THE VIEW FROM HERE

Susan Butcher, four time Iditarod champion, stayed with us last night at our Eagle Island Camp. Susan and I got up at 4:30 am today to see Robert Sorlie leave the checkpoint after completing his 24-hour break. It has been wonderful for me that Susan is here and willing to share her expert perspective.

When we arrived at his parking spot, we found him doing his final tasks before leaving. But it was clear that he was not going to be ready to depart exactly on time. That struck me as distinctly unusual for someone clearly so competitive, and so well organized, as the Norwegian star has seemed. But then Susan, who had arrived at the scene a few moments before me, provided the explanation.

Apparently Robert had asked to be awakened at 3 am, about two hours before he could exit. But due to a misunderstanding among checkpoint personnel, he had been allowed to oversleep. Now I know it might seem odd that mushers would rely on officials to wake them up in a Race where the rules so clearly stipulate that there is “no outside assistance”. But the way that Iditarod has evolved is that in checkpoints the officials establish a protocol for how they are going to deal with numerous tasks pertaining to the teams and their drivers. And once established, they take great pains to make sure that everyone get equal treatment.

For example, in some checkpoints the volunteers may bring each team their bags and straw, but they have to go get their water from a common source. In others, each team must walk to wherever the bags, water, straw, and Heet are located. In some, you can expect a wake-up call…in others you’re on your own.

Robert’s team left solidly. They didn’t bark and lunge, but they showed no hesitation. They were rather business-like and serious. Most of us who mush in North America like to see our dogs excited to go. We find the leaping and howling to be very reassuring in the final stages of a race, and accept it as a fact of life in training, even though there may be consequences of such rowdiness, like chewing on the traces.

Susan also explained why Robert’s team looks so unenthusiastic. He trains them to be that way. Apparently he keeps them in harness and hooked up to the sled outside his home in Norway all day. The dogs have no idea when they’re going to go on their training run...or even if they’re going at all. After thinking about it, it seems like a great idea…wish I’d thought of that!

Just as Robert was leaving, Martin Buser mushed in. He had just finished his 24 in Kaltag, and his time to Eagle Island was about two hours shorter than Roberts. His team looked very snappy, and gobbled up their meal heartily, as expected from dogs that feel good, and aren’t over-stressed. This time difference shows clearly one of the strategic aspects of the 24-hour break and why mushers argue over where to take it.

As teams push down the trail at the front of the pack, it is common to notice a decrease in speed. The 24-hour break can really bring back the speed of the team, assuming they didn’t “hit the wall” beforehand. You can notice this not only in comparing the times of Martin and Robert coming into Eagle Island, but it is also apparent looking at Jeff’s times. His run from here to Grayling, which is "a long sixty", according to Susan, took 6 hours, which is just under 10 mph. But his run from Grayling to Anvik, where he is now taking his 24, took 2 hours, which is significantly slower.

The question facing the top mushers trying to challenge Robert Sorlie is whether they can catch him by having faster trail speeds, or whether they will have to shorten their desired rests. If you’re eight hours behind at this point, and traveling at the same pace, then mathematically the only way you can catch up is to take shorter rests. The problem with this is that lack of rest may slow the team down. In that case a team now in fourth place might push to win, but fall back to fifteenth place by the time it gets to Nome.

Right now there are 11 teams on their way here from Kaltag, having completed their 24. They all left within four and a half hours. So at this point in the race, that’s virtually equal.

At the moment, Rick Swenson and Ramey Smyth are here doing their 24. And Martin Buser, along with Ramy Brooks, are resting following completion of their 24. Today we’ll be flying around the nearby checkpoints, scoping out the situation, so we can write more later.


EAGLE ISLAND CAMP

We’ve set up a great camp here at Eagle Island. The plan is to stay here for two or three nights, before heading over to Unalakleet. Yesterday afternoon, Paul, Jeanne, and Dan set up a luxurious camp out on the ice of the Yukon River. The wind has started to blow downriver. So the crew not only set up all three tents, but also built walls of snow blocks upwind of the tents to keep them from blowing away. Given where this powerful plane is located, I’m glad to see these walls, since if the wind of the Yukon doesn’t blow away the tents, the blast generated by the engine of this awesome Otter surely could.