Iditarod 36

DAY 14

Scdoris finishes Iditarod 34, despite tussle with tree

Rachael Scdoris and her Iditarod sled dog team were navigating a treacherous cliff, crisscrossed with switchbacks, when her sled slammed into a thick spruce tree.

DAY 12

Top 30 Iditarod finishers already into Nome

The top 30 mushers in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race were already into Nome and across the finish line Thursday morning, swapping stories about their adventures competing in the longest sled dog race in the world.

audio A.M. (APRN)

DAY 6

Hazard in middle of trail leaves sleds battered and broken

Lucky ones solve trail difficulties while others get stumped.

DAY 3

Toil on the trail

Neon green northern lights danced across a clear midnight sky, overpowering the glow of a pale half-moon as mushers pulled into this Iditarod Trail checkpoint high in the Alaska Range on Monday night.

audio P.M. (APRN)

audio A.M. (APRN)

Volunteer triggered avalanche at Pass Creek

The avalanche that buried snowmobiler Richard Strick Jr. along the Iditarod Trail on Tuesday was not large, but it swept him and his machine into a so-called "terrain trap" where they were left under feet of concrete-like rubble.

Anderson racks up early mushing victory

About 30 miles from the end of the Sheep Mountain 150 on Sunday, Ken Anderson caught defending champion Lance Mackey. Anderson stormed past the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race champion to become the first winner of the 2005-06 distance mushing season.

Plucky global walker lugs sled over Iditarod Trail to promote charities

rmed with guts and determination, Rosie Swale Pope set out along the Iditarod Trail from White Mountain on Dec. 9 in the same way she has set out from so many remote communities since leaving the United Kingdom two years ago to hike around the globe:

Iditarod's allure stifles growth of sprint races

The 33rd Susitna Valley Championship dog mushing race on Saturday presented spectators with a classic Alaska scene: In the background, gentle snow-capped mountains lit by clear winter sunlight in the background; in the foreground, dark green spruce trees popping up from a white winter meadow; and in the distance, the silhouette of a dog team pulling a sled with a musher driving and kicking one foot.

Norwegians make inroads

When the 34th annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race starts in early March, more than 70 mushers and hundreds of sled dogs will begin the challenging 1,100-mile race to Nome.

Join Iditarod mushers on a dog-sled ride into Alaska wilderness (11-25-2005)

Standing on the runners of a dog sled, or riding snug in a sled basket, is a fantastic way to enjoy winter: gliding over snow, dog tails waving high as they trot. And the experience isn't just for mushers with a kennelful of dogs.

Fur Rendezvous festival combines old favorites, new twists in '06 (11-25-2005)

A year after celebrating its 70th anniversary, Fur Rendezvous is planning a celebration that blends the old and the new.

Burns leave musher resolute, looking to future

Second and third degree burns charred Jerry Riley's face. His right eye swelled shut. Some of his clothes had melted to his body. The musher seems perpetually composed, whether he's fighting his way through a ground blizzard on the Iditarod or fighting off the pain of a serious burn. The fire scalded his features, but not his hope of fielding another competitive dog team this season.

Elbow-deep in slime, musher gets stinking rich in fish heads

There's an old saying that one person's trash is another's treasure, and that couldn't be any more true for Jon Little, a Kasilof-based musher who has competed in both the Iditarod and Yukon Quest sled dog races.

Five former champs sign up

Forty-one mushers, including four former champions, signed up Saturday to run the 2006 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Legally blind musher gets a new guide

Musher Tim Osmar of Ninilchik will serve as Rachael Scdoris' "visual interpreter" for next year's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.