New sled design turns heads

NOME -- At the center of conversation in the world of dog mushing has been Jeff King and his new sled. King, who completed the Iditarod Trail early Wednesday morning to place second in the Last Great Race, is not only Jeff King "three-time Iditarod champion," he now also, Jeff King, "dog sled architect."

Many saw King comfortably sitting on a makeshift chair at the center of his sled as his team zipped across Interior Alaska.

Blessed with a brainstorm before the 2004 race, King assembled a sled with longer runners and split the storage compartment in half. At the center of the sled, between the two storage compartments is where he can sit somewhat comfortably along the trail.

King said he spent a lot of his time riding on a snowmachine while he was training his dogs and he liked the idea of being able to sit down. King also said it would help to conserve energy on the trail, which is important on a trip as long as the Iditarod.

He constructed two sleds of his own, and it did not take long for his mushing peers to follow. Martin Buser, a four-time champion of the Iditarod, constructed a sled complete with a seat of his own.

"I had a healthy skepticism about the little caboose on the back of his runners," Mitch Seavey, the 2004 Iditarod champion, said. "Then I realized there might be something to it. There is a lot less moaning and groaning when they get up."

In hopes of catching Seavey, King ditched his caboose in White Mountain and went with a sled with extra-long runners.

"I was missing my seat," King said. "I went to sit down and almost fell on my butt."