Sled dog racing

Russian musher has history with his dogs

Forty-seven-year-old Michael Telpin of Russia's Chukotka Peninsula talks about himself and his dogs in an interview for his biography on the Yukon Quest website.

3 vie for lead in Yukon Quest International Sled Dog race

At the front of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dob race pack, GPS tracking problems left mushers and spectators uncertain of who was leading a three-man battle for the four ounces of gold awarded to the first musher to reach the halfway point in Dawson, Yukon.

SLED BLOG

Top 30 Iditarod mushers to split $550,000 purse this year

The top 30 mushers in this year's Iditarod will split a combined purse of roughly $550,000, the race director said Thursday.

3 vie for lead in Yukon International Sled Dog race

GPS trackers weren't updating for two of the three leaders late Wednesday as they mushed toward the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog race's halfway point in Dawson, Yukon.

Yukon Quest dogs sport colorful leggings on the trail

Dogs in the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race and in other long-distance sled dog races have recently been seen wearing long, cloth tubes -- the mushers call them leggings -- that stretch from ankle to shoulder.

Moore edges Mackey, Neff for Yukon Quest halfway gold

Allen Moore of Two Rivers won a duel with Lance Mackey and Hugh Neff late Wednesday to become the first musher to reach Dawson, the halfway point of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.

Gold for first Quest musher to Dawson

Gold for first Quest musher to Dawson

The lead mushers in the Yukon Quest were expected to reach Dawson City sometime late Wednesday night or early this morning, where four ounces of gold await the first to arrive at the halfway point of the 1,000- mile sled-dog race from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, Yukon.

Mackey leads Yukon Quest by a minute

Four-time champions Lance Mackey grabbed a narrow lead Tuesday in the 1,000-mile sled dog race between Fairbanks and Whitehorse, Yukon.

FAA grounds Quest's volunteer air force

FAA grounds Quest's volunteer air force

The Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race is without its volunteer air force program this year. Officials learned three weeks ago that the group of volunteer pilots who fly to areas of trail inaccessible by other means during the race was not conforming to Federal Aviation Administration regulations.

Neff, Sass separated by minutes in Yukon Quest

The unforgiving Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race claimed its first casualty while veteran contenders Hugh Neff and Brent Sass appeared to be turning the dog race into a dogfight as the leaders began the long run to Eagle and the Canadian border late Monday night.

Mushers battle overflow on Yukon Quest trail

Overflow on parts of the trail in the Yukon Quest sled dog race from Fairbanks to Whitehorse have mushers up to their knees in water.

Sass leaves Central, taking early lead in Yukon Quest

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Photos: Yukon Quest

Hollingsworth team completes Raven 10-dog sweep

Dori Hollingsworth posted the fastest time for the third straight day to win the Raven Electric 10-dog championship at Tozier Track.

Sass leaves Central, taking early lead in Yukon Quest

Musher Brent Sass had the early lead Sunday on day two of the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race. Sass, of Fairbanks, was the first musher to leave the Central checkpoint, departing at 11:31 a.m. today, 13 minutes after he arrived.

Photos: Yukon Quest

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Yukon Quest Facebook

Dogs pick up pace at Tozier track

Sled dogs enjoyed quicker conditions Saturday on the second day of the three-day Raven Electric 10-dog championships at Tozier Track, where packed trails made for faster runs than those recorded in Friday's blizzard.

Quest mushers leave Fairbanks

Yukon Quest veteran Brent Sass of Eureka charged into the early lead in the 29th running of the international sled dog race, leaving the race's first checkpoint late Saturday night with a 33-minute lead over Sonny Lindner, who won the first Quest nearly three decades ago.

Photos: Yukon Quest

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SLED DOG RACING

Hollingsworth mushes to snowy win at Tozier

Battling relentless snow that made for slow conditions Friday at Tozier Track, Dori Hollingsworth mushed to the first-day victory in the Raven Electric 10-dog championships.

Hot and very cold: The science of sled dog racing

Denali National Park backcountry ranger and musher Kristin Knight Pace writes for UAF's Frontier Scientists blog about some of the challenges Mother Nature tosses at racing mushers and their dogs. For Chatanika musher Jodi Bailey, experience builds the ability to better prepare for wildly varying conditions on the trail.

Moore will be first on trail in Quest

Before this year's Yukon Quest start banquet, Allen Moore asked his wife, 2000 Yukon Quest champion Aliy Zirkle, if she could help him out a little. Last year he drew second to last, not his ideal choice for a starting position.

Even though race hasn't started, cold already vexing Quest mushers

It wasn't the mushers, or even the dogs, who had objections to almost 50 below zero temperatures. It was their trucks.

Taveau edges Rasey, Chezik in 8-dog class

Christian Taveau covered an eight-mile course at Tozier Track in 23 minutes, 28 seconds, on Sunday to claim the eight-dog class in the Norma Rasmussen Memorial point race sponsored by Rasumssen's family and the Alaskan Sled Dog & Racing Association.

Cim Smyth outduels King in Tustumena 200

Once Cim Smyth figured out a way to win the battle of the sexes, he found a way to come from behind, beat Jeff King and claim the title of the Tustumena 200 sled dog race Sunday on the Kenai Peninsula.