A ribbon of LED headlamps made their way up the Yentna River Sunday night, illuminating the way over a dark trail under a moonless sky. The dying remains of bonfires and a few lantern-lit cabins beside the trail were the only reminders of civilization as the mushers drove north along the Iditarod trail.
The first 75 miles of trail are a frozen stretch of ice known as the Yentna River during the summer months in Alaska. Undoubtedly, the running was easy as early checkpoint times indicate fast run times for almost all competitors, regardless of start position.
When the trail is hard and fast or icy, there is less advantage to being in the front of the pack.
An early musher strategy that has been common in past Iditarods is to sprint to the front of the pack in the first day or two in order to get through some of the more technical sections of trail before the wear and tear of 60-plus teams break it down. In high snow years, notorious sections like the steps of Happy River and Dalzell Gorge often get considerably more difficult after the first 10 or 20 teams pass through. Trenches can develop which suck sleds in and make driving difficult. Snow and ice bridges can break apart. Trail markers get knocked down by errant leaders and motorized traffic from spectators and media. The result is a degraded trail for the middle- and back-of-the-pack teams.
Controlling a sled
In a low snow year like this year, the trail is less affected by the dog team traffic. Every team will have to face the same ice, dirt, rock and side-hill glaciation. The main concern mushers have will be congestion in the tight spots, as it is very difficult to stop and control a fresh team on hard-packed trail.
Mushers have three ways to stop and control a sled:
• A rubber drag mat that usually spans the area between the runners. Runners apply light pressure to the mat to maintain tension in the gang line and direct the sled around turns. The mat is usually a piece of recycled snowmachine tread studded with 2-3 inch steel spikes to allow traction on ice.
• A brake mechanism permanently attached to the sled between the runners which mushers use to slow or stop the team. Most brakes have claws and spikes to increase stopping power in snow and ice.
• One or two snow hooks attached by rope to the main gang line in front of the sled. Snow hooks act as anchors to hold teams at rest while the musher is off of the sled.
But snow hooks are ineffective on dirt and ice, requiring mushers to tie off directly to immobile objects to safely secure a resting team.
With less ability to control their teams on the ice and dirt, mushers will have to be especially careful during many passes that occur in the first 200 miles of the race. Bottlenecks may occur if teams get tangled or sleds tip over around trees in the narrow Dalzell Gorge. Without a safe way to pass, prudent mushers can only stop and wait while the trail clears ahead of them rather than risk adding their team to the mess.
Buser starting fast again
I usually like to wait until the first 24 hours of racing is over before starting to make start making meaningful observations.
Early leader positions are often affected more by start order than driver skill or dog team talent.
With two-minute intervals between each team at the start, the first team owns a two-hour lead over the final team on the trail. That time difference will be adjusted for during the musher's 24-hour mandatory layover. However, there are a couple of early observations that are worth noting.
Buser has once again chosen to make a long early run, employing a similar strategy to his 2013 race plan, during which he took an early lead by cutting rest in the first third of the race. Last year's bold move was thwarted in the second half by deteriorating trail conditions and a sick dog team. Perhaps Buser thinks it was the right strategy for a certain trail type and worth a second try?
My guess is that Buser may modify last year's strategy to push to an early lead that culminates in a 24-hour rest in Nikolai or McGrath. Last year's long rest in Rohn worked for an average snow year, but this year's hazardous trail conditions between Rohn and Nikolai are not well suited for a rested dog team.
It is better to run a less-rested team, which is slower and more easily controlled, through the dirt and ice of the Post River glacier and the area between Rohn and Nikolai known as the Farewell Burn. He can save his speed for the safer and faster trails beyond Nikolai, which suits Buser's running style.
Other mushers seem to be following Buser's lead, with race veterans Kelly Maixner, Nick Petit and Mike Williams Jr. also running long early in the race. These three rabbits are all experienced drivers, whose moves cannot be discounted by the other teams. It is too early to tell if the strategy will work for them, but the fact that they are following Buser so closely shows how Buser's new strategy has gained traction in the mushing community.
Early dog drop for Zirkle
It should be noted that young Williams took almost three hours rest in Skwentna while the others chose to run through Skwentna and Finger Lake, rest that may help his team later in the race.
The list of top contenders is still scattered through the field, spread over 50 miles of trail between Skwentna and Rainy Pass. Traditionalists such as Jeff King, Mitch and Dallas Seavey, and Aliy Zirkle have all stopped to rest their teams at least three hours in addition to regular snack stops. It's obvious they all have a race plan that they're sticking to. Patience is one key to success in this showdown of champion dogs. Drivers must manage their team early, keeping energy and speed in the bank that will be needed for a late-race push.
None of the top teams have had early disasters or have had to drop key dogs. Last year, Dallas Seavey had to drop two dogs early on in Finger Lake, a race-altering adjustment he never really recovered from.
Zirkle dropped one dog in Skwentna last night, a sign that Zirkle is closely monitoring her team and making sure no dogs will end up in her sled basket during the dangerous portions of trail to come.
Sorlie shows speed
Robert Sorlie has speed. Perhaps the most surprising early development is the incredibly fast run times posted by two-time race champion Sorlie of Norway. He has blistered the trail and posted some of the fastest run times of the entire race field between the first three checkpoints. He beat Buser's speedsters by 5 minutes between Yentna and Skwentna and an amazing 23 minutes between Skwentna and Finger Lake. Sorlie's previous runs in Iditarod earned him a reputation for running long and slow.
Perhaps he has revamped his strategy in search of speed? Or maybe it's just a mid-life mushing crisis, traveling behind his version of a flashy red sports car. Regardless, it will be fun to watch as Sorlie is obviously driving a talented dog team and intends to reassert his position as a race contender.
A clearer picture of the race will begin to unfold today as mushers reach the top of the Alaska Range and begin their journey through Interior Alaska. Undoubtedly, there will be stories of success and moments of sheer terror and excitement.
Whose teams will make it unscathed through the Happy River Steps? Whose sleds will be smashed to pieces, requiring time-consuming repairs and altered race strategies? Will this year's hazardous trail injure mushers -- or dogs -- to the point that they cannot continue? These questions and others will be answered as the 2014 Iditarod rolls into its second day.
Zack Steer, a five-time Iditarod finisher, owns and operates the Sheep Mountain Lodge with Anjanette and two young boys. Zack will bring a competitive racer's analysis to this year's Iditarod coverage. Follow Zack's race analysis at Alaska Dispatch.