The Kobuk 440 sled dog race is not for the faint of heart.
It's touted as "The Toughest Race Above the Arctic Circle" and for good reason. It's long, fast and cold. Throw in overflow and wind, and this is an event not to be taken lightly. The race, which began in 1988, is Alaska's longest mid-distance event and the last big race of the season. This year it begins April 12. Peter Kaiser of Bethel, the fifth-place finisher in this year's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, is the defending Kobuk 440 champion.
The Kobuk offers those having trail withdrawal a final chance to test their teams before summer vacation while giving others the chance to test their team's mettle and pit themselves against some of the best racers out there.
So what is it about this grueling affair that lures veteran mushers back year after year?
"A lot of the mushers I've talked to say that it's the hospitality in the villages," said Cathy Jones, a Kobuk 440 board member and volunteer.
The villages along the race trail, which include Kotzebue, Noorvik, Selawik, Ambler, Shungnak, Kiana and Kobuk, take pride in their communities, especially when mushers from all over the state pull in for a break during the race. It's something villagers anticipate all year, she added.
Heat or blizzards?
Mushers also enjoy spending time in these remote villages but the Kobuk's lure is the challenge of the race course itself. "It's tough because obviously we're in the Arctic and the conditions can be extreme," said Jones, taking a break from ice fishing to talk about the race over the phone.
From bitter cold to uncomfortably warm, to raging blizzards to waist-deep overflow, this race can throw anything at musher.
And if you don't like the weather, said Jones, just wait a few minutes and it'll change.
"It's a like a long-distance sprint race," said Chad Nordlum, who has run the race and now is a member of the trail crew. That's what makes it so difficult, he added. "It's a long race, but it's fast and the pace just keeps getting quicker."
Fellow trail crew member Mike Oliver agreed, adding that the trails are in great shape now a few weeks before the race.
"This year has been really, really cold," Oliver said. "The trail is looking really good; there's a good base and no reports of overflow on the river."
In the past, the trail has taken a little shortcut early in the race over a narrow, one-lane route, but this year the trail will follow the original path which is a lot more wide open with less chance of dog teams meeting snowmachines head on, he said.
Mushers love Ambler
The race begins in Kotzebue and heads east to the checkpoint in Noorvik where the route splits. This year teams continue to the next checkpoint in Selawik, then on to Ambler and Shungnak before hitting Kobuk, the halfway and turnaround checkpoint. Mushers then follow the same trail back to Ambler before turning off and following the Kobuk River to Kiana. The trail hits Noorvik again, and then follows the original trail back to Kotzebue and the finish line.
And while all the checkpoints host teams, volunteers and organizers throughout the race, Oliver said that Selawik has had an exceptionally difficult winter and the village is really looking forward to the race.
Along the route, there are a couple of long runs approaching 100-miles between checkpoints. Over the 440-mile course, teams must take 20 hours of cumulative rest, which can be divided between checkpoints. Ambler is the busiest checkpoint with teams coming and going, but it's also one of the most-loved by mushers.
The race trail serves as the main thoroughfare for snow- machines between the villages, which is why the route has a good, solid base and why the route is so well marked with permanent trail signs, tripods and reflective lathes.
There can be long stretches of vast tundra, cold and wind, but safety and hospitality are priorities for the race association.
Seeking to grow purse to $50,000
"From what I've experienced so far, we're going to take care of you to make sure your experience is safe and fun," Oliver said." It's tough, but it's safe. I've been told by many a respected musher that this is even tougher than a 1,000-miler. We want this to be known as a tough race, but a hospitable race."
And a lucrative race.
Currently, the purse is at $30,000 but organizers are seeking enough contributions to boost it to $50,000 – the same amount as last year.
Among other sponsors and individual donors, NANA Regional Corporation, Inc. is the race's biggest contributor.
Racers face the expense of flying dogs and supplies into Kotzebue, said Jones, adding that she's it costs about $3,500 to fly a team and musher from Anchorage to Kotzebue.
"It's the last race of the season and so you get the group who are going to run it anyway, and then a group that have to evaluate how they did this season or how much money they have left before they decided to run it," said Jones, adding that most mushers decided to take part at the last minute.
So far the only confirmed participant is Chuck Schaeffer, a long time musher, Kobuk 440 organizer and the former president of the board, said Chad Nordlum. Schaeffer, who this year moved from Kotzebue to Willow with his wife, is running his dogs from Manley to Kotzebue for the start of the race.
While the race promotes participation from locals, the association is also trying to focus on youth programs to assure the sport stays strong in the Arctic.
"This is an important part of Inupiat culture and we don't want to lose that," said race organizer Elizabeth Moore. "We're hoping to keep bringing people to the Arctic but also encourage youth to get into the sport."
Until last year, the Kobuk 440 fell under the Kotzebue Dog Mushers Association umbrella but has recently ventured off on its own to become the Kobuk 440 Race Association and is in the process of filing for nonprofit status.
"We're trying to move in a direction where we could help support distance dog mushing in the region," Moore said. "Mushers are less able to stay in rural Alaska to do distance dog mushers, and we wanted to find a way to encourage people to stay and build it up, and try to keep it going."