ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A lack of snow along a dangerous stretch of trail has led organizers of the world’s most famous sled dog race to move the start of the Iditarod farther north.
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race will still have its ceremonial start in Anchorage on March 1, but the official start for the 33 teams will be two days later in Fairbanks, about 360 miles (579 kilometers) north.
It’s the fourth time the race has been moved because of a lack of snow. The race previously started in Fairbanks in 2003, 2015 and 2017.
Race officials last month said the race would start as normal from the Anchorage area. However, in a statement Monday, trail breakers said no snow since that Jan. 31 announcement led them to deem one portion of the trail — from the Rohn to Nikolai checkpoints — north of the Alaska Range as unpassable.
“After a heavy discussion with our lead Trail Breaker and other friends of the race including local knowledge, and with no new snow on the horizon, there is simply no way we can allow the teams to progress through that 20-mile (32-kilometer) stretch,” Race Marshal Warren Palfrey said in the statement. “It is a shame because the remainder of the trail is in great shape all the way to Nome.”
The safety of the dogs, mushers and volunteers remains the Iditarod’s top priority, the statement said.
Even with snow, this stretch of the Iditarod consistently has some of the worst trail in the entire 1,000-mile (1,609-kilometer) race across the Alaska wilderness.
The race’s description of the trail for mushers encourages them to do this stretch in a convoy with one or more teams because they might require help. Conditions include windblown gravel sandbars, high winds, rivers, a glacier, slippery conditions and ice at the bottom of a canyon.
The winner is expected in Nome about 10 days after the start.