2011 Iditarod Trail Invitational

[cartographer]

Sean,

Thanks for the race updates!

Have you considered 'snowblades'?  They might be heavier than you want, though.

[sean salach]

A friend of mine was just showing me snowblades on ebay yesterday. Next year's a long time off though, so who knows, maybe I'll make my own so that they're exactly the width/length/strength I need. Another friend of mine just started a splitboard company(splitting them, not building them), and is pretty confident we could do it ourselves.

[sean salach]

If you guys aren't checking the Iditarod Trail Invitational facebook page, one of the residents of McGrath has posted a bunch of photos of Jay, Tracey and Aiden in the villages along the Yukon there. There's at least one link to it on page 1 of this thread.

[goldenboy]

This is a great race to follow.  You just have to work at it harder. 
Thanks for the link to Aiden's page.  I hadn't seen that yet.  How did he post up while he is out there?

[goldenboy]

It looks like Aiden is tweeting also.  He said the checkpoint crews were raiding the drop bags from the mushers who scratched.  So he is benefiting from their luxurious cast offs, but the indulgences are slowing his race pace.   

[JML]

Why exactly are Spot trackers not allowed in this race? Not tough guy enough  or something?

[sean salach]

It's a combination of several things.

1- A racers malfunctioning spot unit sent something like a million help messages while he was pushing his bike through a 160 mile section of trail with little to no chance of easily contacting that rider without search and rescue.

2- Racers in the Yukon Arctic Ultra the same year were pressing the help/911 buttons for relatively frivolous reasons, which caused people watching at home to panic and call in a very expensive and completely unneeded search and rescue operation.

3- Part of this race is self sufficiency, self rescue, and dealing with fear and the unknown. It's more than just pedaling/pushing long miles. That's what you sign up for when you sign up for the ITI.

4- The organizers have enough to deal with without having to handle thousands of phone calls and emails from worried and over-reactive moms/spouses/friends/internet stalkers wondering why Johnny hasn't moved in a few hours, or why Suzy hasn't made it to the next checkpoint as quickly as they thought she would.


Spots are justifiable in a race like the TD because there is a set course and any uncorrected deviation from that set course is a violation of the rules. Spots allow the organizers to track that. Other than that though, they're more of a headache than anything else.

Emergency Personal Locator Beacons(kind of like avalanche transceivers, but will call in a search and rescue) and sat phones are allowed, because they really don't leave many unanswered questions, like the Spot units do.

[sean salach]

Here's an interesting approach taken by the Iditarod dog sled race, quoted directly from their 2011 rulebook:

http://iditarod.com/race/iditarodrules.html

"Rule 34 – Electronic Devices: No two-way communication device shall be allowed unless provided by ITC. Use of any electronic communication or tracking device shall not be permitted unless provided by the ITC. While a musher may carry a one-way emergency device such as an emergency locator transmitter (ELT), a Spot™, or other similar satellite tracking device, activation of any help or emergency signal, including accidental activation, will make a musher ineligible to continue and will result in an automatic withdrawal from the race. Night vision goggles are not allowed. Use of GPS is permitted."


It's an interesting approach that should discourage people from carrying the cheaper devices out there like Spot, but doesn't really solve any of the problems associated with them. The Iditarod has a $5000 entry fee and butt loads of corporate sponsorship/individual buy-ins(merchandise, insider, etc), so they can afford things like the gps trackers they attach to the racers sleds.

[sean salach]

Jerym Brunton made it to Shageluk this morning. Tim Hewitt, who has walked/ran to Nome 5 times already, which is 3 times more than anyone else has done it human powered, made it to Grayling last night. He then promptly left Grayling to continue up the trail. In 2001, on Tim's first Nome attempt/finish, he basically walked the last 500 miles on a broken leg. Billy Koitsch, who is continuing outside of the race, on his own, due to a scratch/fly home/fly back, made it to Grayling last night and should be back on the trail by now. The top 10-15 mushers have likely passed Aiden and the Petervary's by now.


You can watch the progress of the mushers by clicking "Race Standings" in the right hand menu here:

http://iditarod.com/race/

[sean salach]

2 cyclists spotted from a plane between Eagle Island and Kaltag. Most likely Jay and Tracey.

[sean salach]

Jay and Tracey should be in Kaltag right now. It's taken them just a little bit longer this year on the southern route than it did last year on the northern route. That's a testament to the unprecedented trail conditions the race has seen this year. It took them around 5 days last year to go from Kaltag to Nome. If the weather holds, and trail conditions are bomber on the coast, it's going to be a record smashing year.

Current record on the southern route is: 22 days, 47 minutes by Carl Hutchings.

Only 11 people have ever finished the Southern route, 9 within the Iditasport or Ultrasport.

No word on where Aidan, Billy, Tim or Jerym are yet.

[sean salach]

Wow, I was off on that one. Jay and Tracey only arrived in Kaltag today at 12:30 pm. They're planning to make it to one of the shelter cabins between there and Unalakleet for the night. The dogs must've churned the trail up a bit in front of them.

They've been on the trail 14 days now. It's around 270 miles from Unalakleet to the finish. That stretch took them 4 days last year, but Jay was sick for at least part of that stretch. They'll be getting to, and I imagine passing through, Unalakleet tomorrow, day 15 of the race.

[sean salach]

Aidan apparently arrived just behind Jay and Tracey and plans to skip the shelter cabins and head straight over the Kaltag Portage to Unalakleet. The organizers have offered a free pizza at Piece on Earth in Unalakleet to the first person to reach the coast. Looks like it'll be a 90 mile race to find out who gets the prime. All three riders have just finished a long stretch of Yukon river trail, have probably gone 60+ miles since their last bivy, and will be passing two nice , maintained, well sealed, stocked with firewood and sheltered from the elements safety cabins along the next 90ish mile stretch to the coast. They might even already be warm from snoozing mushers.

I would probably have a hard time passing up a nap in one of those cabins...

Jerym is in Grayling. Tim is somewhere between Grayling and Kaltag.

[unckle knobby]

any word on curiak

[sean salach]

Curiak started the 'race'(as a filmer/photographer) with the early stages of a pretty nasty flu. He ended up holed up at Rainy Pass Lake cabin, shivering and shitting, and called it quits there. He's back in Co as far as I know.


Jay and Tracey appear to have won themselves the pizza prime, and they and Aidan were all in Shaktoolik as of last night. This morning they face a huge expanse of sea ice on the ride across Norton Sound to Koyuk.

Jay has broken one of his pedals, and is trying to get a replacement shipped out. It sounds like it's just one of the wings, so he should still be able to ride, but only clip in on two sides. Annoying, but manageable.

[sean salach]

Tracey posted this on the messageboard an hour and a half or so ago: "Howdy folks! I gave the boyz a head start to Nome! Stay tuned-I can't wait to see what happens! I'm gonna keep tearin' it up and enjoy the journey!"


Sounds like Jay and Aidan might have taken off together this morning. I wonder if there was some pedal swapping going on?

[unckle knobby]

thanks sean

[sean salach]

The race is heating up now! Jay and Aidan left Shaktoolik before Tracey, and appear to be duking it out for Nome. Jay reached Koyuk at 12:30 and was out within half an hour. Aidan's time to Koyuk is unsure at the moment, but he's first into Elim at 5pm, with the intention of getting right back on the trail. There is LESS THAN 100 MILES TO GO for Aidan, Jay and probably Tracey by later this evening!!

[carlhutch]

wow! Nice move.Aidan thinks he`s Seppala.

Mistake of not what a great move and a twist and what a great story.Im hoping that 1 gear is enough to give Jay a fight before Nome.

Dont ya just love Ultrasport.The best race in the world.

[unckle knobby]

anyone know what gearing