Lance Mackey is off on his 1,000 mile trek

The Yukon Quest began yesterday and you can check out the mushers’ progress. One of the neatest features of this official website is the live tracking that’s available for each musher. You can see all the check point arrival and departure times for each musher and where they are on the trail at any given moment. Pretty exciting stuff. As of this posting Zack Steer is running in first place with Lance Mackey close behind. For all the details on standings and trail conditions check out Yukon Quest.

Hugh Neff has heart-to-heart with his lead dog before heading out on the trail

The race season is underway. I have discovered a great website called Mushingtv.com. It features interviews with some of the greatest names in mushing, Lance Mackey, Jeff King and Sebastien Schnuelle. You can hear them talk about their training routines and their hopes for this season. It’s great. But do check it out now because they are planning to start charging a fee to see their videos. Right now its still free.

Here’s a sample:

For those of you are getting excited about the Iditarod here’s a taste of last year’s. The ceremonial start of 2009 Iditarod took place today in Anchorage; the real race starts tomorrow from Willow.

Libby Riddles hails from Madison, Wisconsin and came to Alaska at the age of sixteen and never left. In fact she became a true Alaskan. Her courage and determination fill the pages of the book. Her ability to persevere under extreme conditions is admirable. Although as she says herself, “I had never thought much about being the first woman to win the race. I thought of myself as just a sled dog racer, not a woman sled dog racer.”; she is an undeniably strong role model for young women. Mushing is an unusual sport in that men and women can compete as physical equals; to a large extent age isn’t even an issue. Perhaps the same intangible element powers both the successful mushers and their dogs, the will to keep going forward.

In addition to winning the Iditarod that year Libby received the humanitarian award, a prize given by the veterinarians for the driver who was most conscientious in the care of their dogs during the race. All along the way, through blizzards, over ice and in darkness, Libby Riddles never falters in her appreciation for the abilities and the sheer heart of her dogs. Her pride in them particularly near the end of the trail pulling into Nome is wonderful, “…they broke into a lope. Not bad for a bunch of dogs who had just come twelve hundred miles. The sudden burst of speed gave me a thrill. What heart these dogs had, after so many days on the trail. Oh, the things I was going to do for them when this was all done! A box of dog biscuits and a steak for each one, mountains of fresh straw to lie on, days of leisure to soak up the sun.”

There is a lot of mutual trust in the relationship between an outstanding musher and her dogs. It is all recorded here in this vivid account. For Iditarod fans this book is educational and inspiring; for anyone this book reads like a thrilling adventure yarn with one difference, it is a true story.

I have read now a number of books written by well known mushers and have found them to be by and large informative and entertaining but I will concede that as far as laughing out loud is concerned Paulsen’s book wins hands down. There are many obstacles to be overcome and constant challenges; Paulsen greets these events, sometimes painful and frightening, with plenty of pluck and a wonderful ability to laugh both at circumstances and at himself. The episode involving multiple skunk sprayings is simply hilarious. The author is on a learning curve, this is a process and he isn’t shy about sharing the details of his mishaps, most of which seemed to be unwittingly self-engineered, with the reader. This is all about ingenuity and perseverance. Gary Paulsen’s ingenuity is astounding not only with the dogs but in building sleds and various devices for training in the off season. He also needed to fund raise and scavenge and improvise with the materials at hand. This is a man with drive.

He completed that first Iditarod in 1981. Health concerns forced him to make some changes in his life and set off in some new directions. He became one of America’s most prolific writers of fiction for young people, writing wilderness adventure and coming of age tales. Twice his books were selected for the prestigious Newberry Honor Award. He now lives in New Mexico where he trains dogs for the Iditarod. He competed in the 2008 race and was slated to run this year also but the official Iditarod website lists his name among those who have withdrawn from this year’s race. If you are interested in finding out more about this remarkable individual you can visit his website.

Winner of many sled dog races and most notably 1150-mile Iditarod (1993, 1996, 1998, and 2006) Jeff King is an individual with tremendous competitive  drive and a talent for single minded focus. These capacities have enabled him to fulfill his boyhood dream of living in a cabin by a lake in Alaska and mushing. He now does all these things in addition to running a breeding program and producing and training his own dogs. In season, his home, Husky Homestead, is open to visitors and many tourists make the trip.

His story telling talents are well displayed in this book. His narrative accounts of his mushing adventures are punchy and vivid. The reader will learn how to survive a plunge into icy water and the subsequent freezing of clothing. I like to read the accounts of grueling mushing runs while wrapped in a blanket on a cold winter night.

There has in the past been some controversy concerning the treatment of dogs racing in the Iditarod and I do not intend to go into those issues here.  If  the reader would like to read a balanced intelligent account of this controversy I refer you to “Dog’s Best Friend”  by Mark Derr, chapter seven, ‘Mutts of the North’.  Of course these racing Alaskan huskies do not lead the same kind of life as a house dog. In fact they very rarely see the inside of a house. They are however able to experience the fulfillment for which they are bred and trained. Call them dharmic canines.

“Cold Hands Warm Heart” is illustrated with the wonderful art of the author’s wife, Donna Gates King. She portrays the dogs with a vivifying empathy. The scenery and mushing scenes are alive to the eye. Her colours are the colours of the north. Clear blue white light suffuses her work and gives it an aura of transparency. The book also contains a number of photograph’s from throughout his career and some of them really excellent.

The count down is on for this year’s Iditarod. In thirty three days 73 mushers will embark on one of the most challenging tests of strength and drive and stamina, not to mention speed, imaginable. This year’s start date is March seventh. Reading “Cold Hands Warm Heart” is a good way to get in the mood.

“There was an undercurrent of panic as we broke camp. Vague rumors were circulating about more storms on the way.I nearly lost it on Rainy when I saw her bite through another harness seconds after I had slipped it on. I smacked her on the nose with my mitt and yelled. The lesbian seemed not to hear me. Her lips were tight. Her attention was completely absorbed by the exodus taking place around us. My spares were shredded. I decided to let Rainy wear a crooked harness for awhile and see if that made an impression. I mushed from the village at 4:45 P.M., led by an unrepentant bitch trailing webbing in the snow.”

Brian Patrick O’Donoghue, newspaper reporter turned musher, has written a gritty and exciting account of his experiences in the 1991 Iditarod. This race is considered the ultimate test of a musher’s mettle. It is a 500 mile slog from Anchorage to Nome in Alaska. It can take several weeks to complete. The adage that to finish is to win is certainly applicable in this context. In recent years issues have arisen concerning the stress on dogs involved in the Iditarod; I don’t intend to address them here. As is the case in any extreme sport the Iditarod is not only a contest amongst the competitors but also a test of each individual’s inner resources. The weather changes, for better or worse, the mushers must adapt.The matter of logistics is complex and subject to various foul ups. Imagine being velcroed into a sled bag for the night while a blizzard rages, sucking on a piece of frozen salmon and wondering what the next crisis will be. O’Donoghue runs into plenty of them including frost bite,equipment problems, and dog management issues. Still he perseveres and finishes the race. Granted, he came last in 1991. But his tale is a fascinating and colourful account the kind of saga best savoured from the comfort of one’s favourite sofa.