In an announcement today that surprises probably no one, the Iditarod Trail Committee announced that they are currently monitoring trail and weather conditions and will come to a decision by February 3, 2025 what to do.
The state of Alaska has had an incredibly unusual winter. Temperatures well above freezing for most if not all of the state. Rain instead of snow has been the norm since December for South Central Alaska. Anchorage, Alaska over the weekend dealt with Hurricane force winds and rain wiping away the last bit of winter everywhere.
This is not the norm, and with it has come a lot of uncertainty for the Last Great Race.
Currently the race is scheduled to hold its Ceremonial Start on March 2 in Anchorage, Alaska with the ReStart to be held in Willow the following day. Snow is often trucked in from outside of Anchorage to put down a trail through the streets and paths of Anchorage for the eleven mile jaunt. In 2016, the race could not make it the full eleven miles due to lack of snow, but they managed to pull off a three mile run ending at the little league ball fields. It wasn't ideal, but it worked. At this time, there's no reason to assume they can't find a similar alternative this year should the snow continue to allude the 49th state.
The big unknown is what trail will the actual race take off from. Currently Willow is reporting above freezing temps and rain mixed with snow - but they do have snow, and they have trails. They're one of the few places that can boast some sort of winter. However, the weather over the weekend with the wind and rain did a lot of damage to many of the trails that Iditarod uses to leave from Willow Lake on their way to Yentna.
Compounding the problem are the reports that the Susitna River has not frozen over. The Su is one of the many river highways Alaskans use in the winter to get from point A to point B. The Iditarod uses this "super highway" in the early days of the race. In fact, without a frozen Susitna, there is not a good way to get to Nome from Willow.
Fairbanks has seen quite a bit of warm temps - hitting the 50s this weekend - but they still have snow, and ways to get to the West Coast that does not require swimming. Hopefully. If they choose to do the Fairbanks start it will be the fourth time in race history (the three years prior being 2003, 2015, and 2017 - all of which had normal Ceremonial Starts). A restart in Fairbanks would have the race take off on Monday instead of Sunday, and would likely have about a day earlier finish.
On the opposite end of the trail, Nome is lacking snow and looking more like South Central Alaska with little to no snow in town or out. This is not the only town on the West Coast of Alaska to have winter weather problems. The Kuskokwim Delta has had its issues with above freezing temps, winds, and rain. Several of the Delta Championship Series races have had to be postponed, and there's talk that the Kusko 300 is in jeopardy of starting on time.
Fans should not worry about a full cancelation of Iditarod 53. As long as there is snow (or even possibly a hint of it) they will do their best to find a way. The Iditarod has never been cancelled in the history of the race, and while there is always the posibility of a first time, the Iditarod took to social media Monday night to assure fans that they are in no way planning to cancel.
The Iditarod Trail Committee will make the decision by 5pm on February 3, 2025.
What do you think? Fairbanks for the start? Will they get to do the full Ceremonial Start? Comment below with your thoughts.
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