Poor snow conditions force race cancellation

Frontiersman staff report

WASILLA — A later-than-normal start to winter and warmer-than-normal temperatures have conspired to cancel the Sheep Mountain 150 Sled Dog Race for the second time in three years.

Race director Zack Steer announced this year’s race, which traditionally has kicked off the mushing season in Southcentral, has been shut down. The race was scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

While there is good snow on the ground near Sheep Mountain and Eklutna lodges, a release from race officials says that “high winds over the last few days have removed most of the snow in the upper elevations of the nearby Talkeetna Mountains.”

Many top mushers use the Sheep Mountain 150 more as a tune-up to larger races, the release says. Sparse snowfall also was the reason for canceling the race in 2007.

This year, “There is not enough snow to support 45 dog teams, especially on the downhill sections in the mountains,” Steer says in the release. “Mushers are not able to control their dog teams to operate the sled brake. Safety for the dogs and the mushers is paramount to this race, and right now that is not possible.”

Lance Mackey, the three-time Iditarod champion, and other world-class mushers have used the Sheep Mountain 150 as a training run and tune-up for the Iditarod and Yukon Quest races.

The event begins at Sheep Mountain Lodge and follows a trail that includes a pair of 50-mile loops and four major climbs, the steepest being 1,500 feet over a 4-mile stretch.

Although Mother Nature has not cooperated with the race this year and in 2007, last year’s race was one for the books. Heavy snows a week leading up to the race prepared the trail, which saw a field of 47 mushers.

Two Rivers resident Jessica Hendricks won last year’s race in a time of 12 hours 30 minutes, and a large pack behind her had the second- through fourth-place winner cross the finish line three minutes apart.