February 28, 2005

• Iditarod altered… again

  The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race used to start in downtown Anchorage on
  Saturday.  That was the “ceremonial start” when mushers lined up,
  either dodged or hogged the microphones and cameras lined up there, and
  were counted down and cheered as they left the gate.  The same
  municipal workers who had previously cleaned snow from the street and
  trucked it to vacant lots on the edge of town would haul the snow back
  and spread it on a few blocks of downtown streets for the racers. 
  Once the dog teams were away from the paved and plowed city streets,
  they’d race to suburban Eagle River, out past Fort Richardson and
  Elmendorf Air Force Base.  Then the mushers would load the dogs
  back in their trucks and drive to Wasilla for the real start of the
  race on Sunday.

  The race started in Wasilla because that’s where Joe Redington Senior,
  father of the Iditarod, lived.  The ceremonial start in Anchorage
  was a politico-economic thing, which means it really makes no sense so
  don’t try to make sense of it.  With the passage of time and the
  warming of the climate, it has gone from senseless to silly, but it’s a
  tradition and Alaska, being as young and short on traditions as it is,
  clings to every one it can get.  Anchorage snow removers don’t
  usually have much to do this time of year, so they become snow movers,
  and re-removers.  That’s some awfully dirty, slushy snow by the
  time it gets back to those snow storage lots.

  Wasilla is a different place.  It can boast about being the Home
  of the Iditarod, and little else.  For a few years during and
  right after the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, Wasilla was
  the fastest-growing city in the US.  That title now belongs to Las
  Vegas, NV, but Wasillies are still boasting about it.

  Citizens were upset last year
  when a visitor from Washington, DC commented that it needs some
  planning and zoning.  Some were upset because they agreed with the
  guy and were embarrassed to live in the ugly tacky town.  Others
  were upset because they enjoy our traditional Alaskan freedoms from
  such things and feared that the hoohaw would result in a loss of
  liberty.

  Wasilla doesn’t have Anchorage’s resources for snow
  moving and removing and re-removing.  Several years ago, when
  global warming resulted in there being too little snow in Wasilla for
  sleds to run on, they moved the restart twenty miles or so up the
  Susitna Valley to Willow.  It wasn’t a permanent move, but that
  temporary expedient has had to be repeated every year since.  So,
  as usual, the more things change the more they stay the same.

  This is from iditarod.com:

  Weather again Forces Changes to Iditarod XXXIII Start and Re-start

  
   The following changes have been made to the Start and Re-Start of Iditarod XXXIII.

  START – (SHORTENED) – ANCHORAGE, SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 10:00 a.m.
  - Rather than travel from downtown Anchorage to Eagle River on day one,
  mushers and their teams will call it a day at Campbell Airstrip, a
  distance of approximately 11 trail miles.

  RE-START- (MOVED TO WILLOW) – WILLOW, SUNDAY, MARCH 6, 2:00 p.m. – The race re-start will be staged on Willow Lake located behind the Willow Community Center.

  Mark
  Nordman, Race Marshal offered the following comment in regards to the
  necessary changes, “Unfortunately, our repeated observation, as late as
  earlier today, of the overall trail conditions between Anchorage and
  Eagle River and Wasilla and Knik is that they are not adequate for 79
  dog teams to safely travel.”

  Stan Hooley, Executive Director
  went on to say, “Trail conditions in the early miles of the race are
  even more important and the commitment of this organization to the
  mushers and their dogs is to ensure that decisions such as this are
  made with their best interest in mind.”

  • 1:08 pm
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