Friday, March 5, 2010

In The News - Lack of Snow may be an issue for Iditarod



Mushers expect rough ride along Farewell Burn

Could you imagine trying to run the Iditarod with a lack of snow??? It sounds like that is what will be happening this year. There is a place in the race called the Farewell Burn. In 1984 there was a controlled burn in the area, so there are barely any trees, and many stumps that stick up from the ground in the area.

It seems as if last week when the Iron Dog Snowmobile races went threw the area, instead of finding nice white snow, they found stumps and mud! Many of the Snowmobile racers had to stop and pack snow into their machines to keep them from overheating!

Now according to the few articles I have read, this will slow down the dogs, but it shouldn't be as big of an issue for them as it was for the Snowmobiles. Reports say only about 13 miles are snowless, so it shouldn't be that bad. Many of the racers aren't even concerned!

How many of you follow the Iditarod? Does anyone keep up with it? Anyone in particular you are hoping wins this year?

14 comments:

  1. Have you read WinterDance? By Gary Paulsen? He tells you about each part of the race. A lot of times surreal, as you can imagine the race must be. There is a chapter on The Burn. The book is awesome!

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  2. hi there,
    are you 'The Huskies' that's following us????

    if so, nice to meet you thanks for following us. if not, still nice to meet you guys.

    chikisses
    coco

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  3. We are so glad you found us - we have been here several times to visit and hope to see you visit us more often to.

    We hope the Iditarod runs smoothly. Seems like some areas didn't get much snow this year and others got way too much.

    We would be happy with any but sadly we have none.

    Woos and Happy Friday, Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara

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  4. I am so happy to be friends with you....I am learning SO much....I didn't know about any of this before! Thank you!

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  5. I'm just excited about the whole thing!! I think it would be so cool to be a volunteer and really in the thick of it and hopefully helping out. Granted I've heard that it's a lot of work, but to be some small part of that race would be so cool!

    I think I'm pulling for Jeff King!

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  6. Hi Guys, we had never heard of Iditarod but enjoy following what sounds like a similar event at Aviemore in Scotland.
    We had a link recently which we sent to the Thundering Herd. It is a very exciting Event and this year they had the very best snow ever so we understand the problem.
    Thank you for the video stars!
    love
    Martha & Bailey xxx

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  7. We follow the race every year and have met a handful of the mushers over the years, including our favorite - Karen Ramstead. We are all set up to follow the video over the next week or so and have some tributes to the race on our blog over the next few days.

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  8. We've been following though Ms~K's eyes and we're loving it. Not enough snow??? Amazing!
    Twink!

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  9. SibeFamily - No I have not. . but going to purchase it on Half.com!

    Coco- Yes that would be us!

    The OP Pack - We try to read all the blogs and comment when we can! We love your stuff!

    Remmington - We are glad you are our friend! And glad you learned something new today! Always a good thing!

    Lindsy - Jeff King is one of our favs too~

    Martha and Bailey - There is a book called The Cruelest Miles, that is a very good read and talks about the Dipthrea epidemic and how they used the dogs to save cities! it's a great book!

    Thundering Herd - We are a fan of Karen too! We pretty much like all the races!

    Twinkie - I guess it's only about 13 miles of not enough snow. . :)

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  10. That Iditarod thingy sounds very cool, then again anything that has to do with snow it pretty cool!!! Great blog, looking forward to following you on all your adventures!!

    lotsa licks,
    Miley

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  11. In my mind, I'm there!

    Sadly, I'm here in just about snow-less Pawsylvania!

    Of khourse, we love Karen - and MY HERO is her retired Kara!

    *SIGH!*

    Hugz&Khysses,
    Khyra

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  12. Yes I have heard of the Irod race. Dog Daze Ms. Kit, that is in our blog group has gone up there to help with the race. She is blogging about her good times up there. See if you can find her blog.
    Come and see me..
    Sweet dreams, Fern

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  13. we get no shnow here in houston tx so we live vicariously through you bewootiful snow puppers
    please to enjoy it for ush ok
    pibble sugars and wee wags
    the houston pittie pack

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  14. Hey there!
    You know...we are fast becoming BIG fans! Miss "R"s dream is to volunteer as an attending vet one day when she's qualified (she's 1/7 of the way there!) Yes...at the moment we are in awe (obviously) of Lance Mackey. He has an amazing Cancer story...so he is rather an icon in this household.
    Good luck to all the doggie athletes and their handlers and mushers!
    Wish we were there (Will be one day!)
    Lotsalicks
    MAXDOG IN SOUTH AFRICA

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