Alaska News

John Baker moves to the Iditarod front

Kotzebue's John Baker and Tok's Hugh Neff led the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race pack out of Grayling Friday evening onto the perpetually windblown Yukon River and once again fans were shaking their heads, wondering: "Where did these guys come from? Where are the leaders from yesterday?"

From a spectator's view, you can't beat the momentum changes in this year's Iditarod. Four-time champ Martin Buser from Big Lake was giving a tutorial on racing all the way to the ghost town of Iditarod. And he certainly remains in the list of top contenders, but the dominance of his team's speed is gone, replaced now by the steady and powerful style of Baker and Neff. They're slower and less flashy, but the miles keep clicking off.

In the mix, Ray Redington Jr. continues to maintain a presence in the top five. He is an established veteran, but we haven't seen him to the front making bold moves before. Sonny Lindner from Two Rivers and a pair of Fairbanks mushers -- Jesse Royer and Sven Haltman -- have been always in contact with the lead pack, but now we see them making an assertive move into the front 10.

Ahead of them all is the Yukon River, a different kind of test that favors teams with the power and mental toughness for hard pulling on granular, windblown snow.

Yukon River two hop a favored strategy

Most lead mushers like to extend their runs to about 10 hours on the river, so they can do the Yukon in two big hops. Neff and Baker, for example, rested in Anvik and will probably stop again in Eagle Island on their way to Kaltag and the turn overland to the west.

The benefits of two long runs are obvious. Mushers only have to change booties on the dogs twice, and the labor of breaking camp and loading the sled again is reduced. As a practical matter, too, there are no good camping spots on the Yukon River. You have to camp in the wind. That's a very vulnerable position. No one I know considers it a very good idea to take a rest in the middle of the Yukon. Most mushers prefer to rest their dogs in a village or out of the wind in a slough at Eagle Island.

Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canadians Hans Gatt and Sebastian Schnuelle have not been mentioned in this narrative because their strategy diverges from the majority. They have chosen to stutter their rest breaks, which landed them in the village of Grayling for their mandatory, eight-hour rest somewhere on the river. They created more work for themselves because they now actually have to boot the dogs three times, but the established veterans must have decided it was worth it. Gatt is a four-time Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race champ and the 2010 Iditaord runnerup.

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Gatt and Schnuelle are the question marks in today's story. While it appears that Neff and Baker will certainly stop in Eagle Island and rest before moving on to Kaltag, Gatt and Schnuelle have decided to unsettle the pack with some uncertainty. It is very possible Schnuelle will pass the resting pack in Eagle Island, stop briefly on the river, and very conveniently blow through Kaltag headed for a quiet rest stop at the "Tripod Flats Cabin" on the portage trail to Unalakleet.

Four-time and defending champ Lance Mackey from Fairbanks essentially won the 2010 Iditarod by traveling from Nulato on the Yukon on the race's northern route all the way to Unalakleet. It was a huge effort. But by the time his competitors realized what he had done, it was impossible to catch him before he got to Nome.

Conservative racing won't win Iditarod

These sorts of possibilities are now being weighed by the front runners. Rarely does a musher win the Iditarod by being predictable and conservative. At some point, a team and musher must display strength and courage.

For the moment, Baker and Neff are our race leaders, but Neff and Schnuelle could skew the results by morning. Mackey -- despite the limitation of his small, nine-dog team -- continues to shadow the leaders and remains a wild card.

All the top contenders are now also considering the consequences of taking the lead, knowing that surging to the front takes energy, so the move better be well spent. One of the big considerations is the condition of the trail. If the trail is windblown, is the lead worth it, or are you just a sucker breaking trail for the rest of the pack?

This year the trail reports on the Yukon indicate that the gamble to the front is worth it. It should be just about the same effort for the leader as the followers.

Joe Runyan, champion of the 1985 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race and 1989 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, worked with former Iditarod champion Jeff King on his book, "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" as well as with defending Iditarod champion Lance Mackey on his autobiography, "The Lance Mackey Story", and will be providing commentary and analysis of Iditarod 39 for Alaska Dispatch.

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