Top dogs in sprint to Nome

Frontiersman staff

NOME — Kotzebue’s John Baker and Willow’s Ramey Smith each spent Monday evening on layover in White Mountain, but early Tuesday the leaders will make that final 77-mile sprint to Nome.

Monday night, Baker, eager to become the first musher from his region to win an Iditarod title, held a 51-minute lead in the 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The Kotzebue musher hit White Mountain, the second-to-last checkpoint on the trail, at 5:03 p.m. Monday, just less than an hour ahead of Smyth. Both have led two of the strongest teams down the trail during the latter days of the race.

Both posted identical times from Elim to White Mountain, completing the trek in 7 hours and 12 minutes, good enough for a solid 6.39 mph on the trail.

Both are expected to leave for Safety soon after midnight this morning. There are 55 miles of trail from White Mountain to Safety, and another 22 from Safety to Nome.

Smyth has been known to be one of the fastest mushers during the final leg of the race. Smyth has won the Nome Kennel Club Award, which is given to the musher with the fastest time from Safety to Nome, a handful of times. He last won that honor in 2009.

The Baker-Smyth battle would produce a first Iditarod win for either musher. Smyth had a career-best third-place finish in 2008 and Baker finished third the following year to mark his career high.

As of press time, three mushers were into White Mountain. Hans Gatt hit the checkpoint at 8:33 p.m. Also at press time, Dallas Seavey was leading a group of four mushers from Elim to White Mountain. Four-time defending champion Lance Mackey was sitting in 16th.