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April 6, 2016 by

I have carried a hand held video camera on the race for years now. Honestly, I don’t always think “Gez, this is gorgeous… I need to take a video!” But, I really did try to capture some amazing portions of the Iditarod Trail this year.
There are 13 videos in the ID: AliyCam 2016 Series.

The day was brilliant. The mountains were laid out all around us. I couldn’t help but record many minutes (and miles) as we climbed from the Rainy Pass Lodge Checkpoint, up into the mountain pass itself and then over the top. I could see teams off in the distance at times — both in front and behind us. We kept a steady pace for much of the climb. On the steeper sections you will hear or see my ski poles as I helped the team with the ascent.

There is actually a metal sign demarcating the pass itself. I have passed directly by it some years and other years the trail goes far to the left or right of it. This year there were two people standing by the sign. I learned later that one of those folks was Iditarod photographer, Jeff Schultz. I only learned that was him when I asked him “Did you get any really good photos of my team this year?” He said “Yup, while summiting Rainy Pass.”
So, we’ll have to wait and see!

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32 Responses

  • These are the most wonderful videos! You are so kind with your dogs; it makes my heart happy to hear you talk to them! Thank you!

  • Very, very cool to see you climb the pass. I'm glad you left the camera on for a while so we could catch a glimpse af several of the dogs. Everyone is working hard, both 4 legged and 2 legged team members. I've really enjoyed watching Sandy in these last two videos. She was truckin along, moving nice and steady.

  • So much to see here…
    The scenery is gorgeous, and beside watching those good dawgs working hard, we got to see your infamous ski poles, functional, but not as elegant as your ruff, in the last video.

    Every time you said "Good dogs," it looks like the whole team takes it personally, especially Sandy and Commando(?), and after your oomph ah geez, they both turned back two and three times to say, "Good Dog," to you too! Way to stay positive Aliy. They were so lucky to have you driving them.
    🙂

    Either one of your leaders (Mismo?) heard "Come on now" as "Come Gee now," or he's taking short cuts to trail markers that he sees. Hopefully the latter, yeah boy find the markers, just don't take short cuts. Clearly this young team kept you on you toes!

    Awesome video of your team work!
    🙂 🙂 🙂

  • Maybe it was my imagination but it seemed like a number of times the 'good dogs' by Aliy ended up making the dogs dig in and pull faster. This is after, what, 160? 170? miles. To pull going up hill that fast. What a thrill to ride along. Thank you. What a thrill it must be to know that your love, dedication, work and training developed these 4-legged athletes to the point that they could do this. And they were still doing it 800(?) miles later; it boggles the mind. What an incredible team.

  • Woof woof good dogs thanks Aliy really enjoying the journey so far love to hear what the two legged training regime is and how many calories you burn each day pole up those passes look forward to the next instalment .
    Cheers Denali 🐾🐾 and Joanne 🇦🇺

  • "Come on now" as "Come Gee now,"

    I meant to say
    "Come on now" as "Come HAW now,"

    which makes sense, it sounds similar.

  • Thank you so much for sharing, so beautiful! Love the way your team perks up when they hear your voice! You all are so amazing!

  • Looks absolutely stunning the scenery and a beautiful team of dogs wish I was there thank you so much for sharing

  • What an awesome video of making the summit!!!

    I have seen Jeff Schultz's photo of the Team making the summit…..you all can….go to iditarod.com, scroll down and hit the Daily Race Photos on the left….then scroll down to March 7th and at the end of Marcy 7th click on page 2….then scroll down again and the picture of the Red Team making the summit is the 8th picture down on the right….Jeff was right….its a REALLY good photo!

    I'm so amazed at these videos…the front of the Team looks so far away from the sled but yet they are so attentive to your every word! And how do you keep your balance ski-poling with both arms! That must be an art unto its own! It must feel good helping the Team out on these accents! Good job Red Team!!!

  • Anne thanks so much! The Jeff Schulz pictures are fantastic. And Aliy, thanks so much too. I always see how attentive the dogs are to you. It is awe inspiring.

  • This is amazing, Aliy! These are things most of us will never have the opportunity to see or experience in our entire lifetimes. Thank you so much for taking us on the trip with you!!

  • I have watched the summit videos before, but this one is definitely my favorite (so far). I loved watching them work, hearing Aliy work and encourage, but mostly watching them do their job. I have thought so many times, "How do they do that? How do they work that hard and just keep doing it?" Amazing and beautiful. The photos were good, but the video was spectacular.

  • What fantastic video of red team working so hard. Love how the dogs respond to your voice Aliy. Thanks for taking us on the journey.

  • What fantastic video of red team working so hard. Love how the dogs respond to your voice Aliy. Thanks for taking us on the journey.

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