Sled dogs and mushers take challenges of training in stride

MAT-SU — Mushers say they’re tired of the media making news out of inclement weather.

As mushers gear up for the 2015 season, four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King says they’ll need the snow come race time, but right now, training opportunities are much the same as usual.

“I actually know of people in the state who are training farther and longer…than we’ve ever done in the past,” King said by phone Friday. “I’m absolutely floored by the training people are doing.”

King is on vacation right now, but just last week he was training at home near Denali National Park, where he and his 28 dogs covered 280 miles in four days. Another musher, he said, covered 200 miles in just 36 hours.

While there is more snow in that area than say, Wasilla or Bethel, it’s still thin, King said. However, too much snow can be more problematic than too little.

“Too much snow will stop us — no snow does not stop us,” he said. “Given the choice between 3 feet and 3 inches (of snow), I’d take 3 inches.”

While Aurora Dog Mushers Club vice president Lisbet Norris agrees they can make do with very little snow, she’d probably take those 3 feet from King. Norris finished her first Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 2014.

“Ideal would be 5 feet of snow and a perfectly groomed trail,” she said.

Norris also said it’s not unusual to have so little snow this month, but based on the data available, it seems unclear what is “usual” or “unusual” weather in November.

In Willow, for example, 33.4 inches of snow fell during November 2011, compared to this year’s 0.1 inch before the snowfall on Saturday, according to theweathercollector.com. Granted, two days’ worth of data was missing from the 2011 record, compared to 16 days this year, but mushers confirm there hasn’t be close to the 2011 amount of snow so far this season.

However, November 2012 was a fairly low-snow period, with just 6.9 inches of snowfall, and November 2013 saw 17 inches of snowfall — no data was missing from those records — so clearly there is some fluctuation from year to year.

Also, the November 2012 snowfall was followed up by 13.9 inches in December and 21 inches the following January, so perhaps mushers and other snow sport enthusiasts can expect a similar increase in snowfall in the coming months.

Meanwhile, mushers are either packing up their dogs and driving north to find enough snow to safely use a sled, or using ATVs to train the dogs, or some combination of both.

Ray Redington Jr., grandson of Iditarod founder Joe Redington Sr., said he’s been driving up to Eureka, which was “wonderful,” but it’s been “hard to get any distance.”

“Now with the level of competition that we have…more people are probably a little more anxious to get out and get some miles on the dogs,” Redington said.

And, understandably so, the dogs seem to be the main concern. While the mushers want the miles, the terrain along the Denali Highway and across the frozen swamps can be tough on the dogs’ feet and joints — snow, on the other hand, offers a much-needed cushion over thousands of miles.

“The reason many of us want some snow is it makes it easy to protect the dog’s feet,” King said.

As a preventative measure, King said he doubled his order of dog booties for this season.

“With the frozen ground, a lot of people are being cautious with the dogs,” Redington seconded.

Even though most, if not all, competitive mushers have more than the Iditarod’s required 16-dog team, there’s no replacing a dog on the trail once the race has begun, and the team “roster” is typically finalized just the day before the race. So, if the star runners have beat up their paws in training, this year’s Iditarod could turn into a completely different race.

And those star runners may be the only ones getting consistent training while ATVs are still in use. Mushers have to race smaller teams when there is less snow, since the snow is what slows them down — if there’s no snow, a full team working with an ATV will run too fast.

“Dogs have an innate desire to run, and run fast,” King said. “It’s like a caricature of teaching a teen to drive a car, they wanna go faster than what’s in their best interest.”

Contrary to what some people might think, the dogs aren’t actually pulling a heavier load when mushers use motor vehicles to train. It doesn’t take many seasons for a musher to work out a formula, giving the vehicle enough gas to get it moving at a speed that mimics the power the dogs must employ to propel a sled on snow.

But running a sled on dry ground, on the other hand can be “life threatening,” King said. He was one of several experienced mushers who got “banged up” last year due to low snow conditions during the race, which took a toll on the sleds and moved the dogs too fast, thereby resulting in crashes and jarring motions which can be hard on the joints for everyone.

The cost of those repairs, too, on top of the cost of gas for the ATVs and extra transportation to find snow — and for some, the cost of extra booties — can take a toll as well.

“People with low budgets, those people aren’t Iditarod mushers,” Norris said. “Dog mushing is incredibly expensive, and it’s not possible to compete without the support of sponsors and friends.”

There are 74 mushers signed up for the 2015 Iditarod, 21 of whom are considered “rookies,” and 13 of whom live outside the United States. Provided there is enough snow, mushers will have 21 opportunities to compete in qualifying races for next year’s Iditarod before the event on March 7, 2015.

Redington said race marshall Mark Nordman has done “an incredible amount of work” on the trail this year, and he is looking forward to another chance to win the trophy after 13 years of racing.

“I enjoy it and I enjoy the challenge,” he said.

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