Ultimate Iditarod Update

In all of my excitement about writing about training and snow falling in the mountains, I have neglected to mention a few of the other things we are working on this autumn.

Fall is a great time to start working on all of the winter gear, sleds, harnesses, and lines that we will need when the snow flies. This fall we are working with a very talented engineer named Dave Torgerson who has designed a few new features and modifications for our dog sleds. Dave has built sleds for other mushers for many years, but most of his sleds have been used in shorter races in the Lower 48, where the trails are typically a bit less rough and rugged than the Iditarod Trail. We are going to make an entirely new sled that will incorporate these new ideas into other proven ideas and designs that have been devised by Dave and numerous other dog mushers. We want to work on developing the sled now so that we can get it manufactured in time to thoroughly test it before the Iditarod.

The Iditarod Trail can be very rugged, and sleds sometimes pay the price. This sled was crashed into a tree at the top of the Dalzel Gorge in 1996. Notice in the photo on the right how the white plastic bumper (called a brushbow) is duct taped back into position. Notice in the left picture how the brushbow is bent along with runner. The runners are aluminum and can withstand several thousand pounds of pressure without bending, but they did bend in this collision--a testimonial to the power of a dog team.

If the design is successful, the sled will serve as my finishing sled in the race. Iditarod rules allow mushers to switch sleds up to two times during the race. The plan is for this new sled to carry my gear and myself for the last 600 miles. The first 500 miles will be covered by a slightly heavier and tougher, yet less maneuverable, sled that should withstand the ruts, bumps, hummocks, and ice of the Alaska Range, the Post River, and the Farewell Burn. The estimated price tag for the new sled is now up to $2,000.00.

Sleds are not built in large factories or in large production runs. Some dog mushing equipment suppliers and independent craftsmen build sleds as a business. These suppliers and builders usually custom-make the sled to a musher's individual specifications (within a certain design concept). Many mushers, including myself, get sleds in this way, just as Dave will be building my new sled. However most mushers, including myself, also build their own sleds from scratch or rebuild older sleds with new modifications or materials. These sleds are usually born out of many late nights in the garage (which is heated and has a radio if we are lucky).

Besides sleds, we are spending a lot of time on other gear. We just received a shipment of 3,000 dog booties from a mushing supply company. These booties are used to protect the dogs' feet from any possible wear and tear during races and long training runs. We need so many because we take off the booties at every rest stop and then put a new set on each dog prior to leaving the rest stop. The used booties can be washed and re-used for training, but we usually exclusively use new booties in races. We need 1,500 new booties each year just for the Iditarod!!!

The dogs wear booties, as seen on the team above, whenever they are racing or on long training runs. The booties are removed at every rest stop to allow the dogs' feet to breath and air out. New or clean and dry used booties are put on the dogs at the end of the rest stops.

The booties are made of a light, tough Cordura-like fabric. They are simply little tube socks about four inches long. A one inch wide elastic Velcro^TM strap wraps around the top of the bootie to secure it around the dog's foot just below the wrist. When the booties are sewn, they are sewn inside out so that the seams are on the inside when the bootie is turned right-side-out. The booties cost nearly $1 each, but an additional 5 cents is added to each bootie if you want it turned right-side-out by the manufacturer. 3,000 x 5 cents is more than I can multiply on my hands and feet, but it's enough money that we turn our own booties. It's a great thing to do in front of the TV late at night.

Besides dog booties, other clothing items for the dogs and humans also need to be readied. We carry coats for each dog in our sleds during the Iditarod. The coats help the dogs conserve energy when they are resting, and are just two layers of windproof nylon with synthetic down in between. We have very nice coats from last year, so not much needs to be done on the coats except to inspect each and repair any tears or loose seams.

For myself, I know a very generous woman in Seward, Alaska, who has volunteered to sew for me. I am going to send her a bundle of fleece to have new gloves and mittens made, and maybe even a new face mask or two. I have another good friend in Alaska who is an excellent furrier. She is going to make a ruff to go on my new parka (which I ordered over the summer). The ruff is a wide strip of wolf and wolverine fur around the hood that is used to protect your face from the wind and blowing snow.

We are also working on repairing the sled bags that act as oversized backpacks to carry all of our gear on the sleds. A new bag will have to be designed and built for the new dog sled as well. And in our "spare time," we always have more ropes to cut and loops to braid for use as the ganglines that connect the dogs to the sleds, and the dogs' harnesses need to be washed, and checked for proper fit.

There's always lots to do, and in the middle of it all, I'm leaving at noon today for a trip to Chicago. The University of Montana and the Davidson Honors College are paying my way to a conference where a professor of mine and I will present a short talk on some teaching techniques we have been developing. I've never been to Chicago, and I've only been east of Kansas once. The trip should be interesting.