Category — Yukon Quest

Brian made it in just after midnight local, and Misha was an hour later. They aren’t updating the official standings for Marcelle and Michael so I’m working from Live Tracking.

It looks like the weather is trending back to normal, i.e. below freezing for the next few days, which makes running during the day easier. There is just under 11 hours of daylight, and the moon is a waning crescent.

Update: OK, KUAC explains the situation: technically, the race should end 60 hours after the winner arrives, but the Race Marshal is extending the limit to allow Marcelle and Michael to continue and be eligible for the Red Lantern if they wish. There is no official support, beyond their handlers at the checkpoints, but local people are doing what they can. They both chose to continue.

KUAC made the point that Michael has been very concerned about running in the dark through the trees, because neither he, nor his dogs have any experience moving through trees.

Standings as of 9:15PM CST [Live Tracking]:

Michelle is about 15 miles out of Carmacks, while Michael has arrived at the checkpoint.

At Whitehorse
16 Brian Wilmshurst (11)^R
17 Misha Pedersen (5)^R
Beyond Carmacks
18 Marcelle Fressineau (15)^R
At Carmacks
19 Michael Telpin (24)^R

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, the small “I” indicates a Quest rookie who has competed in the Iditarod, and the small “R” indicates a total rookie.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

Kyla made it in at 10:30PM CST last night, so Trent is the first for today. Trent was a last minute replacement for a musher with a medical problem and basically making a training run to test dogs for that musher’s Iditarod attempt, so it was a good run for him. He really must like Matt Giblin or mushing to do this, although it doesn’t hurt his credibility with the tourist business he is now involved in to have finished both the Quest and the Iditarod.

Live Tracking has Marcelle just outside of Pelly Crossing this morning, but Michael Telpin’s tracker has been silent for over a day. Update: Michael is about 15 miles behind Marcelle, according to the tracker. Update: Marcelle is beyond Pelly, and Michael is there, according to LT. [They noticed that Marcelle is on the trail to Carmacks, but still don’t show that Michael is in Pelly Crossing and has been for a while.]

Update: Apparently Gus and Paige came in side-by-side as they have the same finish time. It now says that Gus arrived 20 minutes before Paige, probably a typo.

I’m waiting for Yuka to finish to erase the disappointment of her run in 2009 when she had to scratch at Mile 101 going the other way. Upate: She made it at 6:27PM CST.

Standings at 10PM CST:

At Whitehorse
11 Kyla Durham (7)
12 Trent Herbst (22)^I
13 Gus Guenther (20)^R
14 Paige Drobny (12)^R
15 Yuka Honda (19)^R
Beyond Braeburn
16 Brian Wilmshurst (11)^R
17 Misha Pedersen (5)^R
Beyond Pelly Crossing
18 Marcelle Fressineau (15)^R
At Pelly Crossing
19 Michael Telpin (24)^R

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, the small “I” indicates a Quest rookie who has competed in the Iditarod, and the small “R” indicates a total rookie.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

Brent, Sonny, and Joar made it in late last night local time.

I’ll continue with these posts until the Red Lantern is extinguished, whether the musher calls it a Красный Фонарь, Lanterne Rouge, or Červená Lucerna. Michael Telpin’s tracker is again out of whack, but Michelle Fressineau is tracking beyond Scroggie Creek this morning. The Dawson to Pelly Crossing segment is the longest in the race.

Note: After the leaders show up the reporting really slows down. The only updates you can expect with any regularity are at the finish.

Standings at 10:30PM CST:

At Whitehorse
5 Brent Sass (10)
6 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (17)^R
7 Sonny Lindner (3)
8 Abbie West (21)
9 Kristy Berington (2)^I
10 David Dalton (4)
Beyond Braeburn
11 Kyla Durham (7)
12 Trent Herbst (22)^I
13 Gus Guenther (20)^R
14 Paige Drobny (12)^R
At Braeburn
15 Yuka Honda (19)^R
Beyond Carmacks
16 Brian Wilmshurst (11)^R
17 Misha Pedersen (5)^R
Beyond Dawson
18 Marcelle Fressineau (15)^R
19 Michael Telpin (24)^R

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, the small “I” indicates a Quest rookie who has competed in the Iditarod, and the small “R” indicates a total rookie.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

Hugh Neff made up the 42 minute deficit and beat Allen Moore to the finish in Whitehorse by a minute for his first Yukon Quest victory at 7:14AM CST this morning.

Lance made it third, and Sonny Linder is on his way for the last 100 miles with a minimum team of 6 dogs. The heat is taking its toll, which is not good news for the Iditarod, as it is in March.

Standings at 10PM CST:

At Whitehorse
1 Hugh Neff (6)
2 Allen Moore (1) {+0:01}
3 Lance Mackey (16) {+5:25}
4 Jake Berkowitz (13)^R {+7:17}
Beyond Braeburn
5 Brent Sass (10)
6 Sonny Lindner (3)
7 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (17)^R
8 Abbie West (21)
9 Kristy Berington (2)^I
At Braeburn
10 David Dalton (4)
Beyond Carmacks
11 Kyla Durham (7)
12 Paige Drobny (12)^R
13 Trent Herbst (22)^I
14 Gus Guenther (20)^R
Beyond Pelly Crossing
15 Yuka Honda (19)^R
16 Brian Wilmshurst (11)^R
17 Misha Pedersen (5)^R
Beyond Dawson
18 Marcelle Fressineau (15)^R
19 Michael Telpin (24)^R

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, the small “I” indicates a Quest rookie who has competed in the Iditarod, and the small “R” indicates a total rookie.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

Hugh has a 2 minute lead out of Carmacks over Allen and a 3:14 minute lead over Lance. If Allen wins by less than 30 minutes, Hugh will complain, as he always does when this happens to him [hint: this isn’t the first time Hugh has been hit with a penalty] but it is all part of the race.

Barring unforeseen events, Jake Berkowitz has a comfortable lead over Joar Ulsom for the Rookie win.

Sonny Linder is down to 7 dogs, probably as a result of the heat. Michael Telpin is the only musher with all of the starting dogs still in the race.

Update: Allen got to Braeburn 12 minutes ahead of Hugh, and will leave with a 42 minute lead after the mandatory 8-hour stop because of Hugh’s 30-minute penalty. Allen was 14 minutes faster on that run, so he is looking good for the win as his team is peaking at the right time.

Standings at 10PM CST:

Beyond Braeburn
1 Allen Moore (1)
2 Hugh Neff (6) {+0:42}
3 Lance Mackey (16) {+3:23}
At Braeburn
4 Jake Berkowitz (13)^R
Beyond Carmacks
5 Brent Sass (10)
6 Sonny Lindner (3)
7 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (17)^R
8 Kristy Berington (2)^I
9 Abbie West (21)
Beyond Pelly Crossing
10 David Dalton (4)
11 Kyla Durham (7)
At Pelly Crossing
12 Gus Guenther (20)^R
13 Paige Drobny (12)^R
Beyond Scroggie Creek
14 Trent Herbst (22)^I
15 Yuka Honda (19)^R
16 Brian Wilmshurst (11)^R
17 Misha Pedersen (5)^R
Beyond Dawson
18 Marcelle Fressineau (15)^R
19 Michael Telpin (24)^R

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, the small “I” indicates a Quest rookie who has competed in the Iditarod, and the small “R” indicates a total rookie.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

Allen is leading by 4 minutes over Hugh, while Lance has backed off a bit.

Michael Telpin made it in to Dawson at 9:22AM this morning, but he is not pushing his dogs and still has the entire team of 9 dogs he started with. Brent Sass is the only other musher that still has all of the starters on the trail.

Update: Hugh leads Allen by 3 minutes, but he has a 30 minute penalty to wait out at Braeburn for a lost axe, which is required equipment.

Marcelle Fressineau was also hit with a 30-minute penalty for a lost axe, and Misha Pedersen received a one-hour penalty for ‘interference in the Dawson City dog yard’. There is no information on what she did, but rules are tight in the dog yard. Most mushers just coming in are sleep-deprived and not exactly sane, so things are under tight control to prevent things from getting out of hand. Lance Mackey has often said that he has hallucinations at the end of long runs.

Standings at 8PM CST:

At Carmacks
1 Hugh Neff (6)
2 Allen Moore (1)
Beyond Pelly Crossing
3 Lance Mackey (16)
4 Jake Berkowitz (13)^R
5 Brent Sass (10)
At Pelly Crossing
6 Sonny Lindner (3)
7 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (17)^R
Beyond Scroggie Creek
8 Kristy Berington (2)^I
9 Abbie West (21)
10 David Dalton (4)
11 Kyla Durham (7)
Beyond Dawson
12 Gus Guenther (20)^R
13 Trent Herbst (22)^I
14 Paige Drobny (12)^R
15 Yuka Honda (19)^R
16 Brian Wilmshurst (11)^R
17 Misha Pedersen (5)^R
At Dawson
18 Marcelle Fressineau (15)^R
19 Michael Telpin (24)^R

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, the small “I” indicates a Quest rookie who has competed in the Iditarod, and the small “R” indicates a total rookie.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

Last year it was a herd of caribou blocking the trail that stopped some teams at the end of the Quest and this year the Daily News Miner reports that Wolves and Moose are being annoying.

Note, the wolves are not attacking anyone, they are just stealing the trail markers.

They are probably not as dangerous as the media cars on the Tour.

Michael Telpin is bringing up the rear for a lot of reasons, but a big one is that neither he, nor his dogs have any experience moving through trees. He and they are from the high Arctic, and there are no trees up there. There are grasses and reeds in the summer, but lichens are the main plant life.

He makes his own harnesses using the traditional Chukchi pattern which distributes weight differently that the diamond web pattern that most teams use. You can’t change the harness design without training the dogs to accept it, and to ‘grow into it’ from puppies.

It isn’t stated in any of the interviews [he doesn’t speak English, so there haven’t been many] but he probably took the animals that provided the skins for his outer gear, as he is a subsistence hunter at home. People who live in the Arctic don’t waste anything, because there isn’t a lot to begin with.

Hugh Neff arrived at the Scroggie Creek Dog Drop first, followed by Lance and Allen, but they left in reverse order, so Allen Moore is still officially leading.

Marcelle and Michael are probably in Canada and approaching Dawson, but after you get off the mountain and into the Yukon River valley GPS gets flaky. Live Tracking shows Michael ahead of Marcelle, but her last position is from hours earlier.

Standings at 11PM CST:

Beyond Scroggie Creek
1 Allen Moore (1)
2 Lance Mackey (16)
3 Hugh Neff (6)
4 Jake Berkowitz (13)^R
5 Brent Sass (10)
6 Sonny Lindner (3)
At Scroggie Creek
7 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (17)^R
Beyond Dawson
8 Abbie West (21)
9 Kristy Berington (2)^I
10 David Dalton (4)
11 Kyla Durham (7)
12 Gus Guenther (20)^R
13 Trent Herbst (22)^I
At Dawson
14 Paige Drobny (12)^R
15 Yuka Honda (19)^R
16 Brian Wilmshurst (11)^R
17 Misha Pedersen (5)^R
18 Marcelle Fressineau (15)^R
Beyond Eagle
19 Michael Telpin (24)^R

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, the small “I” indicates a Quest rookie who has competed in the Iditarod, and the small “R” indicates a total rookie.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

Michael Telpin left Eagle early this morning to climb the American Summit on the way to Dawson [with his GPS tracker working again]. Information gets very sparse for a few days. It is a long run between Eagle and Dawson, but the run from Dawson to Pelly Crossing is over 200 miles. The Quest is a test of winter camping skills.

Update: Hopefully the current Chinook wind will die off so the weather can cool off. The current temperatures in Eagle and Dawson will create problems for working sled dogs and turn the trails to mush. When the trails re-freeze they will be hazardous for dogs’ feet and for sleds. Chinooks are like California’s Santa Ana winds, caused by the interaction with mountain ranges in the interior. While there are also winds called Chinooks along the coast, they are the result of different weather conditions. The interior form are dry, like Santa Anas, while the coastal form is a humid Pacific air mass.

Standings as of 9PM CST:

Beyond Dawson
1 Allen Moore (1)
2 Lance Mackey (16)
3 Hugh Neff (6)
4 Jake Berkowitz (13)^R
5 Brent Sass (10)
At Dawson
6 Sonny Lindner (3)
7 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (17)^R
8 Abbie West (21)
9 Kristy Berington (2)^I
10 David Dalton (4)
11 Kyla Durham (7)
12 Gus Guenther (20)^R
13 Trent Herbst (22)^I
14 Paige Drobny (12)^R
15 Yuka Honda (19)^R
16 Brian Wilmshurst (11)^R
17 Misha Pedersen (5)^R
Beyond Eagle
18 Marcelle Fressineau (15)^R
19 Michael Telpin (24)^R

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, the small “I” indicates a Quest rookie who has competed in the Iditarod, and the small “R” indicates a total rookie.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

Allen Moore (1) will start the second half of the race from the same position he started the first half – number one. He arrived at Dawson at 32 minutes after midnight PST [2:32AM CST] to be first in line for the four ounces of gold. [There’s a time zone change at the border from Alaska Standard to Pacific Standard]

Update: Michael Telpin (24), the Chukchi from the Chukotka, is having to move slowly because of ‘the heat’. His dogs are full coated for a winter of 100° below Zero on the coast of the Arctic Ocean, and the current temperatures are very warm for them.

Official standings as of 9:30PM CST:

At Dawson
1 Allen Moore (1)
2 Lance Mackey (16)
3 Hugh Neff (6)
4 Jake Berkowitz (13)^R
5 Brent Sass (10)
6 Sonny Lindner (3)
7 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (17)^R
8 Abbie West (21)
9 Kristy Berington (2)^I
10 David Dalton (4)
Beyond Eagle
11 Kyla Durham (7)
12 Paige Drobny (12)^R
13 Gus Guenther (20)^R
14 Trent Herbst (22)^I
15 Yuka Honda (19)^R
16 Brian Wilmshurst (11)^R
17 Misha Pedersen (5)^R
18 Marcelle Fressineau (15)^R
At Eagle
19 Michael Telpin (24)^R

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, the small “I” indicates a Quest rookie who has competed in the Iditarod, and the small “R” indicates a total rookie.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

Everyone who started made it to the finish when Jimmy Lebling arrived with the Red Lantern at 8:28AM AKST this morning.

The Final standings are:

1. Josh Cadzow (52)
2. Rob Cooke (54)
3. Ava Lindner (55)
4. Luan Marques (51)
5. Ed Abrahamson (58)
6. Cindy Abbot (56)
7. Blake Matray (57)
8. Jimmy Lebling (53)

In addition to second place Rob Cooke was the Vet’s Choice for his care of his Siberians. He will probably be heading back to New Brunswick to locate a whirlpool bath for bruises sustained when he got dumped coming down the Eagle.

If coming down the Eagle is bad, trying to climb it with the patches of glare ice after more than 700 miles on the trail is much worse.

Nikolay Ettyne (14) returned to Circle and scratched. I think these turn arounds are more likely musher injuries from the Eagle descent. There has been enough time for the pain from getting mugged by the mountain to set in, and moving hay bales and feed sacks to be a real problem. The timing is right for the mushers to have made the decision at their first camp after leaving Circle.

Live tracking has Lance just across the Canadian border, but it also has Trent Herbst still at Slaven’s, so don’t put the rent money on it.

The standings at 9:30PM CST:

Beyond Eagle
1 Lance Mackey (16)
2 Hugh Neff (6)
3 Allen Moore (1)
4 Brent Sass (10)
5 Jake Berkowitz (13)^R
6 Sonny Lindner (3)
7 Kristy Berington (2)^I
8 Abbie West (21)
9 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (17)^R
10 David Dalton (4)
11 Kyla Durham (7)
At Eagle
12 Paige Drobny (12)^R
13 Gus Guenther (20)^R
14 Trent Herbst (22)^I
15 Yuka Honda (19)^R
Beyond Slaven’s Roadhouse
16 Brian Wilmshurst (11)^R
17 Marcelle Fressineau (15)^R
18 Misha Pedersen (5)^R
19 Michael Telpin (24)^R

The leaders are camped out on the trail to Dawson. The first team into Dawson that goes on to finish receives 4 ounces of gold. If you push your team to get into Dawson first, they may not have what it takes to finish the race, and the gold often goes to the second or third team to reach the city.

There are formalities when the teams cross the border, so they have to stop and produce ‘their papers’, even on a sled dog trail on the side of a mountain.

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, the small “I” indicates a Quest rookie who has competed in the Iditarod, and the small “R” indicates a total rookie.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

Jason Weitzel (9) who was collecting for the Wounded Warriors charity on his rookie run has had to scratch at Circle because of injuries sustained on the trail. If you can’t take care of the dogs, you can’t continue.

Everyone has been getting their teams vet checked in depth at Circle, because there is no ‘dog drop’ at Slaven’s this year, so you only want to take dogs that you feel will make it all the way. Small problems get larger when you are 160 miles from a vet.

Update at 7PM CST: Maren Bradley (23) returned to Circle and scratched. As she was on the trail for over 14 hours, it sounds like she or the dogs weren’t feeling good.

Update at 11PM CST:

Beyond Eagle
1 Lance Mackey (16)
2 Hugh Neff (6)
3 Allen Moore (1)
At Eagle
4 Brent Sass (10)
5 Abbie West (21)
6 Jake Berkowitz (13)^R
7 Sonny Lindner (3)
8 Kristy Berington (2)^I
Beyond Slaven’s Roadhouse
9 David Dalton (4)
10 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (17)^R
11 Kyla Durham (7)
12 Paige Drobny (12)^R
13 Yuka Honda (19)^R
14 Gus Guenther (20)^R
At Slaven’s Roadhouse
15 Trent Herbst (22)^I
16 Brian Wilmshurst (11)^R
17 Misha Pedersen (5)^R
Beyond Circle
18 Marcelle Fressineau (15)^R
19 Nikolay Ettyne (14)^R
20 Michael Telpin (24)^R

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, the small “I” indicates a Quest rookie who has competed in the Iditarod, and the small “R” indicates a total rookie.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

At 8:35AM CST [5:35AM AKST] Josh Cadzow and 7 puppies pulled into the Central checkpoint to win the 2012 Yukon Quest 300 after just under 10 hours on the trail.

The standings as of 11PM CST are:

At Central [finish]
1. Josh Cadzow (52)
2. Rob Cooke (54)
3. Ava Lindner (55)
4. Luan Marques (51)
Beyond Circle
5. Ed Abrahamson (58)
6. Blake Matray (57)
7. Cindy Abbot (56)
8. Jimmy Lebling (53)

Luan is impressive, not just because she is a rookie from a moderate to tropical environment, but she has been running alone and doing well, with all 12 puppies still on her team.

Rob Cooke ran races in Europe, and Ava grew up with mushing, but Luan has done this mostly on her own – a pure rookie.