Iditablog.com – Iditarod 2010 News and Coverage

Today’s podcast was an epic one – We spoke with filmmaker Alex Stein who is currently shooting a documentary on the Iditarod stories you don’t normally hear.  Alex tells us about his project, why he’s taking this on, and some of the adventures he’s had shooting it so far.  We also go through the standings, report the latest stories and take your questions via voicemail & email.

Today’s topics include:
- Baker gets lost into Halfway point
- AP publishes article with wrong GPS info
- Seven Course Meal
- King & Mackey Rivalry
- follow the progress of Alex’s film on his twitter account: @coldfootfilms

A big thanks to the thousands of you who have downloaded the shows so far, we appreciate your support.
Feel free to email us with topics or questions you’d like to hear us discuss on the next episode… the email address is: josh@radioalaska.org, send us a twitter/facebook message or call the voicemail box at 253-778-MUSH.

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Teams race along the Yukon River for first place, plus a “lost dog” update and two more mushers scratch from Iditarod 38

Lance Mackey continues to hunt down Jeff King in what could become one of Iditarod’s greatest rivalries. King has announced his retirement from the Iditarod after this year and has already pre-sold his dogs for when the race is over. This is King’s last shot to attain a record-tying fifth victory, something only done by one other musher, Rick Swenson in 1991. Mackey seeks to create history of his own though, crossing the finish line first next week in Nome would mean Mackey would be the only musher to ever win four back-to-back victories, and it would put him in a great position to go after that fifth or sixth win. It’s not just those two though who we could see winning this year’s Iditarod, Mitch Seavey. Hugh Neff and Hans Gatt are within striking distance and now that most of the mandatory layovers are out of the way, the rest of the race will likely be decided on each team’s schedule – how long they run, and how much they rest. There are still big, bold moves to be made the run schedules, which means the tight field of about 15 top teams could also catch up with the leaders and walk away with the first place trophy. King left the checkpoint of Ruby early this afternoon and headed out onto the Yukon River making his way to Galena and then Nulato. Mackey departed an hour later.

One of the most impressive teams we’re watching right now is that of Rick Swenson, the previously mentioned 5-time Iditarod winner who continues to post some of the fastest and strongest times between checkpoints. The 59-year old from Two Rivers Alaska hasn’t placed in the top ten since 2004, but in a strong 11th place right now, he could be one to watch as he is only seven hours behind the race leaders.

Rookie Justin Savidis’ lost three-year old dog “Whitey” has yet to be recovered, Iditarod Headquarters is reporting. Savidis lost the dog on the trail between Nikolai and McGrath a few days ago and since then a search has been underway with Savidis joining Alaska State Troopers and flying overhead. Members of the Iditarod Air Force have also been keeping an eye out for the dog, as have local McGrath volunteers who are taking to the trail on snowmachine. Officials report that Savidis is continuing to stay in McGrath with this hopes his dog will be found and returned to him.

Two more mushers have scratched from this year’s race; fan favorite Karen Ramstead unfortunately decided to scratch last night in McGrath sitting personal reasons. Reports say that her team of 14 dogs looked great coming into the checkpoint, Ramstead is known for being one of only a few mushers in the sport to have a whole team of pure-bred Siberian Huskies. Tom Thurston also scratched in McGrath, this morning the musher cited his team’s performance as the reason he was withdrawing from the race. He only had 9 dogs on his team at the time.

The Ruby checkpoint, over halfway through the northern-route Iditarod trail, is the most delectable spot on the last great race. Ruby is the location where the executive chef from Iditarod headquarters’ Millenium Hotel cooks up a gourmet, seven-course meal on a camp stove for the first musher to arrive. As if the camp cuisine wasn’t enough, the meal is followed with a $3,500 after-dinner mint, that is, 3,300, freshly-minted dollar bills.

Ruby is no stranger to wealth, however. Nicknamed the “Gem of the Yukon,” the village of Ruby, has its roots in the gold rush, springing out of the Yukon when gold was discovered in Ruby Creek over a hundred years ago. With close proximity to the airfield and the steamboat landing on the Yukon River, Ruby was a major thoroughfare for miners in the early twentieth century. At its height, Ruby was home to over 3,000 people, but the population began to dwindle with World War I. Many men left to fight leaving the primarily labor-driven economy of Ruby without its lifeblood. Add to that grim prognosis the ship Sophie which sunk with many of the village’s women and children, and the fire of 1929 which destroyed the riverfront properties, and Ruby was left luster-less, a gem without a sparkle. Now this high-profile Iditarod checkpoint boasts of a mere 200, and its future doesn’t look so bright.

Like Iditarod checkpoint McGrath, Ruby is primarily inhabited by native-americans, Athabascans, who dwell in rather rustic homes. Few have running water and septic systems. Tourism fuels the economy in Ruby, however, like the gold rush, tourism of the Yukon is on its way out. Travel costs have sky-rocketed, and access to remote villages like Ruby is challenging. One thing is sure, Ruby is a coveted destination for plenty of mushers each year as they mush the 1,000 mile Iditarod.

- Loren Liden for Iditablog.com

Just like the greatest reward challenges on CBS’ television show Survivor, the “First Musher to the Yukon Award” presented in Ruby (and Anvik in odd-numbered years) is so amazing it just might be worth putting strategy aside for a few moments to enjoy.  Every year the Millennium Hotel in Anchorage (whose lobby also serves as Iditarod Headquarters) sends it’s executive chef to the remote Yukon River village where they prepare a full, seven course gourmet meal over a coleman camp stove.  The meal is followed up by a $3,500 “after dinner mint” and if that’s not enough, the winner can enjoy the same dinner for two again, at the date of their choosing in Anchorage… the only downside is that this time it won’t be made with camping gear.

Below is this year’s menu which will be served to the first musher that arrives to Ruby.

2010 First Musher to the Yukon Award
As Prepared by Millennium Hotel’s Executive Chef (on a camp stove)

Appetizer
Alaskan King Crab nestled in a bed of spinach with remoulade sauce

Soup – Bison Stew
Tenderloin of bison with fresh Alaskan vegetables and potatoes in a pork reduction

Fish Course – Grilled halibut
Alaskan halibut marinated in white wine and garlic and glazed with a citrus sauce

Intermezzo
Lemon sorbet served on a bed of candied lemons splashed with lemon cello

Main Dish – Tenderloin Tournedos
tenderloin of beef sauteed with a brandy peppercorn sauce, served on a bed of roasted garlic Portabello mushrooms, with turned Yukon potatoes and brown sugar carrots

Fruit and Cheese Plate – Fruit Flower with Cheese Wheel
Assorted fresh-fruit flower with imported cheeses as petals and a crostini stem

Dessert – Blackberry Jubilee
Fresh blackberries sauteed with brown sugar and flamed with blackberry brandy, served over vanilla bean ice cream

It’s going to be crowded on trail to Ruby tonight as the race leaders change once again during the current “24-hour layover haze” timeframe. Because Seavey and Baker arrived to Cripple early Thursday morning and are taking their 24-hour layover, they won’t be leaving the halfway checkpoint until 2:30am and 4am respectively. Martin Buser arrived next and will depart at 6:15am and Bruce Linton around eight. Those departures should leave plenty of time for the group consisting of King, Neff, Mitch Seavey, Mackey, Schnuelle, and Haltmann (who are separated over a 2.5 hour time span) to get plenty of rest and leave well before Seavey or Baker wake up from their naps. King could be leaving Cripple around 8pm this evening if he follows a similar schedule as he did in his 2006 championship year.

Looking back at the trail times into Cripple from mushers who had completed their 24, King faired the best at 9hr 10min, Mitch Seavey had 9hr 39min, and Mackey/Haltmann both had about 9hrs 50min. King continues to show the strength of his team, boasting some of the fastest times throughout the race.

The 70 mile route from Cripple to Ruby will likely take teams 7 to 10 hours depending on trail conditions. Once there, leading teams usually choose to take another of their mandatory layovers (8 Hour) on the first Yukon River checkpoint, although in a tight race like this year it wouldn’t be too surprising to see someone try something different.

If you needed proof that anything is possible in the Iditrod, take this morning’s early win by Dallas Seavey into the halfway checkpoint of Cripple. If John Baker had left Ophir after Breakfast, Seavey left the same checkpoint well after lunch; there was a five hour time difference between the two of them and Seavey managed to win the $3,000 in gold nuggets by ten minutes. Martin Buser’s travel time to Cripple was similar to Seavey’s but was several hours later.

What was interesting to see transpire was how many news reports were going out that had Baker into Cripple first, hours before anything happened. This is a good reason to wait for the official standings, as slow as they sometimes may be to write an article you expect to publish on the AP wire. The Cripple checkpoint was moved several years ago and is about 30 miles further than published, apperantly this move was not reflected on the GPS map and so it looked like Baker had gone through the checkpoint already when in reality he was still on his way there.

Two years ago, the last time the Cripple Checkpoint was used (Northern Route) we had the race leader at the time, Paul Gebhardt have some issues with finding the Cripple checkpoint that some think may have cost him the race. He went so far down the trail and second-guessed himself and assumed that he had passed his destination so he turned around and went the wrong way for a while. It’s possible that with losing 5 hours a similar thing happened to Baker. This run is the longest from Ophir to Cripple is the longest in the Iditarod.

Take a listen to today’s podcast as we break down the current standings, give analysis on layovers, talk about scratched mushers, answer emails, take your calls, and chat about the weather….. sounds like fun, doesn’t it?

A big thanks to the thousands of you who have downloaded the shows so far, we appreciate your support.

Feel free to email us with topics or questions you’d like to hear us discuss on the next episode… the email address is: josh@radioalaska.org, send us a twitter/facebook message or call the voicemail box at 253-778-MUSH.

Subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes | Browse the Podcast Archives

iTunes Listing note: We’ve been having issues with the podcast updating properly within the iTunes Store, it’s a problem many podcasts are having right now and iTunes is working to get it fixed. However, if you subscribe to the show you will still get new episodes delivered to your computer.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download