Alaska Ping
PS - I do not have a 'ping' list for Iron Dog - if you do and/or know other FReepers who are interested in the Iron Dog Race, please let them know about the thread.
Iron Dog – Day 1 – Leaving it all on the Trail
More at the link including some good pictures & video:
https://www.thealaskalife.com/blog/iron-dog-race-2017-coverage-day-1/
Excerpt:
Overcast, flat light, and snow gently falling from the sky met the racers as they lined up on the Iron Dog starting line amidst thumping bass, a growing crowd, and the smell of two stroke exhaust in the air. The Iron Dog restart is always a popular event, and even if you weren’t watching the racers, there is so much going on around the venue that ends up being quite the spectacle. Helicopters sounding their arrival or departure with humongous plumes of freshly fallen snow bursting into the air, Alaskan bush planes flying in formation, drones capturing crowd footage, powered parachutes looping and twisting overhead, and the start of an ice-oval race nearby with studded rubber catapulting another set of racers on dirt bikes and four wheelers around an ice track.
A bit of fresh snow on the first several miles of the trail are likely making those in the middle of the pack grateful for the front-runners as they will be packing down the trail toward Skwentna, which offers a new prize this year. First team to Skwentna gets a $5,000 payout. In years prior, Tyler Aklestad and Tyson Johnson made the 90 mile jaunt from Big Lake to Skwentna in 60 minutes flat. You know that teams have their eye on that cash as they leave the starting chute. The trail from Skwentna to Puntilla is bound to be ‘whooped out’ by now, meaning the trail looks similar to a motocross track with what is commonly referred to as the washboard section, but these are much deeper. They got 2 feet of snow in the last few days and the trail was not broken as of yesterday. The front teams are plowing through deep snow but leaving a whooped out trail in their wake.
Iron Dog Race – Day 2 – Pushing Toward the Coast
More at the link including some good pictures & video of crash:
https://www.thealaskalife.com/blog/iron-dog-race-2017-coverage-day-2/
Excerpt:
The evening of Day 1 found riders in the Iron Dog race stopping earlier than planned, some even backtracking on the trail, and a few teams also facing a forced scratch after insurmountable equipment damages very early on. It is unclear why, but we saw several racers make the decision to hole up in Rohn, far from the normal first layover checkpoint of McGrath. Palin/Quam, Morgan/Olds, Conlon/Fulsom, to name just a few have declared layover here, which could be a sign of early damage to the sleds from the blistering pace this trail is allowing this year.
Team 6 Schachle/George, our fastest team to Skwentna, were able to get back up to competitive racing speed. Whatever slowed them down between Puntilla Lake and Rohn must have been sorted out through either minimal damage, talented wrenching, or even a bit of both. Team 6 was on-pace for moving across the Farewell Burn area as fast as their counterparts.
The Rohn checkpoint offers very little in the way of support for teams needing any sort of significant equipment repairs. We heard that Team 22 Steiner/Strobel declared layover at this modest checkpoint to address a damaged cooler on one of their Arctic Cat sleds caused by a wayward stud. Without the availability of a welder to tack up the hole in the aluminum part, Team 22 may be looking at alternative means of plugging the hole, such as quick-seal compounds.
2017 Iron Dog Race – Coverage Day 3 – Battling Towards Nome
More at the link including some good pictures & video:
https://www.thealaskalife.com/blog/2017-iron-dog-race-coverage-day-3/
Excerpt:
Battling was the theme on the trail last night in the 2017 Iron Dog race and today the theme will continue as teams charge up the Western coast of Alaska toward Nome. Riders battled extreme cold, rough trail conditions, frostbite, additional equipment issues, a few spills and wrecks on the trail, and just generally a tough day on the 2017 Iron Dog Race trail.
To catch up on last night race happenings, we had many teams including most of the front runners race all the way up the Yukon river to Kaltag, while some racers opted to stop in Galena Some teams stopped in Galena an hour shy of Kaltag for their 8 hour break. There isn’t much in Kaltag, but it has become a popular layover spot in recent years so I’m sure they can handle up to 10 teams staying the night there, comfortably. It’s safe to say that most of the teams will likely stay in the homes of local villagers they have connections with or have met in years past.
2017 Nome Garage: Teams Arrive: Part 1 (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JutXIdKWZy0&feature=youtu.be
Rocket Men
By craigmedred on February 21, 2017
https://craigmedred.news/2017/02/21/rocket-men/
How fast can you go cross-country in frozen Alaska today?
Pretty damn fast.
Todd Minnick and Nick Olstad, a pair of 30-somethings from Wasilla, averaged a traveling speed of 52 mph for 1,000 miles from Big Lake to Nome to lead the Iron Dog snowmobile race into the City of the Golden Sands on Tuesday.
The near double-nickel speed of the short-lived “national maximum speed law” appears to be a record for the world’s longest, toughest and coldest snowmobile race.
More at the link ..............
2017 Stats: (Teams by position ... who is in first, & where they are in the race, etc.)
Note: if you click on an individual team, you will see their individual times in/out of checkpoints.
GPS Tracking: (a map of the course with team locations) 2017 Checkpoints: (map showing checkpoint locations)
2017 Iron Dog Nome Garage: Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CLajnPToS8
2017 Iron Dog Nome Garage: Part 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX0Npb24eu4
Ping to the Todd Palin Is a Hunk! list.
Thudd!
Team Palin sports #20 this year and was in the 13th spot entering Nome.
To Sarah's Ping List.
Sarah and the family were with Todd as they set out this year. After the accident last year I was under the assumption that Todd would sit this race out, just this once.
NOPE!
Can't keep any of them down :)
Alaska Ping
I echo everything Jemian said.
Thank You so much for posting this thread.
I have been following it on facebook but I should have posted a live thread here on F.R.
Thank You, You Rock!
2017 Iron Dog Race — Day Four Coverage — The Alaska Life
More at the link including video & the stats of the top 10 teams into Nome:
https://www.thealaskalife.com/blog/2017-iron-dog-race-day-four-coverage-the-alaska-life/
The boys of the Iron Dog are enjoying a much deserved break in Nome before heading back towards the finish line in the Golden City on the Tanana River.It is hard to overstate how tough these racers really are. Most recreational riders know what they feel like after putting 300-400 miles on their sleds over a weekend. The Iron Doggers have just covered 1100 miles in 21+ hours. And in absolutely brutal conditions. It has been -30° to -50° ever since the teams crossed the Alaska Range back in Rohn. This wind chill chart pegs out at -117° at 45 MPH…and these guys have been cruising at 80-90MPH for long durations at -50°. So who knows what the real wind chill number would be.
[Wind Chill Table in article]
So a 40 hour or so break to treat the frost bite, take a long hot shower, inspect their sleds and do any necessary wrenching is a welcome respite from the trail.
The second half of the world’s longest toughest snowmobile race will begin Thursday February 23, 2017. As departure times are verified this page will be updated.
http://www.irondog.org/nome-departure-times/
Team 20 - Palin/Quam leaving 13th at 11:19:57 (race leader Team 8 Aklestad/Johnson leaving at 08:00:00)
Forecast for Nome Alaska this morning as the Iron Dog racers set off from Nome ..... the guys carry safety gear in the event they break down & have to “hunker down”, but hope all are safe racing today & make it to the checkpoint(s).
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Blizzard Warning
AKZ213-240300-
/O.EXT.PAFG.BZ.W.0006.000000T0000Z-170224T0300Z/
St Lawrence Island and Bering Strait Coast-
Including Gambell, Savoonga, Brevig Mission, Teller, Wales,
and Diomede
452 AM AKST Thu Feb 23 2017
...BLIZZARD WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM AKST THIS EVENING...
* SNOW...5 to 10 inches.
* BLOWING SNOW...reducing visibility to less than one quarter
mile.
* WINDS...northeast to east 30 to 40 mph gusting near 60 mph.
* WIND CHILL VALUES...around 55 below.
* TIMING...Blizzard conditions continue through early this evening
and will tonight as winds and snow diminish.
* IMPACTS...Visibility will be very poor and snow will
accumulate into drifts. Whiteout conditions should be
expected. Travel and outdoor activities will be difficult.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A Blizzard Warning means severe winter weather conditions in
blowing snow with strong winds and very poor visibilities are
occurring or expected.
2017 Iron Dog Race –Day 5 Coverage
More at the link, including updates on some of the teams having crashes/mechanical issues:
https://www.thealaskalife.com/blog/2017-iron-dog-race-day-5-coverage/
Unlike NASCAR where the driver simply drives and the pit crew takes care of the maintenance, Iron Doggers have to be skilled at both disciplines. When the race began in the mid 1980’s snowmachines were very undependable and needed constant wrenching and creative improvising. John Faeo, a 7 time Iron Dog Champ, was extremely talented mechanic who seemed to have a solution to address most issues that arose out in the middle of nowhere. Technological advances on the sleds over the past 30+ years have been remarkable, with efficient and reliable fuel injected engines needing very little attention. While it is safe to say that skills at wrenching is not as crucial as it used to be it is still a important factor in this toughest, longest, grueling 2000 mile affair.
Iron Dog race teams are leaving Nome in a different order from which they arrived due to times being adjusted for “on the clock” repairs and maintenance. The average time most teams spent on repairs was about 10 minutes which reflects on the remarkable reliability of these sleds from all 3 manufacturers.
The longest time needed was 29:11 by team #14 of Boylan and Leslie. Team #8 of Tyler and Tyson spent the least amount of time of all the teams, as they only needed 2:26 to prepare their Skidoos for the next 1000 mile leg. Todd and Nick of team #16 arrived first in Nome but are headed out 1.5 minutes behind team #8 since they spent 18:37 minutes tending to their Polaris’s. Cory Davis and Ryan Simons only needed to 4:36 minutes to tinker with their Cats, so the top 3 teams are leaving closer together than when they arrived.
Some speculate that the longer work time by Team #16 was a part of their strategy as a major storm has moved onto the Bering Sea Coast. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for heavy snow and local blizzard conditions reducing visibility to less than one half mile or less. Racers can also expect winds gusting to 50mph which makes finding the trail next to impossible. It could be that team #16 decided to let someone else lead the way out into conditions quite similar to navigating in a bottle of milk.
It is going to be very interesting to see how this race unfolds with this arctic storm throwing a monkey wrench into the best laid plans. Team #8 will leave Nome at 8:00 this morning and head east towards White Mountain. Race rules require a 10 hour layover in either Koyuk, Unalakleet or Kaltag.
More .... see link.
** Update #3**
The Team #8 of Aklestad/Johnson on their Skidoos has arrived back onto the Yukon River exactly 14 minutes in front of Davis/Simons riding Arctic Cats so this is shaping up to be a good race out front. Both teams are taking a 10 hour layover in Kaltag.
So much has changed today. The flat white light and blowing snow has definitely made for some very poor visibility resulted in quite a few nasty ‘get offs’ (aka ‘crashes’). Lots of teams scratching today. Heard Palin has suspension trouble and is back in Nome. Palin was intending to bring parts to repair Olstad’s sled since the weather is preventing planes from flying to Koyuk. But he had his own troubles and ended up back in Nome. But it sounds like between the resourcefulness on the Iron Dog family and the village folks they found the parts needed for Team #16 and they are on the trail currently checked out of Shaktoolik.
This video by Harley Huntington of Nick Olstad coming in to Koyuk is pretty self explanatory of their slow times. He rode that machine for over 60 miles like that!
(see link for video)
2017 Iron Dog — Day 6 coverage
https://www.thealaskalife.com/blog/2017-iron-dog-day-6-coverage/
It is now 85° warmer on the Yukon River than it was earlier this week when the teams were headed towards Nome. I am sure the guys are not missing the -50° but of course +35° comes with its own challenges.
With 342 river miles left before the finish line in Fairbanks the racers will encounter a trail of sticky snow and more than likely sections of what is called ‘jumble ice’. While large sections of the rivers can freeze smoothly there are also many stretches were the teams will have to deal huge chucks of protruding ice along with open leads of water. (see picture at the link)
What is also a ever present danger while running rivers is that you can be scooting along 80 to 90 MPH and suddenly there is an ice ridge or the ever present piece of driftwood hiding under a coat of snow ready to take out the suspensions of the sleds.
The top teams are now taking a 10 hour layover in Galena before running 172 miles up the mighty Yukon to Tanana. The teams will be held at this village of 250 people until Saturday morning before being released to ensure a daylight finish in Fairbanks. From Tanana the course leaves the Yukon and runs up the Tanana River past Manley Hot Springs and Nenana. Eventually they arrive at North Pole and take the Chena River to the finish line.
See link for more ..........
Don’t miss the exciting finish of the Iron Dog in downtown Fairbanks.
Saturday, February 25, 2017: Pro Class Finish
09:30 am | Iron Dog setup complete.
10:00 am | Enjoy Vendors Booths as you wait for 1st Place Team
11:30 am | Announcements and preparing for the 1st Place Team to arrive.
12:00 pm | Waiting for the first team to arrive**
03:00 pm | Iron Dog Merchandise tent closes.
05:00 pm | Last teams to arrive.
**The first teams to arrive at the finish per the above schedule will be around 12 noon, AK time. That would be 4:00 in the afternoon Eastern Standard Time.
I saw where Aklestad/Johnson were "scratched" at Tanana - figured it was a mechanical issue, but that close to the finish, I was surprised they wouldn't try their best to "wrench" their way back into the race. When I went back to their individual page, I saw they were DISQUALIFIED!!!
In looking for the details, I saw this 'explanation' by an angry fan on the Iron Dog FB page (people are REALLY steamed about the marshall's decision to DQ these two):
"Team 8 were just DQ'd from Iron Dog over a BS reason. While they were fueling up, some locals decided to help by pushing down on the backs of their machines (this allows you to get more gas in the tank) and someone happened to snap and post a picture of this. The Iron Dog idiot race marshals have decided that this was a rule violation and disqualified them from the race with 300 miles to go and in first place by an 1 hour and 22 minutes. Team 8 did not ask these people for their assistance.
This decision is beyond BS as there is ample video and picture evidence of many other teams doing this exact thing while fueling up with no penalties or DQs happening to them.
Looking at the race rules, this is what they say about refueling:
13.2. Racers will be permitted to receive outside help for fuel and engine oil ONLY between the checkpoints of Ruby and Tanana.
13.2.1. NO OTHER ASSISTANCE OF ANY KIND INCLUDING PHYSICAL CONTACT WITH THE PIT CREW WILL BE PERMITTED.
13.2.2. Participants will be personally responsible for ALL aspects of these operations including the actions of their pit crew, costs, removal of ALL trash and containers, pollution control and cleanup (IF REQUIRED), safety, and all liabilities.
13.2.3. PARTICIPANTS WILL BE DISQUALIFIED IF ANY PART OF THIS FUELING PROCEDURE IS NEGLECTED.
Some of the FB commenters seemed to think Team 41 (now in 1st) would also receive a 'penalty' (& that Team 8 should have gotten the same, not a DQ), but looking at their individual time sheet, I don't see any adjustments for a penalty. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out - lots of upset, unhappy race fans & I'm sure Aklestad/Johnson, having made it that far, are more than a little upset.
2017 Iron Dog — Day 7 Coverage (discussion of Team 8 DQ)
Picture that lead to DQ at the link:
https://www.thealaskalife.com/blog/2017-iron-dog-day-7-coverage/
Checking into Tanana, Team 8 of Tyson Johnson and Tyler Aklestad boasted an incredible 1 hour and 14 minute lead over their pursuers, Team 41. With just shy of 300 miles of very fast river running to complete, a back-to-back win for both the racers and SkiDoo appeared to be a lock. Johnson and Aklestad had put together pretty much a flawless run and short of anything out of the ordinary happening, the $65,000 payout along with other prizes looked to be theirs. Well, something out of the ordinary has happened, shaking up this race like we’ve never seen before.
We first heard rumblings of a penalty and/or disqualification for Team 8 just past 11:30pm yesterday and before 1am, Iron Dog has made it official that Tyler Aklestad and Tyson Johnson have been disqualified from the 2017 Iron Dog race. On the Iron Dog Marshals Facebook page, it was stated:
“The Iron Dog requires racers to receive fuel only in designated checkpoints with very specific rules and procedures. We make one exception for the trail section between Ruby and Tanana because it is the longest distance between checkpoints. It can be difficult for teams to carry enough fuel even with auxiliary tanks under certain trail conditions to make that distance. The rules were written so teams could stage fuel and oil between Ruby and Tanana, but otherwise not allowed to receive any other assistance.
This rule was discussed at length in the drivers meeting before the race. The Lead Marshal read aloud Rule 13.2.1 to all the racers and reiterated that no physical contact with the snowmachines was allowed when fueling in this area by anyone other than the racers, which applies to all other locations with the exception of Nome.
The Marshals found evidence that Team 8 received outside assistance. The crew providing fuel between Ruby and Tanana made physical contact with the racer’s snowmobiles. Rule 13.2.1 is one of the only penalties that is explicitly specified within the rules. The Marshals have determined that Team 8 violated Rule 13.2.1 and 13.2.2. The penalty for those violations is disqualification as specified in Rule 13.2.3.
The Marshals have disqualified Team 8 for violating Rule 13.2.”
It was discussed that the photo snapped below likely forced the disqualification of Team 8: see link!
Online discussion and even reviews of the SkiDoo tank design mention the necessity to ‘burp’ the air out of the tank, which allows the last remaining 1/2 to 1 full gallon of fuel to be put in the snowmachine. This is what is happening in the above photo. Due to SkiDoo potentially losing a back-to-back win in the longest, toughest snowmobile race on the planet, I wouldn’t doubt that this could warrant a redesign from the BRP engineers.
Here’s where it gets hairy……
The rules state:
13.2.1. NO OTHER ASSISTANCE OF ANY KIND INCLUDING PHYSICAL CONTACT WITH THE PIT CREW WILL BE PERMITTED.
and
13.2.3. PARTICIPANTS WILL BE DISQUALIFIED IF ANY PART OF THIS FUELING PROCEDURE IS NEGLECTED.
Because the rules state that no outside assistance can be given, this has resulted in scores of video clips and photos of numerous other teams having other individuals come into ‘Physical Contact’ with the racers equipment. Does this mean standing on the running board means DQ? Does this mean that when someone held a piece of bungee cord while Team 2 installed a side panel mean DQ? Does this mean that unscrewing the cap on an oil jug and handing it to a racer means DQ?
There have been questions like “How does the Iron Dog define the ‘Pit Crew’?” and “Was the person who touched the sled invited?”
I believe, and this is just me, that this is where the ‘nature of the rule’ comes into play. In other instances, it could certainly be argued that any physical touch would and could shave time off of a fueling stop, but the perception (please read perception again) of how it looked when Team 8 was refueling is that they were blatantly getting assistance from two other individuals in speeding up the time it took to completely fill up the sleds with fuel. The rule begins with ‘NO OTHER ASSISTANCE OF ANY KIND’…regardless of how the words ‘Pit Crew’ are defined. The real question might be ‘What defines assistance?’.
Could those two locals in the photo have known that the SkiDoo sleds need to be burped? Absolutely! Could they have been unwarranted help while the racers were unaware of this? Sure, that could be true. Could they have turned around, noticed this was happening and immediately instructed them to stop? Without a doubt. I just can’t get past the fact that how the photo looks is what forced the decision. It ‘looks‘ orchestrated. I’m not saying it was, but I’m saying the perception is bad, and was bad enough to have the Iron Dog Marshals make that call. One thing to also consider is that the Marshals have more information on the topic, have talked to everyone in question, have deliberated over this, and ultimately have made this decision.
There has been a literal storm of emotions online about this decision, and there will be more of this as the day breaks and the news spreads that this has happened. Would it be so seemingly egregious if it had been another team that isn’t the ‘all stars’ at the moment? I’m not sure, but having the leaders, the reigning champions, and the team that everyone ‘knew’ was going to win (I spoke with a racer on day 3 that, when asked, said ‘Tyson and Tyler will win for sure’), get disqualified is certainly grounds for driving emotions, anger, and confusion. Emotions aside, and yes, I would’ve loved to see TnT race to Fairbanks in a back-to-back win, I think it was what could have been the ‘blatant nature’ of the photo above that had to force the decision to be made. If all goes well on the river in the morning, Team 41 should easily clinch the victory in this race. Will it be a hollow win? It very well could be. If anything it will probably feel as if there is an asterisk on their victory.
Nobody, including the people involved in this decision made this without extreme difficulty, knowing that there is so much on the line.