ID: Out and Into Nikolai

Its 5pm Tuesday, March 6th.

RETURNED DOG UPDATE

We know Aliy has dropped one of her team mates in Nikolai. As yet we do not know who it is or why so thanks for your patience as we wait for more information. We also have not received Allen’s team mate back from Rohn. It is likely they will be flown fowards to McGrath which is more of a hub airport, before getting back to Anchorage. We will keep you updated as we hear more but the weather is sure to be having an impact on getting planes back to Anchorage.

RED TEAM

At 11.00am this morning, Aliy and her 16 team mates arrived into Nikolai. She was in good spirits in an Insider interview where they asked about her run, while she was doing her checkpoint arrival chores. Dietrich Nikolai captured some drone footage of the team arriving to the checkpoint and you can see Aliy working very hard behind the sled, double ski-poling as the snow is steadily falling.

It sounds like there was some sections of overflow towards the end of the run, after about “Buffalo Camp” where the trail drops onto a mostly level plain for the rest of the way to Nikolai. Mushers were reporting good snow conditions leaving Rohn and travelling over the Burn area, but as the teams neared Nikolai there was much more snow making it a bit of a slog for the leading teams. Aliy talked about standing on top of her sled as they passed through sections of foot deep overflow in moguls, likely caused by snowmachines travelling the trail.

The weather may be causing some mushers to rethink their original race plans as doing long runs in deep, wet snow can sap the dogs’ energy and slow down their run. There is a delicate balance for front runners in their decision making from here – whether to stay in front and have to break trail or let someone else get ahead and hope they break the trail for them. There are pros and cons to each of those scenarios and only the mushers know how their dogs are doing to know which option to choose.

Aliy rested her team for a little over four hours before heading out again towards McGrath just after 3pm. Right now there are eight teams in front of them.

Here’s a few screen shots from the Insider Video of Aliy and team leaving moving through Rainy Pass yesterday. Check it out here.

BLACK TEAM

Allen and 14 team mates broke-up the leg from Rohn to Nikolai into two, stopping his team just after half way, at mile 224. They stayed there around four hours before getting back on the trail for Nikolai. They are currently about 25 miles from the checkpoint and moving through the Burn area nicely.

I think about it every year, but around this time of the race I get reminded of the part in the Lord of the Rings when Frodo and Samwise are on their way to Mordor. Sam stops, looks around and says “If take one more step, it’ll be the farthest away from home I’ve ever been.” At various points up the 300 mile mark this will apply to Allen’s rookies who have only ever run 300 miles in a race, at the most.

We expect to see the Black Team in Nikolai maybe around 8-9pm this evening and he will likely rest the team there for a while.