east to Fairbanks, leaving only 20 who finished the grueling competition — among them, Sons of Thunder.

Kris and Klint drove Yamaha SR-Viper RTX machines with 1,049 cubic centimeter engines rated at about 130 horsepower. By the time they had reached the race’s half-way point in Nome and were on their way to Fairbanks, they had undergone major issues with both sleds that included bulkhead repairs, bogie wheel replacements, four ski replacements, rear shock repairs, damaged A-arms, loose steering controls, engine overheating and oil pressure problems. They didn’t feel alone, however, because others were dealing with similar problems on the extremely rugged trail that race veterans affirmed was the worst they had ever seen.

On Feb. 28, on one of last legs of the route to Fairbanks, from Manley to Nenana, flat light and snow powder from other machines seriously reduced visibility.

“I ended up rolling my machine and bending both handle bars down — one all the way to the gas tank,” says Kris. “We managed to straighten them out so we could continue into Nenana. Our families surprised us by waiting for us at that checkpoint, with signs and everything! It was the most awesome sight we’d seen in a long time. Being able to hug our families was the perfect push to get us to the finish.”

At the finish line in Fairbanks Kris and Klint were bruised and their machines were battered. But whatever pain they felt was dulled by an adrenaline rush and a deep sense of accomplishment. As rookies they had endured a 2,000-mile bone-jarring trail, or more accurately, a non-trail. And the best part: their kinship as brothers came through the experience unscathed — even bolstered.

“A journey like that could put a strain on any relationship,” Kris says. “But realizing we were a team and that we were both going through it together actually made us stronger — even in the worst situations. We’re even closer now than we were before the race.

“We can’t say enough about the encouragement and support we had from friends, family and co-workers who had a vested interest in our finishing this event,” he adds. “We want to give thanks to those who contributed to our success through donations of time, money and prayer, which saw us through.”

Frank Baker is a freelance writer who lives in Eagle River.

*** The following are journal entries kept by Kris and Klint VanWingerden during the 2015 Iron Dog

Team SonsofThunder 2015 Iron Dog Race Report

This is a summary compilation of the events that took place during the week long race from the perspective of the riders of Team SonsofThunder 2015 Iron Dog Team. We thought it best to provide a report on this amazing adventure in a chronological, narrative format. We will do our best to capture the most notable and memorable events rather than bore you with the endless tattle of our extensive woe’s ;). We can’t say enough about the encouragement and support we had from friends, family, and co-workers that had a vested interest in our FINISHING this event. We want to start with giving thanks to those of you that took interest and contributed to our success through your donations of time, money, and prayer which saw us through. It is truly amazing!

Thursday February 19th, 2015 – Tech inspection at Cabela’s: Thanks again to those of you that came out to see us at Cabela’s! It was really encouraging to see each of you.

Saturday February 21st, 2015 – Ceremonial Start: Again, a very special thanks to those of you that came down to see us while we waited to parade our shiny new machines through the streets of Downtown Anchorage and eventually across the base to Eagle River. It was really cool to see the base and all the fans lined up throughout the course.

Sunday February 22nd, 2015 – Big Lake Re-start (Big Lake to Skwentna): Despite a wrong turn made by Team SonsofThunder that brought us onto a veteran used trail to the Yentna, it was a very clean run to Skwentna (won the fastest all-rookie team to Skwentna award). Snow conditions had completely changed from our last practice run a couple days earlier. 2-days of rain preceding the race made the snow heavy and soft. The original trail was completely unrecognizable and almost non-existent.

(Skwentna to Shell Lake) [afternoon hrs.]: The heavy snow conditions added challenge to the trail. If we deviated even slightly from the beaten path, the skis would sink through the snow pulling the machine from the trail. Kris ended up tagging a tree and bending both the upper and lower a-arms on his sled. The damage restricted left turns to about 1-2 degrees. We decided to limp the machine into Puntilla (some 60 miles away) and declare a layover to have parts flown in to repair the damage.

(Shell Lake to Puntilla): The damaged A-arms and restricted turning ability reduced our travel time. We would often have to manually position the machine to make left-hand corners.

(Puntilla Lake, Rainey Pass Lodge) [evening to late night hrs.]: We declared a 6 hour layover and started calling pilots to plead our case and get parts flown in. Unfortunately, with poor weather conditions and time of day, it was too risky to have anyone fly in parts to us in Puntilla. We had a whole left side setup sent commercially to McGrath (which was our next planned layover location). Meanwhile, Steve at Rainy Pass Lodge let us use their welder, scrap steel, a sawzall, and buffing wheel to weld together something that resembled a mid-evil torture device. Any work to your sled MUST be on the clock so we were not able to start working until our 6 hour layover was completed. This was excruciating as we had to wait for hours before we were allowed to touch the machine needing attention. There was also a scratched trail-class team 99 who helped us out by holding lights for us, and they gave us some JB Weld that we used later-on.

Monday February 23rd, 2015 – (Puntilla Lake): We ended up finishing the patch/repair and hitting the trail about 12:00 February 23rd, 2015. The repair cost about 2.5 hrs., and resulted in the skis being toed-in, but Kris was at least able to turn left. We felt our equipment was at roughly 70% health.

(Puntilla to Rohn) [early morning hrs.]: Shortly after leaving Rainy Pass Lodge, Kris’ sled needed the steering to be adjusted on the trail, since each ski was carting the sled in different directions. Dropping into the Kuskokwim wasn’t too bad. There was a significant amount of open water, but we had good entry and exit points for the crossings. Snow was starting to diminish. With the damaged a-arms, extra caution was taken to prevent additional damage to the machine.

(Rohn to Nikolai): We started into this leg of the race thinking this would be our most challenging due to lack of snow (prepared for cooling issues). What we underestimated was the size of the tussocks and rocks that we would be traversing to get to Nikolai. We passed many teams in this area, but we had some cooling issues as well, and had to stop several times to allow our engine coolant temperature to drop out of the red. Having known what the trail was going to be like before we went in, we would never have attempted with our patched a-arm; however, as the a-arm surprisingly endured this portion of the trail, confidence was gained with our repair job. The snow completely disappeared. Surprisingly, dust was a major issue. I can’t exaggerate the brutality our machines endured through this portion of the trail. We practically rattled the teeth out of our heads …but that’s later in this report.

(Nikolai to McGrath)[roughly 6am]: No major issues during this leg of the race; however, a major manufacturing defect was beginning to manifest itself in Kris’ sled by the steering post nut loosening up from the bulkhead mounting location.

(McGrath Layover): McGrath was a very happy site. This is a mandatory layover location. Thanks to Mansy, we had a good night’s rest (prior attempts at arranging lodging prior to the race had failed, so we went into McGrath hoping). We stayed in an old federal building that Mansy converted to a Hotel. It was quiet and comfortable. Our parts were scheduled to show up in several hours. Before getting some rest, we coordinated use of a local shop and tools, owned by Robert Noyukuk, to swap out the damaged parts on Kris’s sled. We woke up a couple hours before our layover was complete and staged the parts and tools. We made a quick swap after going back on the clock. Was feeling a little worried about the upper A-arm forward mount as a small portion of the aluminum bulkhead tore when the mount was bent back straight. After re-adjusting the toe on the steering linkage, and tightening the steering post bolt, we hit the trail feeling near 95% confidence.

(McGrath to Ophir): This portion of the trail was fairly uneventful. Snow conditions were way better than the previous legs. No major issues.

(Ophir to Poorman): This leg ended up being one of the more mentally challenging legs. The lack of snow again, did not cover the many large tussocks and rocks that are normally covered in the winter months. Klint remembered looking down at the odometer thinking surely we must be getting close to the Poorman checkpoint only to realize we were barely halfway. Klint’s machine suffered multiple direct hits to the front nose cone and bumper. Klint hit so hard he bruised his nose between his eyes from hitting his nose on the windshield. Strictly cosmetic however the bumper was bent so bad his main LED auxiliary light was rendered useless as it could only point straight down. Reduced visibility, but drive train was in good form. Kris’ steering on his sled was beginning to loosen up again during this section of trail also.

(Poorman to Ruby) [evening hrs]: More of the seemingly endless bumps however about 30 miles outside Ruby, the trail makes a step change improvement. No more tussocks/large rocks! A few miles from ruby the trail enters a high winds area where drifts become significant, but nothing major when traversing through this leg.

(Ruby to Galeena) [early morning hrs]: We finally made it to the Yukon! Klint expected to make good time on the river, and expected to be to the Yukon some 6 hours earlier. The lack of daylight and no usable aux light reduced our top speed somewhat; however, we had a fairly clean run into Galeena. Kris’ steering had come loose again by this point resulting in uncontrolled steering shifts.

Tuesday February 24th, 2015 – (Galeena Layover): We took an 8 hour layover in Galeena. We stayed with a very hospitable family (Martin, Silke, and Fin Hornfischer) that fed us well and gave us a much needed restful night. We returned to our machines prepared to tighten up the steering stem end nut when released. Adjustment was made and we hit the trail feeling roughly 90% confidence in the equipment.

(Galeena to Kaltag) [daytime hrs]: The Yukon river was open between Galeena and Kaltag so there was a mandatory overland portion added to the course which added roughly 10 miles to an already long leg (about 110 miles altogether). This leg went well. No major issues. We got to Kaltag with fuel to spare. Hit a top speed of 103 MPH on this leg.

(Kaltag to Unalakleet): This portion of the trail was fairly uneventful. Snow conditions were good up until roughly halfway when snow began to diminish next to nil. Kris noticed his steering was loosening up again, and initially thought that the steering post bolt was twisting off with each prior tightening. No major issues.

(Unalakleet Layover): We took our last 8 hour layover heading north in Unalakleet. We stayed with Gary and Willa who had guests from out-of-state. They fed us well and provided comfortable beds for some much needed rest. We woke up to the smell of steak and crab cooking. We ate so well it was difficult to leave.

(Unalakleet to Shaktoolik) [evening hrs]: With Kris’ steering loose again we prepared to tighten it up when we went back on the clock. After doing this adjustment several times already, we could knock it out in less than 10 minutes. Upon completion we hit the trail. About 12 miles outside Unalakleet, Kris’s steering stem mount broke off completely as we just passed another team. We felt it would be quicker to go backwards to Unalakleet where there was potential for better support than continue another 30 miles to Shaktoolik. Since Kris was unable to steer his machine, Klint would have to use a rope attached to his ski loops to point Kris’ sled in the right direction. We had to water skip numerous water holes to get back to Unalakleet. We eventually made it back to Gary and Willa’s place where we built a new steering stem mount bracket out of some scrap steel, misc hardware, and ingenuity. We bolted the new bracket in-place over the top of the original bracket (or what was left of the original bracket). Kris’ steering was skewed to the right somewhat after the 6 hour fix when we hit the trail again.

Wednesday February 25th, 2015 – (Unalakleet to Shaktoolik 2nd attempt) [early morning hrs.]: After finishing the steering stem repairs to Kris’s sled, we pushed on to Shak. No major issues on the second attempt. Some open water. Pretty small sections requiring water skipping that was much easier to manage with the snowmachine steering mechanisms working.

(Shaktoolik to Koyuk): Shak to Koyuk was a good run. Hit 105 MPH across the bay! The over sea route was in good shape which is significantly shorter than going overland. We had an unexpected scare coming into Koyuk. 200 yards from the banks of Koyuk was open water with floating ice chucks that you had to dodge or jump. One team broke an a-arm in the middle of the debris and left their machine out there (floating on its own barge of ice). We ended up sweeping to the side and skipped right to shore where we finished the last several hundred yards over land.

(Koyuk to White Mtn): This route was slow going over land. There were a lot of bumps, and overland routes to avoid open-ocean. Halfway to White Mtn we got back down on to solid sea ice which was smooth and fast. We made good time until we came into one of this year’s more famous locations Golovin Bay. We were following the trail stakes/markers however the ice broke out and what was once solid ice was now open water. We ended up finding ourselves about a mile off-shore with green water all around us. We had been moving along at around 80-90 MPH. Our engines were starting to bog down and our belts were starting to get wet and slip. We turned toward shore, prayed for deliverance and miraculously made it to shore. It turns out the team behind us ended up going through the same exercise, but unfortunately didn’t quite make it all the way back to shore. It took us some extra time to get back on course. We ended up fighting the local vegetation due to the area we came ashore, which did its fair share of damage to side panels. Once back on track, it was a much less stressful ride into White Mtn.

(White Mtn to Nome): This leg of the race goes overland toward Nome. All the water skipping up to this point made the shorter skipping sections seem minor. Klint mis-calculated a short skipping section and sunk up to his knees in water. Fortunately the machine was fine. We were able to get it running right away after pulling it out of the water with Kris’s machine. The rest of the ride into Nome was slow and easy due to Kris’ sled losing its rear shock around the same location where Klint sunk. As soon as the overland route came to ocean again, the way leading into Nome had several bad drifting locations throughout that we learned later injured some of the lead veterans. We pulled into Nome during daylight, and had a morale boosting afternoon/evening in Nome from the encouragement of family and friends.

Thursday February 26th, 2015 – (Nome Layover): We took 1.2 hrs to address issues with both sleds, from bulkhead repairs, bogie replacements, 4 ski replacements, rear shock repairs, and other odds and ends. This couldn’t have been accomplished without the support of our father -Doug VanWingerden.

We had scheduled an assembly for the kids at the Nome school and missed our initial appointment (due to the major delays we’d experienced over the previous couple days). We were able to reschedule a time with the kids on the following morning where we had a good turnout and engaged audience. The kids loved to hear about the challenges of the trail and the analogies used for life circumstances.

(Nome to White Mtn): A storm had blown in and conditions were less than stellar. At times you couldn’t make out the ground from the horizon. It was complete white-out. Average speeds were less than 20 mph. Stakes were posted every 50 feet or so but the conditions were so bad you couldn’t see the next trail stake when leaving the previous. If it wasn’t for GPS, we may still be wondering around in the wilderness. Despite the storm, there were areas where visibility improved for short periods. We’d pick up speed as we could but conditions would change quickly and render us almost blind at times. Klint ended up smashing his jaw into the handlebars and chipping 6 teeth due to the loss of visibility traveling at race speeds. Other than the broken teeth, it was a fairly slow, uneventful ride into White MTN.

(White Mtn to Koyuk): The locals staked an overland route through the village completely bypassing the open water outside White MTN. Visibility was still poor due to the storm and blowing snow. Halfway to Koyuk, Klint got wrapped up in some jagged sea-ice which flipped his sled over, bent both handle bars to the tank, and derailed the track. We were able to bend the handle bars back mostly straight and the track righted itself fairly quickly after rolling it forward off the ice.

(Koyuk to Shaktoolik): The wind was blowing so hard, the combined headwind would lift the side of our machines and felt like it was going to roll us over. Halfway across the sound, Klint’s machine went into limp mode due to low oil pressure. Due to the high wind, we couldn’t hold on to the side panels when we pulled them off to inspect the engine. We decided to tow Klint’s machine into Shaktoolik some 15 – 20 miles away. Towing into Shaktoolik required towing across open water. Some of the water skipping sections were 200 – 300 yards long. We made it across all but the last one. Unfortunately we sank in the middle and had to be recovered by the Shaktoolik Search and Rescue team. We spent the next 18 hours removing the water from our machines, changing fluids, and working to get the machines going again. Klint’s oil pressure problem was due to a failed/doubled oil filter o-ring. Kris’s machine had water in the fuel tank, fuel rail system, cylinders, exhaust, engine oil, and chain case. Tired, beat, and unable to get the machines going, we decided to try get some sleep before telling the race official we’re scratching. When we woke up a couple hours later, we made one last attempt to start the last machine and it fired up! We loaded our equipment as fast as we could and made preparations for traveling to Unalakleet.

Friday February 27th, 2015 – (Shaktoolik to Unalakleet): Just before leaving Shak, Klint’s machine went into limp mode flashing the oil light. Not again!!!! It didn’t seem like we were destined to leave Shaktoolik at this point. With some guidance from Josh Estes at Performance Yamaha on how to bypass the oil pressure switch causing the limp mode, we were able to get back on the trail and head to Unalakleet. Kris’ engine was running hot since Unalakleet with overheating issues requiring several stops. Halfway to Unalakleet, during one of the engine cool down times, we decided to continue on through Unalakleet if possible, and catch up to the rest of the group in Galeena.

(Unalakleet to Kaltag): This was a fairly clean run other than Kris’s machine was overheating requiring stops. Kris removed his side panels to try help with the cooling. Somewhere between Unalakleet and Kaltag, Kris lost a bungee, resulting in lost side panels. We’re expecting to see the race panels on a local machine when we drive through next year ;)

(Kaltag to Galeena): This was a clean run. No issues. Slow and steady.

(Galeena to Ruby): We pulled into Galeena expecting to take a layover/break however the race official stated we’d be leaving in 15 minutes. We grabbed a quick bite and prepared to continue on to Fairbanks if needed. We were stoked to catch most of the teams here and excited the officials were allowing us to continue.

(Ruby layover): When we pulled into Ruby, the race official said the Marshal wanted to speak to us. He called him on the phone and handed the phone to Klint. Lee Davis commented that we were setting new records traveling from Shaktoolik to Ruby in the same day ;) He said we must be pretty tired and we could take a layover in Ruby. We could catch the other teams in the morning in Tanana. We stayed with Vern Albert and his family in Ruby for an 8 hour layover and enjoyed good food, sleep, and company. It was humbling to see his sons give up their room and beds for us to sleep in. We woke up in the morning revived and ready to push on to Fairbanks to finish the race, and see our families! We were still uneasy the equipment would make it, but were resolved to see it through.

Saturday February 28th, 2015 – (Ruby to Tanana): This leg of the race is 120 miles and the longest stretch of trail. We carried an extra gallon in gas jugs inside our tool bag, and carried another gallon in our laps. 30 miles out we dumped in a gallon which was more than enough to get us to Tanana. The run was fairly clean and uneventful. We caught the entire group in Tanana when we arrived Saturday Morning.

(Tanana to Manley): Again, clean run. Once in Manly a line of sleds were waiting for the fuel pump. Kris had to shut down his sled each time a sled would cycle up to the gas pump. Once Klint finished his fueling, Kris went to start his sled and it wouldn’t fire. There were several unsuccessful attempts at firing, which resulted in one of the teams behind to get their sled ahead for fueling. Kris eventually got his running, and piled snow everywhere to keep the temps low enough during his fueling turn.

(Manley to Nenana): Reduced visibility due to flat light, and the snow powder kicked up from other teams we were passing. Kris ended up rolling his machine, bending both handle bars down, one to the tank. We were able to get it mostly straight so we could continue. Our families surprised us by waiting for us at the Nenana checkpoint. Signs and everything! It was the most awesome sight we’d seen in a long time. Being able to hug our families was the perfect push to get us to the finish.

(Nenana to North Pole): Leading into North Pole there were trails headed in many different directions. Where the trail moves from the Tanana onto the Chena River, Kris’s tether switch came off killing his machine. Klint and Kris were separated, and, due to the unfamiliarity of location and lack of trail markers, by the time Klint had turned around to go back, Kris had continued down a different path finding himself in a back subdivision. When he returned they just missed each other, and spent the next 15-20 minutes trying to regroup.

(North Pole to Fairbanks): Kris’ tether came loose once again killing his engine after jumping an opening in the ice on the Chena. It was a slow and a twisty run up the river into Fairbanks. The finish line was the most welcome site we’d ever seen with the finish flag waving and our families waiting. We did it!

We have photos of a great deal of these issues, and will continue to have more in the future that can be seen on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/klint.kris.sot