Northern Lights 300 starts Friday

WASILLA — Snow may be scarce in the populated core of the Mat-Su Valley. But that’s not the case everywhere in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. This weekend, more than 30 mushers will see just how plentiful the snow is in some areas.

Race manager Sue Allen said trail conditions are really good for the Northern Lights 300 sled dog race, which starts Friday at noon at Martin Buser’s Happy Trail Kennels near Big Lake.

“The first couple of miles are pretty icy, but the next few are pretty good. The farther out you go, the better it gets,” Allen said Thursday afternoon. “There’s lots of snow above Yentna.”

The 2016 course will take the 33 teams in the field from the Happy Trails Kennels to Yentna Station, to Finger Lake and to the Talvista Lodge, and back through Finger Lake and Yentna to the finish at Happy Trails. Mushers must take a mandatory six-hour layover at their outbound stop at Yentna, and an additional 12 hours of combined layover time at the additional checkpoints.

The 2016 field includes Buser, a four-time Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion. Buser drew the No. 1 bib in the field that also includes the race’s defending champion, Kristy Berington.

Allen said the 2016 winner should hit the finish line at Happy Trails around noon on Sunday.

Buser will also hit the trail for the Northern Lights 300 less than a week after completing the Kuskokwim 300 in Western Alaska. Buser hit the finish line in Bethel Jan. 17 at 10:18 p.m. to finish 12th in the race. Buser’s son Rohn was eighth.

Peter Kaiser arrived in Bethel at 11:06 a.m. that morning to win his second straight Kuskokwim title. Kaiser, a Bethel product, netted $25,000 of the $130,000 race purse with the win. The Busers were among three Valley mushers to finish the race. Kristan Bacon, of Big Lake, placed 20th.

Kuskokwim 300

final standings, into Bethel

1.P. Kaiser, Sunday 11:06 a.m.; 2. B. Sass, 11:14 a.m.; 3. J. Ulsom, 11:22 a.m.; 4. R. Diehl, 11:44 a.m.; 5. J. Cadzow, 11:58 a.m.; 6. J. King, 12:44 p.m.; 7. H. Neff, 12:55 p.m.; 8. R. Buser, 1:21 p.m.; 9. K. Anderson, 2:19 p.m.; 10. M. Williams, 2:20 p.m.; 11. J. Baker, 3:04 p.m.; 12. T. Browning, 3:47 p.m.; 13. P. Gebhardt, 4:49 p.m.; 14. M. Buser, 10:18 p.m.; 15. N. Petit, Monday, 2:32 a.m.; 16. J. Vanderwal, 3:16 a.m.; 17. L. Mackey, 7:03 a.m.; 18. J. Mackey, 7:34 a.m.; 19. P. Mackey, 7:34 a.m.; 20. I. Underwood, 8:02 a.m.; 21. K. Bacon, 8:40 a.m. Scratched: Pato Green, Scott Janssen, Diana Haecker, Brenda Mackey.

Northern Lights 300 field:

33 mushers

Martin Buser; Ellen Halverson; Brenden Jackson; Misha Wijles; James Volek; Tracey Schaeffer; Michael Baker; Adam Worsell; Meredith Mapes; Roger Lee; Andy Pohl; Joe Carson; Jodi Bailey; Mari Troshynski; Jim Lanier; Joar Leifeseth Ulsom; Otto Balogh; Rick Casillo; Justin Savidis; Sebastien Vergnaud; Kristy Berington; Millie Porslid; Karin Hendrickson; Thomas Rosenbloom; Elliot Anderson; Tom Schonberger; Ryan Redington; Margaret Maxiner; Charley Bejna; Becca Moore; Justin Stielstra; Wyatt Suchecki.