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Ultimate
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Montana's 17th Annual Race to the Sky Past
Race Updates No
News Yet.
Steve Madsen was the last team to leave Holland Lake when he left at 5:38 PM this evening. 10 mushers are into Seeley Lake, and by the time this is posted to the internet (around 11:30 PM), 9 of those teams will have completed their mandatory six hour rest stop, and will be heading to the finish at Hi-Country Beef Jerky near Lincoln. (Click here to see current race stats). Based on the trail times of other mushers running between Holland Lake and Seeley Lake, I would estimate that Steve Madsen will arrive in Seeley Lake sometime around 1 AM Wednesday--about the same time Harmony and John may be finishing.
Reporting from "home base" at Snowcrest Racing Sled Dogs in Seeley Lake, MT, Jim Gallea for Ultimate Iditarod. THE RACE IS
ON!!! It's too close to call! Harmony Kanavle beat her soon-to-be father-in-law, John Barron, into the Seeley Lake checkpoint by just one minute!!! Both teams did the 53-mile run from Holland Lake at an average speed over ten miles and hour, and both teams are still looking strong. Teams are required to rest for six hours at Seeley Lake before running the last 77 miles to the finish at High Country Beef Jerky in Lincoln. At this point, all we can say is that both Kanavle and Barron will have their teams to the checkpoint boundary and ready to go exactly six hours after arriving. Seconds matter now.
Both Barron and Kanavle rested their teams for a few hours during the first 110 miles of the race, which helped to keep the energy level of their teams up. This is likely part of the reason that both teams are still moving at such good trail speeds. Some of the early leaders in the race cut their rest to stay ahead, and these teams are now falling back. Race strategy is important.
As of noon today, 8 teams still were resting at Holland Lake, and 7 teams were on the trail between Holland Lake and Seeley Lake. Rick Swenson and Kelly Williams of Two Rivers, AK, were the last teams to arrive at Holland Lake. Just as he said during the pre-race vet check, they are running the race as a training run for the Iditarod, and not trying to push to a win in the Race to the Sky. Kelly Williams is also using this race as an Iditarod qualifier so that she can run Swenson's young team in this year's Iditarod. 18 of the 23 teams that started the race are still in the running. Laura Daugereau of Poulsbo, WA, scratched last night. Reports are unclear, but apparently she had trouble on the trail and made the decision to return to White Tail Ranch, where she scratched. This year's race will go in the books as one of the most competitive ever run, and the close competition throughout makes it fun for spectators. Stay tuned to see how John and Harmony fair on the last leg. Reporting from Seeley Lake, Jim Gallea, Ultimate Iditarod. The Wilderness Leg February 11, 2002 at 11PM
Teams are now around Checkpoint #3 at Seeley Lake. This checkpoint is unassisted, so we handlers (musher helpers) are "unemployed" until our mushers arrive at Holland Lake Lodge sometime in the next several hours. Most are taking advantage of the down time to get some much-deserved sleep. No information about when each musher arrived and left the Seeley Lake checkpoint is available--not even to the media. The idea is that this leg is to be done with minimal outside interference and treated as basically a 105-mile camping trip from White Tail Ranch to Holland Lake Lodge. The field of mushers is beginning to spread out. As the race stats show, the teams arrived and left the first two checkpoints within a few hours of each other. The separation between the teams increased as teams left White Tail, and that will continue for the duration of the race. The reason for this is that dog teams travel at different speeds and take rests for different amounts of time and at different places along the trail depending on the dogs, their training, and their musher's race strategy. RACE STRATEGY
ANALYSIS
At this point, we can only guess as to the final outcome of the race. Buck Church and Karen Land did the first 110 miles to White Tail without taking much rest. Will they be able to continue their pace or will they slow down? Clint Hallam took only a small rest at 7-UP after the first 40 miles and then went apparently non-stop to White Tail? Are his dogs trained to run on that little rest and still keep good speed? Harmony Kanavle and John Barron took rests about half-way into the first 110 miles, and seem to be moving a little faster on the trail than the other top teams. They left White Tail not far behind Buck Church and Karen Land and less than an hour ahead of Hallam. Because their teams are moving at a faster speed, they are able to take more rest and still stay at the front of the pack. This may be a deciding factor in the final outcome of the race. The "dogma" surrounding race strategy is that you have to balance resting and running to keep your team moving at a good pace by resting, but not rest too much to lose valuable time. We are seeing differences in the application of that strategy principle among the top teams. By the time teams begin to arrive at Holland Lake, we should have a better idea of how the field is shaping up.
Of the 23 mushers who started the race, 19 are still running. The other four mushers scratched, or dropped out of the race. Dave Armstrong was the first to scratch. Apparently, the blowing snow and weather last night coupled with the wet fall Dave took earlier in the day on Sunday, and possibly other factors, contributed to Dave's decision to turn his team around and return to Lincoln to scratch early this morning. Mark Stamm, Rick Cook, and Coulter Francis all decided to scratch at White Tail Ranch earlier today. Stamm's team just finished the Pedigree Stage Stop Race in Wyoming less than four days before starting the Race to the Sky. His dogs did not have a good chance to rest between the two races, and he decided that scratching would be best for his dogs. Rick Cook, who was running a team of young dogs, reported having trouble with his only leaders as he neared White Tail, and he was concerned about successfully making the trip to Seeley Lake. It is unclear at this time why Coulter Francis decided to scratch. We will have more information as mushers arrive at Holland Lake. Stay tuned, Jim Gallea--Reporting from "Home Base" at Snowcrest Racing Sled Dogs in Seeley Lake, MT Snowed In!!! February 11, 2002 at 2PM
Despite the fact that we "non-mushers" are snowed in, the race goes on. Snowmobiles are packing down the new and drifted snow and making sure that the trail is passable, and teams are continuing to leave White Tail. All of the teams are into White Tail Ranch with the exception of Dave Armstrong, of Helena, Montana, who returned to Lincoln early this morning to Scratch (drop out of the race). The trail conditions have been very difficult with the new snow, drifts, and wind, and Dave was one of the mushers who took a fall in an open water crossing just before arriving at Checkpoint #1 at 7-UP Ranch. Mark Stamm from Riverside, WA, scratched at White Tail Ranch. Mark had two very good showings at Oregon's Atta Boy 300 and Wyoming's Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race and felt that he didn't want to push on in this Race so soon after finishing in Wyoming, which ended just last Wednesday. The race leaders are Buck Church, Karen Land, Harmony Kanavle, and John Barron. All four of these teams left within 63 minutes of each other, Church being first out at 7:05 AM this morning. (Click Here for Current Race Stats.) Every team must rest for at least four hours at White Tail, as well as make up the time differential which results from the teams starting at three minute intervals yesterday (more on this topic). We'll have more updates as teams take continue to leave White Tail and head to Seeley. --Reporting from a snowbound White Tail Ranch, Bill & Jim Gallea, Ultimate Iditarod February 10--Click Here to See Race Stats The 2002 Race to the Sky is off and running! 23 teams started the race earlier today at 7-UP Ranch just outside Lincoln, MT. The weather was clear and sunny, creating a wonderful day for the spectators, but making temperatures a little on the warm side for the furry stars of the show.
The first 40 miles, which ran in a loop that returned mushers to 7-UP Ranch for the first checkpoint, offered varied terrain to the mushers. The trail wound up and down mountains, passed through downtown Lincoln, and crossed open fields of sagebrush. The only major obstacle was a river crossing 1/2 mile from reaching 7-UP Ranch. Two portions of the trail at this crossing went across open water up to 6 inches deep. A few mushers, including Kelly Williams of Two Rivers, Alaska, and 81-year old Dave Armstrong of Helena, Montana, had trouble at the crossing and arrived at 7-UP Ranch dripping wet. Fortunately, facilities were available to dry out clothes, and the weather is not extremely cold. A number of the teams made only brief stops at 7-UP Ranch before heading back onto the trail for a 70-mile run to Checkpoint #2 at White Tail Ranch near Ovando, Montana. Those teams that did not opt to take rest stops at 7-UP were planning to stop for at least an hour on the trail to White Tail. Some teams did make the decision to rest at 7-UP. Notable, Rick Swenson and Kelly Williams, both viewed as potential race winners, rested over three hours before continuing on. Every musher must take at least a 4-hour rest at White Tail Ranch.
The first team to start the race began over an hour before the last team. Since this is a major head-start, most distance races have rules that allow for this differential to be equalized by adding additional rest time. In the Race to the Sky, the first team to start has to rest four hours PLUS the the amount of time equal to the head start over the last team. The second team rests three minutes less than that, and so on. The last team to start the race must rest for only four hours at White Tail before being allowed to continue. As I am writing this update around Midnight Sunday night, all the teams have left 7-UP Ranch in Lincoln (see race stats), and are making their way to White Tail. We are gathered at White Tail waiting for the first musher's arrival. While we wait, some people are asleep on couches or in the ranch's bunkhouse while others mingle in the dining room, snacking on cookies and lemonade and coffee, and still others are watching speed skating in the Olympics. This is a fun time for the "handlers" or musher helpers. We all get to talk and joke with each other and relax. But sometime in the middle of the night and into tomorrow morning, everyone's mushers will arrive, and the handler's work begins again. We'll have more tomorrow morning. --Jim Gallea for Ultimate Iditarod February 9
The auction at the Business Card Social yesterday evening was a huge success. In addition to winter gear and other items, the featured items in the auction were chances to ride in musher's sleds during the ceremonial start today in Helena. By the end of the evening, nearly $5,000.00 was raised for the race.
At 2:30, the first team left the starting line in the ceremonial start held near the Helena YMCA. Snow was scarce, so teams ran on a grass field with a trail marked by orange traffic cones. "We forgot to do 'cone training' before we left home," said one musher, hinting at the fact that dogs aren't used to following traffic cones the way people are. Because the teams ran on grass, only eight dogs pulled each sled, and four-wheelers (ATV's) were attached behind each sled to act as a brake. Tomorrow, the race begins in earnest with the official re-start at 7-UP Ranch just east of Lincoln, Montana., The first team leaves the starting line at noon. Teams will return to 7-UP (which also serves as checkpoint #1) after the first 40 miles of the race. This means that two excellent opportunities to view the teams are available--one beginning at noon, and one tomorrow mid-afternoon.
For those of you wishing to follow the race results, Ultimate Iditarod will strive to provide up-to-the-minute reports throughout the race. Stay tuned, and happy trails!! --Jim Gallea for Ultimate Iditarod February 8
Following the Vet Check and School Visits, mushers attended a driver's meeting this afternoon in downtown Helena. Race Marshall Jack Beckstrom discussed the rules of the race with mushers and handlers, and a description of the race trail was given by Trail Coordinator Charlie Ackley. After the driver's meeting, mushers drew their starting positions at a Business Card Social also held downtown. The starting positions pertain to the order in which the teams depart the starting line at 7-UP Ranch in Lincoln, Montana, on Sunday.
On deck for tomorrow is the ceremonial start of the race and a chance to meet the mushers and their dogs. These events will be held in downtown Helena beginning at 11 AM. Twenty-three mushers are entered in this year's race. This constitutes one of the largest fields in the Race to the Sky's 17-year history. The list of mushers includes numerous Iditarod mushers, including 5-time Iditarod Champion Rick Swenson of Two Rivers Alaska, Kelly Williams, also of Two Rivers, Karen Ramstead of Perryvale, Alberta, Canada, John Barron and Harmony Kanavle, both of Lincoln, Montana, Cindy Gallea of Seeley Lake, Montana, and Karen Land, of Sand Coulee, Montana. A large number of entrants in this year's race are veterans of previous Race to the Sky races and other distance mushing events such as Minnesota's John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon and Grand Portage Passage, Wyoming's Pedigree Stage Stop Race, Oregon's Atta Boy 300 Race for Vision, and others. 5-time Iditarod Champion Rick Swenson is favored by many of his competitors to win the race. However, Swenson contends that he is only here on a training run, citing that conditions in Alaska have been very poor for training this winter. This is Swenson's first Race to the Sky. Other mushers to watch include 2-time Beargrease Champion John Barron of Lincoln, Montana, and Harmony Kanavle, also of Lincoln. Kanavle, although somewhat inexperienced in distance racing, has a very nice dog team by all accounts. Kelly Williams of Two Rivers has a Rick Swenson team that potentially could easily run away with the race. Cindy Gallea of Seeley Lake, Montana, has finished second in two previous Race to the Sky races, including one such finish in 1995 when she finished just four minutes behind the winner--the closest finish in race history. However, this year, Gallea is running a team of young dogs from their kennel, and is not planning on winning, but hopes to have a very good run. Harry Lambirth of Minnesota has made impressive showings in races including the Grand Portage Passage, and Mark Stamm of Washington has a dog team which consistently finishes high in the standings.
A new and unique feature to this year's Race to the Sky is "surprise" prize money at checkpoints along the trail. Race organizers have pre-selected checkpoints and the arrival positions at these checkpoints which will be awarded additional prize money after the race. This adds an interesting element into the race because this prize money does not necessarily go to the first team to reach a checkpoint. The additional money for this was donated by race sponsors. The Race to the Sky is an 18-year Montana Tradition that commemorates the War Dog Reception and Training Center at Camp Rimini outside of Helena. The camp was active in training sled dogs during World War II for use search and rescue and reconnaissance missions. Dave Armstrong, an 81-year-old musher from Helena entered in this year's race served at Camp Rimini during the war. Following tomorrow's ceremonial start in Helena, mushers and the dogs drive to Lincoln for the official restart on Sunday at the 7-UP Ranch east of Lincoln along Montana Highway 200. Stay tuned for more updates as the race gets under way!!! --Reporting exclusively for Ultimate Iditarod, Jim Gallea
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We
are still awaiting word on the final outcome of the race to finish
between Harmony Kanavle and John Barron. Earlier this afternoon, I
went out on a snowmobile to investigate reports of a lost musher, and I
got to see Harmony and John as they were making their way along the
trail. Both of them were moving nicely, and they were only about 1
minute apart after 10 miles of mushing from the last checkpoint at the
Seeley Lake Community Center. The total distance from Seeley to
Lincoln via the race trail is about 77 miles. They are expected at
the finish around midnight or 1 AM. 
One
story of note is Pat Campbell from Etna, California. Pat has
attempted three previous Race to the Sky races, but has yet to
finish. This year, he is looking excellent out on the trail, he
always has a smile on his face, and he's making good time. Best of
all, he's not even in last place, and barring any unforeseen events, he
should make it safely to the finish line this year. He should be
into Seeley Lake around midnight or shortly thereafter. Pat will
likely finish sometime late tomorrow evening or early tomorrow
night. Way to go, Pat. Your perseverance and good attitude
are an inspiration to everyone!!!
John
Barron is a 52-year old musher from Helmville, Montana. He is no
stranger to the winner's circle. Recently, John has won the 1999
and 2000 John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon Races in Minnesota. He
has a veteran team and years of experience training and racing his
dogs. John spent some time getting a massage when he began is rest
stop in Seeley. "I need to get in shape because I may have to
run a little bit. Harmony is looking fast," he said.
Harmony
Kanavle is a 27-year old musher from Lincoln, Montana, whose fiancé is
none other than John Barron's son, Jason. Harmony has never run a
race longer than 200 miles, and she is running a team yearling and
2-year-old dogs. Harmony is using this race as a qualifier to
enter this year's Iditarod, which starts on March 2 in Anchorage.
Harmony spoke with locals as she poured over a large map of the last leg
of trail. "I need every advantage I can get. I need to
know what we're going to go over to get to the finish--have an idea of
how far it is from here to there and so on," she said.
It's
not quite a David and Goliath match-up, but one doesn't have to look too
hard to find a number of ironies as the lead teams take their final
rests before pushing to the finish. A look at the 
Buck
Church of Christmas Valley, OR, is solidly in third place and resting at
Seeley Lake also. The battle for fourth place is also tight.
Rob Greger left Holland Lake after only 11 minutes of rest, but he
planned to camp after running only a few miles back toward Seeley.
Harry Lambirth, Clint Hallam, and Karen Land all left Holland Lake just
after sunrise this morning. All four will likely arrive at Seeley
Lake within an hour of one another.
Well,
we finally made it out of White Tail. The tightly packed, deep
drifts required both a road grader with a giant V-plow and a Powell
County Road Department plow to work for over an hour before the road was
open again. And as everyone prepared to leave, snow began to drift
in over the road again, and the grader and plow made extra passes over
the road to keep it open. What can we say about Montana's
weather? Warm yesterday, windy last night and today, what's
next??? We can only guess.
High
winds whipped the fresh snow that has fallen over the last week,
creating whiteout conditions on portions of the trail across Huckleberry
Pass. At White Tail Ranch, a snow drift three to four feet high
and several hundred yards long is blocking the driveway. The only
way in or out is by snowmobile and dog team!!! All of the
handlers, dog trucks, and race vehicles are stuck here, and snow
continues to fall. Bill and Diana Wellman, owners of White Tail
Ranch, are making every effort to get the snow cleared, and while we
wait, plenty of excellent food and good company can be found in the
Ranch's dining room. Snow piles are half way up the dining room
windows, so our view of the outdoors is somewhat limited.
The
next checkpoint at Seeley Lake is an unassisted Wilderness-style
checkpoint, so handlers are not allowed at Seeley. This helps keep
everyone who is stuck here relaxed about the situation. However,
veterinarians, race officials, and the dog food for the teams at Seeley
Lake were all stuck here at White Tail. We loaded snowmobiles and
dog sleds pulled by the snowmobiles with the essential race personnel
and food and sent them out to the main road, where trucks were waiting.
From
the start, each
of the 23 mushers carried a passenger in his or her sled for the first
five miles. The passengers bid on these rides during the
auction at Saturday night's Business Card Social. Some of the riders
paid over $200 for the chance to feel the awesome power of an excited
team of sled dogs.
Events
began this morning in the walking mall in downtown Helena with a
"Meet the Mushers" session held from 11 AM to 1 PM. A
large crowd mingled through the mall during this time, taking photos,
asking questions, and petting the sled dogs. 
The
weather has been quite good this year, and the race trail promises to be
quite good. Several inches of new snow have fallen in the Lincoln
and Seeley Lake areas during the last 24 hours. The race trails
are a combination of "machined groomed" wide and faster trails
and narrower trails opened through the woods and hills by just a few
snowmobiles. This combination makes the trail interesting for the
mushers and dogs alike.
Pre-Race
activities for the 17th Annual Race to the Sky began today in Helena,
Montana. First on the list this morning was the vet check where
every dog in every team was given a physical exam to ensure that the
dogs are in the best possible physical shape before starting the
race. Simultaneously, teams took turns visiting Helena area
schools to talk about the race and demonstrate what "life with a
bunch of dogs" is all about. 
A
few of the mushers in this year's Race to the Sky are also using this
race as a qualifier for the Iditarod. Iditarod requires that
mushers complete two races totaling up to at least 500 miles prior to
starting their rookie Iditarod. To be considered a qualifiying
race, certain criteria as set forth under Iditarod's rules must be
met. One of these criteria is that the qualifying race have an
unassisted leg where mushers must camp with the dogs and take care of
them without the assistance of handlers. This is similar to the
Iditarod rules. For Race to the Sky, this unassisted stretch is a
110-mile trail running from White Tail Ranch to Holland Lake. Food
and straw for the dogs to sleep on will be provided at Seeley Lake, but
no assistance is allowed.
The
race course is approximately 350 miles long, running from 7-UP Ranch
east of Lincoln in a 40-mile loop back to the 7-UP, which doubles as
checkpoint #1. From here, teams run 70 miles from Lincoln to White
Tail Ranch just north of Ovando, Montana, before 50 miles to Seeley Lake
and then 53 miles to Holland Lake north of Seeley Lake. From
Holland Lake, the trail re-traces much of the route back to Seeley and
White Tail Ranch and then takes a shorter trail to Hi-Country Beef Jerky
just east of Helena. 
