Mushing season ramps up with January races

ALASKA – Despite the unpredictable weather in Southcentral, most sled dog races are still on track to run through January and February in preparation for the 2015 Iditarod.

First on the list is the Gin Gin 200, a 200-mile sled dog race departing from the Meiers Lake Roadhouse near Paxson. The race begins Jan. 2 at 6 p.m. to give mushers time for same-day travel to the start, and to allow for potentially warmer rest stops during the day Saturday. The trail runs essentially out and back with a single checkpoint at Alpine Creek Lodge and a dog drop at Crazy Dog Kennel, Mile 42 of the Denali Highway.

The total purse is $7,000.

Race director John Schandelmeier said the Gin Gin normally runs the first weekend after Christmas, but organizers decided to move up the start due to the postponement of the Knik 200/Joe Redington, Sr. Memorial race, which was supposed to be held the same weekend.

“We were figuring that there needed to be an alternative to the Knik 200 because of the high number of sign-ups,” Schandelmeier said.

According to the Knik 200 website, the postponement was due to poor trail conditions, with which the Gin Gin won’t have a problem.

“We have a ton of snow,” Schandelmeier said. “There’s two feet of snow or more everywhere on the race course.”

The Gin Gin is an Iditarod qualifier and will host 40 teams this year — likely the same 40 that signed up for the Knik 200 — most of which are just looking to race and test dogs for the 1,000-plus-mile races, he said.

See dogsleddenali.com/gingin200 or facebook.com/Gingin200 for details.

Next up on the racing docket is the Copper Basin 300, which runs through “the toughest 300 miles in Alaska,” according to the race website. Mushers will start at the KCAM broadcasting station in downtown Glennallen Jan. 10. This year’s course has two fewer checkpoints than last year and is 5 miles longer, for a total 310 miles. Other than that, the only real difference is in the last 25 miles or so, when the trail leads away from the Glenn Highway at Tolsona Lake, then runs due east and nearly due south back into town.

Fifty mushers are currently signed up for the race. Visit cb300.com for more information.

Following the Copper Basin 300 are the Bogus Creek 150 and Kuskokwim 300 events, starting Jan. 16 at 5 and 6:30 p.m., respectively, in Bethel. The associated Akiak Dash (70 miles) begins at 2 p.m. the following day and ends that evening.

Race manager Zach Fansler said this year’s K-300 has a purse of about $123,000, the world’s largest for a middle-distance sled dog race. Prize money is awarded down to the 20th finisher.

“We’re really kinda proud of it,” Fansler said of the race, which sees many mushers from the Valley year to year.

So far the trail looks good except for a big patch of jagged ice on one of the rivers, which volunteers are working to plow through.

“Worst case scenario, we’ll go over land, which will take us off the traditional course,” Fansler said.

Visit k300.org or facebook.com/Kuskokwim300 for updates.

Martin Buser’s Northern Lights 300, a race from his own Happy Trails Kennel in Big Lake to Finger Lake and back, begins at noon Jan. 23. There is no purse for the race but it is an Iditarod qualifier.

Changes to the course include the elimination of the Willow “swamp loop” on the first leg and the addition of Talvista Lodge as a checkpoint.

For more information, visit northernlights300.org or find the race page on Facebook.

The Knik 200/Joe Redington, Sr. Memorial Race has been postponed until Jan. 31.

For more information, visit facebook.com/knik200.

February racing kicks off with the Tustumena 200 on the Kenai Peninsula. The race runs through the Caribou Hills, beginning Feb. 7. Fifty mushers are signed up to win a portion of the $50,000 purse. Visit tustumena200.com or facebook.com/T200SledDogRace for more information.

The Yukon Quest International 1,000-mile sled dog race starts the same day in Whitehorse, Yukon, and finishes in Fairbanks. See yukonquest.com for details.

Back in Alaska, the Paul Johnson Memorial Norton Sound 450 starts at 10 a.m. Feb. 11 in Unalakleet. The total purse is $30,000, and the race is a 2016 Iditarod qualifier.

For more information, visit the Norton Sound Sled Dog Club page on Facebook.

Finally, the 2015 Iditarod begins Mar. 7 in Willow. Eighty mushers are currently signed up for the 1,049-mile race to Nome. Visit iditarod.com for more information.

For mushers not participating in the 2015 Iditarod but looking to train for next year’s race, the Kobuk 440 is slated for April 2. See kobuk440.com for details.

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.