Mushers muzzled again

MAT-SU —Ben Kleinenberg hoped for better news.

After postponing the Klondike 300 twice already this month, the organizer of the annual sled dog race was forced to push back the start of the event once again.

Kleinenberg made his final decision on Thursday, and by late that afternoon he’d already begun leaving messages for the 17 mushers slated to participate in a race that had been rescheduled to start Saturday morning at the Tug Bar, south of Wasilla.

“I’m rather disappointed,” Kleinenberg said.

Too much ice and too little snow along the trail — a hazardous combination for participating teams — are the reasons for the decision, Kleinenberg said. And too make matters more frustrating, for those organizing and participating in the event, Kleinenberg said, as of Thursday, he could not say exactly when the start of the race will be postponed to.

“Right now the race date is TBA,” he said.

Conflicts with other scheduled events and the weather in the area will play into a decision he hopes to make next week, he said.

Kleinenberg said he doesn’t want to host the Klondike 300 on a weekend that features another mid-distance sled dog event in Alaska. The Tustumena 200 in Kasilof, the Don Bowers 300 in Willow and the Goose Bay 120 in Knik are also slated to start in the coming weeks.

Assuming each of those races go as planned, that could push the Klondike 300 as far back as the first weekend of February. But that could conflict with the start of the Tesoro Iron Dog, which is slated for Feb. 8.

Organizers of the Tustumena 200 are feeling Kleinenberg’s pain. The 200-mile race was scheduled to start on Jan. 17 on the Kenai Peninsula, but poor weather caused race organizers to push back its start until Jan. 31.

Kleinenberg said mushers on the Peninsula are having their own weather problems, and the Tustumena start is still in danger.

With both the Klondike and the Tustumena acting as qualifiers for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, Kleinenberg said it’s important that the dates do not overlap. Rookie mushers need to log the miles in these races before they can enter the long distance events.

“I know we have four rookies in both races,” Kleinenberg said. “We’re trying to do the best to make everything work.”

If organizers push the race too far into February, the timing could conflict with the Yukon Quest, which is scheduled to start Feb. 14 in Fairbanks.

Kleinenberg said two people left on snowmachine on Thursday morning to check the Klondike 300 trail. Even though he feared the race would have to be postponed once again, Kleinenberg was hoping the pair would return with good news.

There was just too much ice on the trail, he said.

“It’s all about safety,” Kleinenberg said. “The dogs are the main concern.”

Participants in the 300-mile race start at the Tug Bar on Knik-Goose Bay Road, travel through Deshka Landing and spend a six-hour layover at Yentna Station. Teams then head to Angel Haven Lodge before returning back to Yentna for another six-hour layover. The final leg of the race runs back through Deshka to the Tug Bar.

A number of the 17 mushers who remain in the field are from the Valley. The list includes Iditarod veterans Ryan Redington and Ray Redington Jr. of Wasilla; Cim Smyth of Big Lake; and Ramy Smyth of Willow.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Klondike 300 starting order

1. Jessica Hendricks, Two Rivers; (withdrew); 2. Carmen Perzechino, Sterling; 3. Becca Moore, Montana Creek; 4. Matt Hayashida, Willow; 5. Abby West, Two Rivers; 6. Ramy Smith, Willow; 7. Wade Marrs, Wasilla; 8. Louis Bissonnette, Two Rivers; 9. Jen Seavey, Sterling; 10. Kristy Beringtron, Kasilof; 11. Ray Redington Jr., Wasilla; 12. Cim Smyth, Big Lake; 13. Ryan Redington, Wasilla; 14. Wattie Donald, Scotland; 15. Steve Gieger, Willow; 16. Jesse Royer, Fairbanks; 17. Mike Barnett, Scotland; 18. Dan Kaduce, Fairbanks.