No ReRoute for Iditarod 53

It's the Southern Route for Iditarod after all!

After a winter that was more premature spring break-up than winter that saw races postpone and cancel, the Iditarod held out hope that all things would be a go. The race announced earlier in January they would make a final decision and announce February 3 of their final decision.

In true ITC fasion, however, they announced earlier - and after another musher's kennel had already spilled the beans Friday.

The "Southern Route" is the route traditionally run in Odd years. Called the Southern route because of where it enters the Yukon River, and trades off every other year with the Northern Route so as to ensure more Alaska Villages get a chance to host the Last Great Race.

"The Iditarod Trail Committee (ITC) is pleased to announce that after extensive trail flyovers, on-the-ground reports from snow machiners and information from Checkpoint communities," the race wrote, "the current weather conditions will allow for the race to run the Southern Route as originally planned."

There are still some concerns for areas that have little to no snow. The Willow area is nearly without and the Willow Community Winter Carnival canceled all sled dog events this past week due to no trail. "There may be some course modifications necessary, including the Official Restart of the race depending on snow coverage of the traditional Willow Lake start," wrote the ITC. 

This would not be the first time they've had to move the restart from Willow Lake in recent years. During the 2021 Iditarod Race that ran its historic Gold Trail Loop route, they moved the start and finish to Deshka Landing. The Iron Dog announced earlier this month it planned to take its traditional course starting off from Big Lake as they head out toward Nome. 

No matter where the race starts from the Iditarod assures fans and mushers alike that no major reroutes would have to take place if the Restart does not take place from Willow Lake but instead somewhere close by.

Even with no snow in Anchorage, the race still plans to hold the Ceremonial Start from its traditional Downtown Anchorage location. In 2016 when snow was late to appear in Alaska's largest city, the race truncated their traditional 11 mile Ceremonial Start to 3 miles. Not ideal, but there was still plenty of hype and action in those three miles.

The Ceremonial Start is set for 10am on March 1 with the ReStart to follow the next day at 2pm.

Thoughts on the early announcement? Excited? Skeptical? Comment below!

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Su Dog 300 warns of wet ahead of race day

Much of Alaska is under a weather advisory from Thursday night through Sunday. Winds are forecasted to bring rain and warm temperatures. The area that the run will take place is predicted to have close to 50 degree temperatures.

As news spread of the upcoming storm, natuarly mushers and volunteers began asking what this meant for the race. Would the trails hold up? 

The race took to social media late Thursday night with an update on the race. Trails are expected to hold up, but that mushers need to pack rain gear. "It is going to be wet," they wrote. 

Twenty-three teams were signed up and given bib numbers earlier this week, however the race has promised a 40% refund for anyone who withdraws prior to noon Friday.

The update came on the heels of the announcement Wednesday that the Iron Dog plans to use their traditional 2,500 mile route even with the crazy weather. The race, which is the longest "snowmobile" race in the world boasts a large and well known roster this year, and there's no doubt the race is under similar pressure as the Iditarod and other sled dog races across the state. The Iron Dog traditionally leaves off on Big Lake and travels up to Nome before they take a break to reboot the race (they work on their machines and get a little rest in) before continuing and finishing back on Big Lake.

According to reports, the least snow the Iron Dog will face is the section before the Alaska Range - which reports say has more snow than average - there's also little concern about the condition of the trails on the West coast of Alaska even though storms this week along with high tides are forecasted to cause flooding and massive overflow in the Yukon-Kuskoquim Delta region. 

As fans know, the Y-K Delta has seen races postponed due to poor trails and weather conditions. The popular Kuskokwim 300 was set to run this weekend, but had to be postponed in hopes for trail improvements and cooler temperatures and is currently rescheduled for February 7, 2025.

As the storm blows in that will affect this weekend's race, it is also set to hit South Central Alaska. SouthCentral as in Anchorage. Much of South Central is under a flood watch as rain and warm temps are predicted to cause a lot of water on road ways and lower parts of the topography. With the ground frozen there will be nowhere for the water to go. It leaves many expecting that the Iditarod will announce a Fairbanks start on February 3. It would also not be surprising to see them announce a shorter Ceremonial Start similar to what happened in 2016.

As Alaskans all grumble and glare at the Lower 48 (where New Orleans has reported twice as much snowfall this winter than Anchorage) and their lovely winter weather, it remains to be seen how many races will be affected by the "unseasonably warm" weather.

The Su Dog leaves from Willow Lake at 2pm on Saturday January 25. 

What do you think about the latest update from the Su Dog? Predictions on what Iditarod will do for their race? Comment below with your thoughts!

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Is the Iron Dog important for Iditarod fans?

With the ceremonial start of Iditarod just two weeks away, fans are anxiously counting down days grasping at any news on their favorite teams they can.The Iron Dog is a race run partially on the Iditarod trail system on snow machines (though the race uses the term that Canada and the rest of the US use: snow mobile). They kicked off their ceremonial "parade" through Anchorage this afternoon. Like the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, the Iron Dog likes to put on a show for the fans and onlookers. The irony is - the Iditarod was created, in part, to protect the sled dog from extinction due in part to the invention of the snow-machine.

So why is this race important for the Iditarod fans? Well, it is an interesting race going from Big Lake to Nome to Fairbanks, over some of the most interesting terrain. And, the drivers are pretty exciting. But what really stands out is this is our only look of the trail conditions before the Iditarod begins. The last couple of years we've seen the Iron Dog drive on dirt and skim over water (with one sinking near Nome!). While they don't travel the entirely same trail as the dog teams will in two weeks (we don't see them go through the Happy River Steps) we at least get the general idea.

So enjoy watching the race updates, and lets hope the trail is a good one for both races!