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NOME - For his next trick, Tony Willis will choose a college. At least it will be warmer. Or maybe not. Since graduating from high school last spring, Willis, 18, has climbed Mount McKinley and completed the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. And neither time did he freeze his buns off. "I got lucky all-around," said Willis, whose 27th-place finish in the 28th annual Iditarod late Wednesday night gave him the rookie-of-the-year award. This year's Iditarod was a meteorologically tame event, contested in mild temperatures under sun-splashed skies. And he stumbled into the same kind of weather on 20,320-foot McKinley when he summited on June 24. Willis, who attended Polaris School in Anchorage, comes from a family of mushers. His dad, Bernie, who raced the Iditarod in 1974 and 1989, builds sleds. Brother Andy raced in 1996 and 1998. Young Tony collects a $1,500 cash prize and a trophy, presented by former Iditarod musher Jerry Austin and his wife Clara, the payoff for four years of dreaming and planning to try the race before he goes to a still-to-be-chosen college. "I kind of had a commitment to do this," Willis said. Willis' commitments seem to be serious ones. He trained for McKinley by climbing 3,500-foot Mount Flattop four times a week carrying 60 pounds of water on his back. "I got colder on Flattop (than on McKinley or the Iditarod)," he said. "You don't expect it." Willis impressed even his dad with the focus of his Iditarod preparations. Tony moved to the family's farm between Wasilla and Big Lake for the winter. He had electricity, but no running water, and had to chop his own wood. "It's tremendous for an 18-year-old not only to do the race, but to hold it together to prepare," Bernie Willis said. Bernie pledged to finance one Iditarod for Tony as a graduation present since he had done so for Andy, but when there was a snow shortage, Andy had to drive north to Petersville Road repeatedly to find good training conditions. One month's gasoline bill was $750, and dad gulped. Willis pulled under the finish arch on a pleasant night to record a time of 10 days, 13 hours, 14 minutes. He had little complaint about the weather. "It was a little windy before Safety," Willis said. "But it wasn't that bad." His biggest problem, at first, was trying to go without rest too long and avoid tumbling off the sled. "I got better at sleeping in checkpoints instead of trying to stay awake," Willis said. After 10 days on the trail, he earned the freedom to nap any time he wants. * Sports editor Lew Freedman can be reached at lfreedman@adn.com
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