Dogsled.com: Mushing news, Iditarod, Yukon Quest, sled dog events

The 2007 Yukon Quest starts Saturday, February 10th in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. The Start Banquet is over, the mushers have drawn their numbers, and here are the results! 1. Richie Beattie 2. Mike Jayne 3. Brent Sass 4. William Kleedehn 5. Aaron Burmeister 6. Bob McAlpin 7. Benedikt Beisch 8. Tom Benson 9. Dave Dalton 10. Peter Ledwidge 11. Michelle Phillips 12. Lance Mackey 13. Regina Wycoff 14. Kelly Griffin 15. Catherine Pinard 16. Greg Parvin 17. Hans Gatt 18. Frank Turner 19. Hugh Neff  20. J.T. Hessert 21. Kyla Boivin 22. Sebastian Schnuelle 23. Gerry Willomitzer 24. Kiara Adams 25. Russ Bybee 26. William Hanes 27. Yuka Honda 28. John Schandelmeier

At the Top of the World, in the Yukon-Alaskan Interior, an epic event takes place every year that few people from "down south" have experienced. Covering 1000 miles between Whitehorse, Yukon Territory and Fairbanks, Alaska during the depths of the Arctic winter, the Yukon Quest is known as the 'toughest sled dog race in the world'.

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Yukon Quest (2006)

Lance wins the Yukon Quest!
February 21, 2006
For the second year in a row, Lance has grabbed the Yukon Quest title, arriving in Dawson City February 21st at 20:20 Watch the video

Mackey sets record with sizzling run from Eagle
Reprint Courtesy of Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
By ERIC GOOLD, Staff Writer DAWSON CITY, Yukon
February 17, 2006

Weather has been tearing up the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race trail this year.

Lance Mackey took his turn Thursday. The defending champion absolutely scorched the trail on the 150-mile run from Eagle, obliterating the previous record for the run by about five hours before bedding down in this historic gold rush town for his 36-hour mandatory layover.

Mackey, who won last year's race as a rookie, used an unconventional--and possibly untried--strategy to overcome a two-hour deficit to Hans Gatt out of Eagle. He sizzled into Dawson at 1:47 p.m. AST, earning four ounces of gold and placing a 11/2-hour buffer between his team and his closest competitor, William Kleedehn.

"I made two long runs," Mackey said as he heated his tent at the Yukon River campgrounds and hung his clothes on lines to dry out.

"That was my plan from the get-go. I did exactly what I set out to do. It didn't matter to me too much what Hans was doing. I was wasting no time and there was no extra messing around. And we had a good run."

Mackey was full of praise for his dog team for chewing up trail on the two runs. Mushers usually break the trail from Eagle into three runs, with two rests. His dogs had just one long rest on the trail from Eagle. That allowed him to complete the run in 23 hours, 12 minutes, about five hours faster than previous record runs.

Kleedehn, who finished eight minutes behind Mackey last year, was second into Dawson. He arrived at 3:16 p.m. and also easily surpassed the previous record run from Eagle with a time of 24:11. Gatt, who left Eagle first, probably employed the more conventional rest-run strategy, covering the trail from Eagle in 28:10.

Mackey will be allowed to leave Dawson at 3:19 a.m. Saturday morning. Kleedehn can leave at 4:30 and Gatt will be released at 6:03. The rest of the 13-team field was still on the way to Dawson late Thursday.

"I think they just love to please me, and I do everything in my power to make them happy," Mackey said of his dogs. "They're flawless. It's an honor to drive them. This whole team as a whole is something to be reckoned with.

"I'm not one to brag about them, but damn they look good."

Mackey's sled was damaged in a slow run through sugary snow on the Yukon River from Circle to Eagle, and it continued to give Mackey problems Thursday.

"It's a workout," he said. "That sled is not working right. It pulls hard to the left, real hard. It's real extreme."

Mackey will get his gold poke if he finishes the race. He also picked up the gold in Dawson last year before taking the $30,000 winner's share of the $125,000 purse.

"Those little added bonuses are kind of sentimental to me," said Mackey. "I think I'll just put it on a shelf in my trophy case along with the rest of them."

He said if he did end up cashing in some of the gold, he would use it for dog food.

"The dogs are the ones who earned it," Mackey said.

Mackey said he fell asleep on the sled at least twice during the run to Dawson. He was woken from those moments when he fell off his sled.

During his one camp to rest the dogs, he was awakened by a camera crew on snowmachines.

"I woke up and there was a camera in my face," he said. "It was weird."

Last year at this same campsite in Dawson, Mackey posted a sign on a tree leading to his camp that said, "MACKEY ... Lance Mackey, that is."

The sign was a nod to the fact that older brother Rick, the race's 1997 champion, was a little better-known along the trail. Mackey was often referred to as Rick by race fans and volunteers last year. This year, he's heard his own name used more frequently.

"They're starting to remember it now," he said. "My family name is well established in this sport, by my family didn't hand me a perfect dog team. I'm trying to make my own name."

Quest Race Finish to be altered
Quest website : February 17, 2006
Race Marshal Mike McCowan announced early Friday morning that the 2006 Yukon Quest will not follow the traditional Yukon Quest Trail to Whitehorse. At 1:00 pm (local time), the Race Marshal, his judges and the mushers remaining in the race will attend a closed-door meeting in Dawson City to brief mushers on the revised trail routing. At 2:00 pm (local time) the regular mushers' meeting will take place in the Dawson City Checkpoint. This meeting is open to the media and general public, and the Race Marshal will announce the decision regarding the revised trail routing. More from the Quest website

Video of mushers recovered from the storm
Quest website : February 14, 2006

Phil Joy talks about his time up on Eagle Summit at Mile 101 after the helicopter brought him and his team to Mile 101.

Interview with Kiara Adams, the youngest musher of the 2006 Yukon Quest at Mile 101 about her time on Eagle Summit before the rescue.

White out conditions crossing Eagle Summit
YUKON QUEST : February 13, 2006

An air search in less than favorable conditions has located five Yukon Quest mushers and their dog teams who were between Mile 101 Dog Drop and Central Checkpoint, and airlifted them back to Mile 101.

Three Yukon Quest 300 mushers have yet to reach Mile 101. They have been located and are reported to be safely traveling on the trail.

Four Yukon Quest 300 mushers have made it to Central Checkpoint, one, Randy Chappel without his dog team, which has now been located and brought back to Mile 101.

Currently eight Yukon Quest mushers are between Central Checkpoint and Circle Checkpoint and five mushers have arrived at Circle Checkpoint with Sebastian Schnuelle of Whitehorse, Yukon in the lead. Trail conditions are causing slower than usual times between these two checkpoints.Fresh snow up to 3 feet deep has been reported in the Eagle Summit area. In addition, temperatures are extremely warm for this race, ranging in the mid to high 20's, causing wet heavy snow.

Trailbreakers have been dispatched to ensure a clear trail. Regina Wycoff is the only Yukon Quest musher still in Central. Three mushers have scratched: Paul Geoffrion, Rod Boyce & Russ Bybee.

Lance Mackey
February 12, 2006

Introduction to the Yukon Quest
From YukonQuest.com : February 10, 2006

At the Top of the World, in the Yukon-Alaskan Interior, an epic event takes place every year that few people from "down south" have experienced. Covering 1000 miles between Whitehorse, Yukon Territory and Fairbanks, Alaska during the depths of the Arctic winter, the Yukon Quest is the "Toughest Sled Dog Race in the World."

The Yukon Quest Trail follows historic Gold Rush and Mail Delivery routes from the turn of the 20th Century. Once a travel highway of the Northern frontier, the trail comes alive each February with the breath of hundreds of sled dogs. Teams of one human 'musher' and 14 canine athletes, travel for two weeks, racing through some of the last pristine wilderness remaining in North America.

Read more about the Yukon Quest dog sled race

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