As for the video, that shows what a good ‘weather leader’ will do for you. Walter, Hugh Neff’s weather leader, and Maple, Lance’s go to leader, are unfazed by wind in their faces. Ray’s leader was spooked and skittish, with the effect of the team being weird and skittish and doing strange things. Ray’s sled got ‘whiplashed’ as a result.

In last year’s Quest, Hugh had to drop Walter, and he got into deep trouble on the climb up American Summit. Some teams ignored their musher and turned around. The dogs instinctively turn so the wind comes from behind them when it’s snowing.

Weather leaders, like Walter, Maple, and Brent Sass’s Silver would want to stick their heads out the window of a Hurricane Hunter aircraft in the middle of a storm.

There’s an amazing video of teams going over Rainey Pass in a windy snow storm. Amazing dogs, but a wild ride for the mushers. First there was Hugh with his dogs in their Cat in the Hat coats – trotting along looking really good. Then along comes Ray Redington who’s dogs go sideways around a rock, then the sled falls over, dragging him, then he and the sled disappear over the rise, then suddenly the sled reappears, flipping high in the air, then Ray reappears, yelling at the team. It didn’t go as smoothly as perhaps he’d hoped. The last team I think is Lance and the dogs are travelling so fast and smooth their legs are just a blur. Amazing.

I may be too cheap to get the Insider, but my imagination is working overtime on that one!

Sleeping on the trail happens all the time, which is why a good leader who has run the trail before is important. I assume that he has run the Iditarod often enough that he has a schedule and sticks to it, which will serve him well barring the unforeseen. Napping can be just as refreshing if you and your body get used to it.

Bruce Linton is a Type 1 diabetic and he manages with an insulin pump and a lot of training.

Actually it is the younger mushers who have real problems because they try to ‘tough it out’, rather than training for it.

Just checked the stats a few minutes ago (10:45 EST) and Jim Lanier left Ophir first! Way to go. Age is just a number…

Of course, he hasn’t had his 24 hour rest yet, but that begs another question – how the heck is he going without sleep for this long? I can’t do that at my age all that well. Imagine his being 71 years old and leading a dog team in blistering cold weather with no sleep. Am I remembering correctly – did you once mention that some of them can sleep while running? Or am I making that up?

As I mention in my update, the teams get to choose their stopping point for the 24-hour break, which is why Lance is still in McGrath and Martin and Rohn are still moving. The people at the checkpoints would know who had bigger than normal supplies dumped at a particular location, which is an indication of where they will wait out the layover.

The prize is a custom carved ‘spirit mask’ and a $500 credit on Pennair, which is normally used to get you and your dogs home from Nome.

I’m going to go check and see what Aliy got for the Spirit of Alaska award. Hope it’s something nice.

Noticed that Lance Mackey has not left McGrath yet and is in 40th. Wonder what’s up with him? And Kelley Griffin, who had been behind Aliy is at 41st.