Jessie Holmes gets his win

Jessie Holmes at the Copper Basin 300 finish.
Still from CB300 Live Feed.

After playing the bridesmaid several times over, Jessie Holmes is the 2025 Copper Basin Champion. The fan favorite took charge of the race on day one and didn't look back. 

Holmes ran fast straight out of the gate, traveling at first with his B team run by Kelsey Winters. By the second checkpoint their race schedules changed with Winters running a slightly more conservative run rest schedule (but just barely). Holmes then traveled (or battled) for trail with Cody Strathe of Squid Acres. Strathe managed to get within a few minutes of Holmes on the second day, but Holmes kicked it into high gear as they ran into their planned time differential mandatory rest. Between the time differential and his lead, Holmes had it in the bag.

Yes, there were still miles to go in the race and we've learned over the years to not count out the weather, wildlife, and other circumstances throwing a wrench in even the most sure of leads, but in this case - Holmes had the winning ticket.

In a race that was warmer than it has been in years, as the rest of the state dealt with hurricane like winds and rain, Team Can't Stop managed to pull off what their musher has been trying to do for the last seven years. Yes, Holmes won the Kobuk 440 which is a HUGE feat in 2017, but for most of his career he consistently lands in the top five - and many times the top three. This could be the turning point to become the Holmes era (especially since he tasted that Iditarod win last year).

Rounding out the top five, Strathe was able to keep everyone behind him (except Holmes, of course) to take second. Third was a surprise as Dave Turner and his Racing Chaos team picked off teams in the final run. Fourth was Kelsey Winters who also ate up a lot of time and trail on those ahead of her Monday. Fifth went to Jonah Bacon who kept with the front runners for much of the race.

There are currently seven teams into the finish with many more to come through the night and into Tuesday. Your current Red Lantern is Sydnie Bahl. 

Keep watching the race, folks, it's far from over. The trackers will ping until the final team is off the trail. CB300's Facebook Page and Kale Casey are both going live as teams come into the finish. 

Cheer on those teams and let them hear you!

Jessie Holmes heads for the finish

Jessie Holmes and team at the restart
of Iditarod 52. May 3, 2024.

Jessie Holmes has a commanding lead on the rest of the field leaving the final checkpoint in Chistochina Monday morning. The musher has over a half hour lead over the next team of Cody Strathe. Jessie and Cody have had a solid lead for most of the race, and it should be no surprise that Holmes has been speedy. Jessie barely lost to Brent Sass last year at the same race, and came second in last year's Iditarod. 

Holmes has hoped to be the "champion" of the races he's entered for several years. He is confident that his team is the best in the business, and it's just getting a handle on how to beat the other teams. He's a marathon runner as well as lives off the grid. He's well prepared for any type of trail condition. He made a huge impression in his rookie year of Iditarod when many counted him out as "just a reality star".

Strathe, too, has mad respect within the community. He and his wife Paige Drobny have created a successful kennel and continue to impress in the races they enter. They've won a few, came close in others. Drobny took the Squids on the Iditarod last year and took her very young team to a top five finish, calmly picking off the "more seasoned" teams of dogs one by one on the river and coast.

Holmes has his eyes set on the big prize of Iditarod this year while the Squids are taking time away from "the Last Great Race". They're both willing to test their teams metal against one another.

The finish line is about 47 miles away. The weather has turned windy on the Copper Basin race and ice has been mentioned as well. Temperatures are still reaching the upper 30s or low 40s. With the average speeds we've seen from Holmes, start looking for a finish around 1:45pm Alaska Time.

Of course, if we don't have a working tracker for Jessie Holmes it will be hard to know if that estimate is too conservative or not. Keep an eye on the race's Facebook page as well as Kale Casey Live for updates.

Top Ten are into Meiers Lake

While most of Alaska was blowing away or melting away.... floating away... it seems the little world that is the Copper Basin 300 remains mostly unscathed. Anchorage recorded wind gusts up to 110mph (officially, some on the hillside said they clocked them much stronger). Palmer flooded. Fairbanks reached late spring temperatures (in some areas 50F).

The Copper Basin is also dealing with unseasonably warm temperatures, but they stayed in the 30s. The trail has seen both snow and rain Sunday. Teams are not reporting a "slog fest" but it is a slower going than what one may be used to seeing in this race.

Then again, many years they have quite a bit of snow and trail breaking to do. It's the toughest 300 miles, after all.

Teams moved through the early morning into early afternoon from Lake Louise and Sourdough. Ten have made the haul to Meiers, including favorites to win Jessie Holmes and Cody Strathe. Strathe with his team of Squids left the checkpoint of Sourdough ahead of Holmes early Sunday morning but at some point was passed by the speedy Holmes. Holmes came into Meiers sixteen minutes before Strathe after leaving Sourdough four minutes behind.

Neither of the top two have taken their mandatory 6 hours plus time differential, but it would be a good guess they've both declared and are taking that rest here. Of the current top ten, none of the teams have taken their mandatory 6, however the chase pack have several who have taken theirs. 

Currently into Meiers Lake:

Jessie Holmes
Cody Strathe
Jonah Bacon
Travis Vanderhoof
Dave Turner
Kelsey Winters
Aiden Kosciolek
Lauro Eklund
Anna Hennessy
Elke Hall
Michelle Phillips
Sam Martin
Ben Simard

Two teams chose to cut their races short Sunday, Laura Allaway scratched at Lake Louise and Jessica Hickey scratched at Sourdough. No official release for either as to reason.

Look for teams to start leaving Meiers Lake around 830p or 9p Sunday night.

Top ten are into Lake Louise

The Copper Basin start was a warm and breezy affair for 31 mushers Saturday morning. The teams took off from Glennallen, Alaska and headed down the trail towards Tolsona Lodge. Teams of happy and barking dogs charged out of the starting line in two minute intervals cheered on by an eager crowd. 

Several mushers left the start wearing nothing more than a hoodie and carhart pants. No one looked terribly bundled up, and all shared hopes that with the wind the dogs would stay cool. At temperatures somewhere around 38F before windchill, it was not the norm for the toughest 300 miles in Alaska. 

Talk of weather was most likely the top subject Saturday morning. Reports are calling for snow over night into Sunday as well as wind, with snow turning to rain in the heat of the day. The trail is reportedly slow due to the snow the area got over the last few days, and so teams have had to strategize how best to deal with warmer than usual temps as well as ever changing trail conditions.

If anything, those that plan to run the Iditarod in March will have a great training run out of this race.

Currently twelve teams (ten officially) sit in Lake Louise with the first eight coming in just minutes apart from each other. At seventy-five miles into this year's race, it's still too soon to tell who will come out the winner, but there are few surprises as to who are in front at this point. 

Perhaps the lone surprise is that Aidan Kosciolek and Kelsey Winters are the first two in. Aidan is running a team out of Ryan Redington's kennel and Kelsey is running out of Jessie's team. Kelsey had a 16 minute lead on Jessie coming into Lake Louise, but until time differentials are made up during the mandatory rest in one of the checkpoints no run is really equal to the next or an easy comparison. Kelsey started 10 minutes ahead of Jessie back in Glennallen.

The official top ten are as follows (in order of arrival):

Aidan Kosciolek
Kelsey Winters
Jessie Holmes
Lauro Eklund
Jonah Bacon
Travis Vanderhoof
Cody Strathe
Dave Turner
Joey Sabin Dylan Robbins

Each team will have their own strategy of when to take their time differential rest (six hours plus differential). From Lake Louise it's fiftyfive miles to the very remote (and sketchy service area) checkpoint of Sourdough. Look for teams to start heading out around 12:30am or 1am (at least, that's the semi-educated guess).

Did you find the top ten at all surprising? Who are you hoping will keep their lead? Comment below with your day one thoughts.

And, as always, you can Buy me a slice of pizza to help keep the blog up and running. It's always appreciated but never expected.

2025 Copper Basin musher roster

Baby it's cold outside - or something like that.

 Earlier this winter we were given trail reports in the Copper River Basin of overflow and open water. Then the cold snap at the New Year happened and trails - while still less than ideal snow levels - seemed to stiffen up. There was no doubt that the Copper Basin 300 would go on, there were no messages going out with a "we're monitoring and will let you know" vibe, but cold weather is always a relief for sled dog races.

And, it wouldn't be the CB300 if it wasn't cold. Remember, this is the race that is often hitting negative temps of -30 and several races in the last decade hit -60. This race is known as the toughest 300 miles, there are elevation changes, water crossings, and the cold. Oh, the cold.

And, yet, every year it is one of the most popular races boasting a roster of top tier racing kennels mixed witha few brave "rookies." It's certainly one way to test a musher's endurance.

Of course, this year, the opposite is true with the prediction of abnormally warm temps - balmy infact, but we'll talk about that later.

As always, here's a run down of the roster as it stands ahead of race day. Once the musher meeting happens (scheduled for Friday, January 10, at 6pm) and the final roster complete with starting order is set the list will be edited to reflect any changes.

Honorary musher with bib number one (and silent start) Rick Wilson.

Bib	Musher	Kennel	Link	Link	Link
2	Jessica Hickey	Dream a Dream Kennel		Facebook
3	Chloe Beatty	Fourleaf Dog Sledding		Facebook	Instagram
4	Sam Martin	Skookum Expeditions	Website	Facebook
5	Josiah Liebe	Dallas Seavey Racing	Website	Facebook	Instagram
6	Travis Vanderhoof	Dream Team Kennels		Facebook	Instagram
7	Jody Potts-Joseph	Raven Clan Kennels	Website	Facebook	Instagram
8	Ben Simard	?
9	Dylan Robins	Squid Acres		Facebook
10	Ryan Redington	Redington Mushing	Website	Facebook
11	Richie Beattie	Wildthingz Dog Mushing	Website	Facebook	Instagram
12	Laura Allaway	Runner Dance Kennel		Facebook
13	Jonah Bacon	Nautique Sky Kennel	Website	Facebook	Instagram
14	Lauro Eklund	Skookum Expeditions	Website	Facebook	Instagram
15	Benjamin Good	Good Alaska Mushing		Facebook	Instagram
16	Justin Olnes	ReRun Kennel	Website	Facebook	Instagram
17	Matthew Failor	17th Dog/Alaskan Husky Adventures	Website	Facebook	Instagram
18	Kattijo Deeter	Black Spruce Dog Sledding	Website	Facebook	Instagram
19	Jeffrey Deeter	Black Spruce Dog Sledding	Website	Facebook	Instagram
20	Aiden Kosciolek	Redington Mushing		Facebook
21	Daniel Klein	Redington Mushing	Website	Facebook	Instagram
22	Kelsey Winters	Can't Stop Racing Kennel?		Facebook	Instagram
23	Dave Turner	Racing Chaos		Facebook	Instagram
24	Joey Sabin	VOA Racing	Website	Facebook	Instagram
25	Cody Strathe	Squid Acres	Website	Facebook	Instagram
26	Sydnie Bahl	Dream a Dream Kennel	Website	Facebook
27	Jessie Holmes	Can't Stop Racing Kennel	Website	Facebook	Instagram
28	Connor Mcmahon	Feral Racing		Facebook	Instagram
29	Michelle Phillips	Tagish Lake Kennel	Website	Facebook	Instagram
30	Emily Ford	Shameless Huskies	Website	Facebook	Instagram
31	Anna Hennessy	Shameless Huskies	Website	Facebook	Instagram
32	Elke Hall	Silver Ace Sled Dogs	Website	Facebook	Instagram

*Roster as of January 10, 2025 @9:30pm.

Who are you surprised to see on the roster? Who are you cheering for? Comment with your thoughts on the roster below!

And, as always, you can Buy me a slice of pizza to help keep the blog up and running. It's always appreciated but never expected.  

Brent Sass holds off Jessie Holmes to win Copper Basin

Brent Sass at finish with Ace and Slater.
Screencap from Kale Casey Live.

Brent Sass flew into the finish line a little before 3:15pm Alaska time Monday winning the 2024 Copper Basin 300. As the sun was setting along the mountain ridge fans watching in Glennallen as well as online (thanks to Kale Casey) Brent's bright parka came out through the trees and it was no doubt Wild and Free would be champion.

Sass didn't have much time for celebration under the arch, however, as Jessie Holmes came in just a minute or so later. Suddenly it meant much more sense why Brent was skipoling and running with his team into the finish. The champion crouched for a quick winner's picture with his team and the trophy before picking up and running out of the way for Jessie's to sign off the trail.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Brent would tell Kale Casey on the live feed regarding the footrace at the end against his friend and competitor Jessie.

Sass wasn't even supposed to race this weekend. The musher had announced around Christmas time that he was downsizing his racing schedule and Copper Basin was not in his plans, but at what seemed the last minute he reconsidered. Sass placed second in last weekend's Knik 200, coming in just seconds behind young phenom Emily Robinson. 

Sass and Holmes spent most of the Copper Basin leap frogging each other, and many knew they would be close together when they finished. The trackers, as on cue, went dark just two miles from the finish so it was anyone's guess if Jessie would overtake the 2022 Iditarod Champion. Brent kept a mile between them for the last 20 miles or so, and his team didn't slow even as they came into the finisher's chute.

Next up into the finish should be Cody Strathe from Squid Acres who has a nice cushion between he and the fourth and fifth place teams - which the race for fourth will be another nailbiter between Matt Hall and Paige Drobny. Teams will continue to come through the finish tonight and tomorrow morning. 

2024 Copper Basin 300 musher roster

The "hardest 300 mile" sled dog race is this weekend and it has a healthy roster of veterans and newbies alike. While all of the mushers have many miles under their belts, there's a big gap between experiences. We have a couple of Iditarod Champions, several rookies, and all those in between. Famous family names, a couple of "reality stars" (who are more than just an Alaskan version of the Kardashians)... and all of them are gearing up for a 300 miles race known for its tough trails and frigid cold temps.

We'll discuss that all in the race preview in the coming days, but let's look at the roster as it stands. Note that if you go to the race's web page they still have withdrawn mushers listed, but this roster has taken them off - as well as two names that have announced on their social media pages that they are not planning to run after all (Brent Sass and Matt Randall). So this roster may not look like the official one, however once bib numbers are drawn we'll know who all will be racing and the roster will be updated on the blog to reflect those changes.

Without further adieu:

Honorary Musher (Bib 1) Tim Taylor

Bib	Musher	Kennel	Link	Link	Link
2	Daniel Klein	Redington Mushing	Website	Facebook	Instagram
3	Jacob Witkop	Piledriver Kennel		Facebook	Instagram
4	Hunter Keefe	Redington Mush Alaska	Website	Facebook	Instagram
5	Nicholas Petit	Team Petit Racing	Website	Facebook	Instagram
6	Kelsey Winters	Can't Stop Racing Kennel?		Facebook	Instagram
7	Sadie Lindquist	Seavey's Ididaride	Website	Facebook	Instagram
8	Lara Kittelson	Seavey's Ididaride	Website	Facebook	Instagram
9	Cody Strathe	Squid Acres	Website	Facebook	Instagram
10	Kristy Berington	Seeing Double Racing	Website	Facebook	Instagram
11	Joey Sabin	VOA Racin	Website	Facebook	Instagram
12	Emily Ford	Shameless Huskies	Website	Facebook	Instagram
13	Tony Angelo	Bella Kennel		Facebook
14	Jessie Holmes	Can't Stop Racing Kennel	Website	Facebook	Instagram
15	Matt Hall	Silver Ace Sled Dogs	Website	Facebook	Instagram
16	Justin Olnes	ReRun Kennel	Website	Facebook	Instagram
17	Josi Thyr	There & Back Again Sled Dogs	Website	Facebook	Instagram
18	Samantha LaLonde	Dallas Seavey Racing		Facebook	Instagram
19	Sydnie Bahl	Dream a Dream Kennel	Website	Facebook
20	Elke Hall	Silver Ace Sled Dogs	Website	Facebook	Instagram
21	Dallas Seavey	Dallas Seavey Racing	Website	Facebook	Instagram
22	Jonah Bacon	Nautique Sky Kennel	Website	Facebook	Instagram
23	Treven Hunter	Dallas Seavey Racing		Facebook	Instagram
24	Michael Dolinar	Happy Trails Kennel		Facebook	Instagram
25	Misha Wiljes	WW Kennel	Website	Facebook
26	Lauro Eklund	Skookum Expeditions	Website	Facebook	Instagram
27	Annette Llanes	Honky Tonk Kennel		Facebook	Instagram
28	Paige Drobny	Squid Acres	Website	Facebook	Instagram
29	Michael Parker	Northern Whites Kennel	Website	Facebook	Instagram
30	Sean Williams	Alaska Mushing School	Website	Facebook	Instagram
31	Brent Sass	Wild & Free Racing	Website	Facebook	Instagram
32	Matt Paveglio	Werewolf Mushing	Website	Facebook	Instagram
33	Calvin Daugherty	Seavey's Ididaride	Website	Facebook	Instagram

Edited 8:30pm January 12.

Who are you excited to see on the list? Predictions? Comment below with your thoughts and who you're cheering for!

And, as always, you can Buy me a slice of pizza to help keep the blog up and running. It's always appreciated but never expected.