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| 28th
year of Alaska's great race
|
| 01/21/00 BAD WEATHER DOGS KUSKO 300-MILER BEGINS TODAY By S.J. Komarnitsky Daily News Reporter BETHEL--With the start of the Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race hours away, the talk of this town was not about veterans Martin Buser or Charlie Boulding, but a more elemental factor: the weather. The forecast called for blowing snow, temperatures in the 30s and wind gusts of up to 30 mph -- a musher's nightmare. Or, as race director Bev Hoffman put it, ''Crappy.'' Mushers expect to confront either slick ice or punchy slush, depending on how warm it gets. ''We're not going to see any records this year,'' Hoffman said. Just getting to this year's race has been a struggle. Some mushers were delayed when their flights were grounded by fog and low clouds. Three of them didn't make it into town until Thursday afternoon, just hours before the race start. And on Thursday evening, race officials were still waiting for Andy Ruby of Dillingham. Ruby told race officials that if he did get in, he'd probably run in the Bogus Creek 150, a shorter race that begins after the Kuskokwim. Rocky Taylor, one of those who arrived Thursday, said he spent five days trying to get out his village of Aniak, 150 miles upriver. ''It never really did clear,'' he said. ''The pilot just decided to go for it and see if he could bust out of the clouds.'' Of course, bad weather is nothing new for the Kuskokwim 300. It's a hallmark of the race, which sometimes sees 60-degree temperature shifts in a few days. Last year, for example, mushers found themselves sloshing through standing water on the first day of the race only to finish a day and half later in windchills of minus-40. ''I think the weather has been nice maybe three of the 21 races we've had,'' Hoffman said. This year 21 mushers are signed up to challenge the elements and each other. Among them are former Iditarod champions Buser and Jeff King as well as former Yukon Quest victor Boulding. Also here is rookie Curtis Erhart of Fairbanks, an experienced sprint musher trying a mid-distance race for the first time. ''My goal is just to finish,'' he said. Also racing are Paul Gebhardt of Kasilof, who won the Copper Basin 300 two weeks ago and was sixth in last year's Iditarod, and Linwood Fiedler of Willow, another experienced musher who was 13th in last year's Iditarod. This is his first Kuskokwim race. Notably missing are the Swingley brothers, Doug and Greg, who've won the past two years. Defending champion Doug Swingley of Lincoln, Mont., skipped the Kusko in favor of Minnesota's Grand Portage Passage Sled Dog Race. A 330-mile event, the $81,000 Grand Portage loops through the wilds of northern Minnesota and southern Canada. Swingley conceded there is less money to be made in the Grand Portage, but it is a lot cheaper for a Montana musher to drive hundreds of miles to a race than fly thousands of miles. The defending Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion said he will miss the competition at the Kusko, but after spending so much time in Alaska over the years, he wants to do more to promote sled-dog sports Outside. ''If those (Alaska) guys want to compete with me,'' he added, ''they can come down here for a change.'' Iditarod veterans Mitch Seavey of Seward and Bill Cotter of Nenana are expected to chase Swingley onto the Grand Portage Trail when that race starts Sunday. Over the years, the Kuskokwim has evolved into one of Alaska best and certainly its richest mid-distance race, with a purse of just over $100,000. The winner takes home $20,000. In some ways, it is the simplest of races -- a day-and-a-half dash up and down the Kuskokwim River from Bethel to Aniak and back. But unpredictable weather can test the hardiest musher. ''It is an extremely tough race,'' said Jerry Austin, a two-time Kusko winner and Iditarod veteran. ''It's as tough as the Iditarod.'' Austin remembers sloshing through overflow and getting lost on the many trails that crisscross the area. ''You get one or two of the trail markers down, and it can be real easy to get lost,'' he said. His first year of 1980, temperatures went from 60 below to 35 above and race officials halted the race because of overflow. There's no telling what the weather will do this year, but Austin did have one piece of advice: ''Be prepared. For anything.'' Reporter S.J. Komarnitsky can be reached at skomarnitsky@adn.com. |
©2000
Anchorage Daily News