Quest Outlook
This is going to be the smallest field ever for the race, only 18 teams. The primary reasons seem to be a dismal economy and the weather.
It is expensive to maintain a team for a thousand miles, so the money has to be found, and that has been more difficult since the economy took a dive. Sponsorship money has dried up as more businesses cut their expenses.
The weather all winter in Alaska has created another problem for people who might want to race. This has been a warm and wet winter in southern and central Alaska, so a lot of mushers have been left with little time to train and condition a team for a thousand mile race. You can’t really give dogs much of a run if the temperature is too warm.
On Friday I saw a picture of downtown Whitehorse. There is no snow, there isn’t even slush. Of course, a wind change and temperature drop could happen overnight, but there is no snow pack for a trail. Temperatures are dropping, but it is going to take a least a couple of days of sub-zero weather to freeze over the rivers and creeks and firm up the ground. The current conditions don’t bode well for the Iditarod.
Update: Yukon Quest issued a statement that the race will start on Saturday, but the trail, including the start and end points, is definitely subject to change based on reports from those monitoring the trail conditions.
