Thinking Snow
November 17, 2002

Seavey's Iditarod Racing Team--Sterling, AK
By Tyrell Seavey

***Check Back Tomorrow for Update Photos***

    The snow-gods have smiled upon us, though not with the three feet of powdery snow we were hoping for.  We did get enough to cover the ground, and therein soften the trails enough to allow us to continue training without having to bootie the dogs’ feet.  The trail conditions are still shaky; and every time it starts to snow, we rush out, look up and check to see how thick the clouds are, how fast the snow is falling, how quick it is piling up…  We are like a bunch of nervous elves, hoping there’ll be snow for Christmas.  If we don’t get some serious snow fast we will be forced to pack up the teams and head for colder, more musher-friendly training conditions.

    The big project on the agenda now is to complete the new dog truck, thus enabling us to make the dash north if the weather requires.  The dog truck started as a Ford F-350, a stack of plywood, and about 20 trips to the hardware store, and has now grown into quite an impressive dog-packing vehicle.  We are now down to the last details; how do you extend the fuel filler out to the face of the plywood box, and then there is the wiring, always the wiring…  It is all coming together well, and we hope to bring the new truck into service by the early part of next week.

    The dogs are awesome.  That’s getting to be more and more a given as the training progresses.  We have now built the dogs up to 16-mile runs, four times a week.  Which is fairly intense for dogs that had never gone more than four miles in a day as of a month ago.  Every day I see changes in the dogs.  Each time I bring out the four-wheeler and the harnesses, we are in for a new experience--a new situation to learn from.  I am always trying to maximize the dogs’ exposure to new challenging scenarios, thus minimizing the surprises when it comes to race time. 

    One big challenge for us mushers is going to come in the next weeks when we start booting these two year olds for their first couple of times.  The first few times a dog has booties on can be wild!  The dogs don’t seem to mind the booties too much, but they seem to enjoy chewing them up, or tearing them off right as the musher hops on the four-wheeler tries to take off.  It can be quite an adventure.

    We are very excited about the prospects of getting out on sleds for the first time this season, and we’ll keep you posted as the training continues.

Reporting from Seavey’s Iditarod Racing Kennel,

© 2002 Ultimate Iditarod, Snowcrest Racing Sled Dogs, Seavey's Iditarod Racing Team
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