Conditions halt race

JEREMIAH BARTZ/ Frontiersman sports editor

Racing in the 2006 Tesoro Iron Dog snowmachine race was brought to a temporary stop on Wednesday due to extremely poor conditions along the upper west coast of Alaska.

Concerned for the safety of the Iron Dog participants, race officials put the event on hold Tuesday night because of terrible racing conditions.

As of Wednesday, eight teams had arrived in Nome. But three other teams were stopped in Unalakleet, Iron Dog executive director Laura Bedard said.

Those who did attempt the portion of the trail that follows the Alaska west coast from Unalakleet to Nome battled long stretches of open water and generally sloppy conditions.

&#8220The warm weather, winds and rain have taken the ice shells the path normally travels on,” Bedard said from the race headquarters in Fairbanks.

Unseasonably warm temperatures, winds and a high tide from the Norton Sound forced sea water far onto the course, putting much of the trail below water.

The first three teams hit Nome, the halfway point of the race, during the day on Tuesday. Todd Palin, of Wasilla, and his partner Scott Davis, of Kenai, were the first to arrive in Nome. Andy George, of Wasilla, and Dwayne Drake, of Fairbanks, arrived in Nome 15 seconds later. Kenny Kleewein and Shane Barber, both of Willow, were the third team to arrive at the halfway point.

Despite the conditions, the top three teams were aided by the daylight and arrived safely in Nome. But five other teams, including two groups of Valley drivers, were forced to battle darkness in addition to the conditions that became continuously worse.

&#8220For the teams traveling into Nome, the situation became much worse at night,” Bedard said. &#8220It was a very dangerous situation.”

Mark Niver, of Wasilla, and Ron Zugg, of Palmer, comprised the fifth team that made it to Nome. C.C Baird, of Big Lake, and Paul Sindorf, Palmer, made up the eighth and final team that made it to the halfway point.

Because of the poor trail conditions combined with the darkness, three other teams were held in Unalakleet. Two of those teams - Phil Kari, of Wasilla, and Frank Harris, of Big Lake; and David Bang, of Palmer, and Lee Davis, of Big Lake - hail from the Valley.

&#8220We decided we didn't want to put our racers' lives on the line,” Bedard said.

Rather than just allowing the three teams stopped in Unalakleet to venture on to Nome once conditions improved, Bedard said race officials opted to essentially re-start the race from Unalakleet. The times accrued during the 200-mile stretch from Unalakleet to Nome have been thrown out.

On Thursday morning the eight teams who had already arrived in Nome traveled by back to Unalakleet in three groups. Those teams arrived into Unalakleet Thursday afternoon. Once those teams arrive in Unalakleet, Bedard said, Iron Dog officials determined the times and order the Iron Dog participants will re-start the race.

Palin and Davis, the first team into Nome, were the first teams out of Unalakleet. They left at 5:05 p.m. Thursday, according to the race Web site, www.irondog.org. They were followed by George and Drake (5:10 p.m.) and Barber and Kleewein (5:15 p.m.).

Niver and Zugg left at 5:25 p.m. Baird and Sindorf departed at 5:40 p.m. Kari and Harris left at 5:50 p.m. And Davis and Bang were the last to leave, taking off toward Fairbanks at 5:55 p.m.

Now the teams will travel from Unalakleet to Fairbanks, passing through checkpoints such as Kaltag, Galena, Ruby, Tanana and Nenana.

Bedard said the first team should hit the Chena River and arrive at the finish line in Fairbanks sometime Satur-day morning.