Inflation means the smallest group of competitors in the Iditarod

The second half century for the world’s most famous sled dog race got off to a rough start.

Only 33 mushers will participate in the ceremonial start of Saturday’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, the smallest field to take their dog teams nearly 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) over Alaska’s unforgiving wilderness. This year’s lineup is smaller than the 34 mushers who lined up for the very first race in 1973.

The small pool of mushers raises concerns about the future of an iconic race that has taken hits from the pandemic, climate change, inflation and the loss of deep-pocketed sponsors, such as many big names. that mushing champions retire with little to gain. their place.

The largest field was 96 mushers in 2008; the average number of mushers who started the race in the last 50 years is 63.

“It’s a little scary when you look at it that way,” said four-time winner Martin Buser, 64, who retired after completing his 39th race last year. “Hopefully it’s not an event situation and … it’s a temporary reprieve.”

The Iditarod is the most famous sled dog race in the world, taking competitors across two mountains, the frozen Yukon River and the treacherous Bering sea ice cold temperatures before ending up in the old Gold Rush town of Nome. The nearly 10-day event began with a “ceremonial start” in Anchorage on Saturday, followed by a competitive start in Willow, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) to the north, on Sunday.

And while the world-renowned race has the highest winner’s purse of any sled dog competition, the winner only pockets about $50,000 before taxes — a payout that’s less attractive amid inflation and continued echoes of pandemic.

Many mushers supplement their income by offering unique Alaskan experiences to cruise ship passengers, but for years the pandemic has meant fewer summer visitors to pay for a sled dog ride on a glacier.

“There are a lot of kennels and a lot of mushers that rely on that to keep going,” said Aaron Burmeister, a Nome native who is sitting out this year’s race to spend more time with family. Burmeister, who works in construction, has eight top 10 finishes in the past decade.

“Being able to race the Iditarod and the cost of putting together a race team has become more than they can afford to sustain themselves,” he said of the mushers.

Inflation has also taken a toll, and many mushers said they would like to see a higher prize purse to attract younger competitors.

Defending champion Brent Sasswho supplemented his income as a wilderness guide, is not surprised that some mushers have taken a break from building bank accounts.

Sass, who has 58 dogs, orders 500 bags of high-quality dog ​​food each year. Each bag cost $55 a few years ago, but that has increased to $85 per bag – or about $42,500 total in a year. That’s how much money Sass pocketed from his Iditarod victory last year.

“You have to be fully prepared to run the Iditarod, and have enough money in the bank to do it,” said Sass, who lives in Eureka, about a four-hour drive north of Fairbanks.

Along with other race costs, Buser said running the Iditarod today can mean spending $250,000 to win a $40,000 championship.

The race itself has suffered under rising inflation, Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach said. Supply costs are up about 30%, he said, and last year it cost nearly $30,000 to bring in special certified straw from the lower 48 for dogs to sleep on at race checkpoints.

The Iditarod also continues to be sponsored by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, targeting the race’s largest sponsors. In the past decade, Alaska Airlines, ExxonMobil, Coca Cola and Wells Fargo race sponsorships ended after being targeted by PETA.

PETA took out full-page newspaper ads in Anchorage and Fairbanks in February featuring huskies — the leading sled dog breed — featuring the headline, “We don’t want to go to the Iditarod. We just want we’re going to the Iditarod.”

But Urbach said the race’s financial health is good, and payouts should be slightly higher this year. The top 20 finishers receive payouts on a sliding scale, and each finisher receives $1,049, which reflects the declared mileage of the race, even if the actual mileage is lower.

Urbach noted that they pay “the healthiest prize money” among competitive sled dog races and called PETA’s campaign “pretty offensive, I think, to a lot of Alaskans.”

There is also concern about the future of the race due to climate change.

The warming climate forcing the organizers to move the starting line 290 miles (467 kilometers) north from Willow to Fairbanks in 2003, 2015 and 2017 due to lack of snow in the Alaska Range. Poor winter conditions and urban development also led the Iditarod to officially move the start from Wasilla about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north to Willow in 2008, although Wasilla was last -hosted since 2002.

Shifting the start of the race north may become more common as global warming progresses, said Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The ice off Alaska’s west coast could also be thinner and more dangerous, he said.

“There shouldn’t be waves hitting the beach,” Thoman said of the effects of the ice melt. “It just needs to be at the point where the ice is unstable.”

As the challenges piled up, several veteran mushers with multiple championships left this year after decades of braving cold and windy conditions to train in the dead of winter in Alaska for the Iditarod. They found that few are willing to take their place, at least this year.

“I just got back from Cancun to see the Grateful Dead play on the beaches of Mexico,” said four-time champion Jeff King, now 67 years old. at 66, so I don’t feel like I’m bailing anyone out.

Five-time champion Dallas Seavey said last year’s race was his last time, even for a while, to spend time with his daughter. Other past champions who have not raced include Dallas’ father, three-time champion Mitch Seavey, and Joar Leifseth Ulsom and Thomas Waerner, who have one title each.

Waerner said sponsors were holding back, and it was too expensive to pay $60,000 to get his team from Norway to Alaska.

Lance Mackey, another four-time champion, died last year of cancer. He is the honorary musher for this year’s race, and his sons, Atigun and Lozen, will ride the first sled to leave the ceremonial start line in Anchorage and during Sunday’s start competition.

That leaves two previous winners in this year’s field, Sass and Pete Kaiser.

Sass said he is confident the Iditarod will survive this downturn.

“If we can just keep the train running, I think it will come back, and hopefully our world will get things under control and things will be less expensive,” Sass said. “I think that will help get our numbers back up.”



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