Iditarod

Boom, splat, flamingo! Google Street View captures the glory (and crashes) of the 2015 Iditarod

Last year, former University of Alaska Fairbanks professor John Bailey rode on the back of a dog sled with one mission: to capture the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race for Google Street View.

He did, both in the upright and upside-down position.

A year later, those images are available online, just in time for the 2016 start.

Bailey captured portions of the trail including the ceremonial start, the Fairbanks restart, and the checkpoints of Nenana, Galena, Unalakleet and Nome.

Viewers can scroll through much of the trail, including last year's sloppy ceremonial start as Bailey, with his Google Street View cam, makes his way down the trail behind a team driven by 1984 Iditarod champion Dean Osmar of Kasilof.

Bailey was the last team to travel the trail after 78 other mushers, with portions of the trail reduced to pavement or mud. The result is a sloppy luge ride for the Google camera, which ends up being pitched off the sled on several occasions.

Still, there are lighter moments, like colorful houses in Unalakleet or flamingos lining the trail outside Fairbanks.

But mostly there are some pretty cringe-inducing crashes. You can see all the crashes and more at the Google Street View Iditarod page.

Suzanna Caldwell

Suzanna Caldwell is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News and Alaska Dispatch. She left the ADN in 2017.

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