Category — Yukon Quest

Allen won the Carmacks to Braeburn sprint race with Brent and is resting 8 hours in Braeburn before heading to the finish line.

Hank DeBruin is the last team in Dawson, but he will be slow getting started this morning with real winter temperatures in the minus thirties this morning.

Update: Brent Sass is out of the race. He has been withdrawn and is on his way to hospital in Whitehorse. He was injured in an accident about 12 miles from the Braeburn checkpoint. Brent’s condition is described as ‘stable’. His team is in good shape and is being brought to Braeburn by a race official.

Update: Link to Allen Moore & Aliy Zirkle’s blog on the accident, and a Fairbanks News-Miner report from Hugh Neff, the first competitor on the scene.

Brent Sass and his legendary lead dog Silver have helped out a lot of teams in really deep trouble over many years.

Standings at 10:40PM CST (8:40PM PST):

Beyond Braeburn
1 Allen Moore (8)
At Braeburn
2 Hugh Neff (14)
Beyond Pelly Crossing
3 Matt Hall (3)^R
4 Cody Strathe (10)
5 John Schandelmeier (17)
Beyond Dawson
6 Ken Anderson (6)
7 Torsten Kohnert (13)^R
8 Curt Perano (16)^R
9 Dave Dalton (5)
10 Jerry Joinson (4)
11 Mandy Nauman (11)^R
12 Brian Wilmshurst (9)
13 Hank DeBruin (18)

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, and the small “R” indicates a 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.

Jerry Joinson’s 8-hour penalty for having to replace his busted sled has been rescinded by the Race Marshal. He probably felt that Jerry spent that much time [and/or money equivalent] getting a replacement sled to continue the race.

Tony Angelo has been withdrawn from the race after using the alert button on his tracking device 32 miles from Dawson. Both he and his team are reported in good condition by the Canadian Ranger response team, who will escort them to Dawson.

Standings at 10:20PM CST (8:20PM PST):

Beyond Carmacks
1 Brent Sass (2)
2 Allen Moore (8)
At Carmacks
3 Hugh Neff (14)
Beyond Dawson
4 Cody Strathe (10)
5 Matt Hall (3)^R
6 John Schandelmeier (17)
7 Ken Anderson (6)
8 Torsten Kohnert (13)^R
9 Curt Perano (16)^R
10 Dave Dalton (5)
At Dawson
11 Jerry Joinson (4)
12 Mandy Nauman (11)^R
13 Brian Wilmshurst (9)
14 Hank DeBruin (18)

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, and the small “R” indicates a 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.

Eagle was the last checkpoint on Alaskan Standard Time, the time shifts to Pacific Standard Time in the Yukon.

John Schandelmeier is pleasantly surprised to find himself in sixth place, as he assumed he would be somewhere in the back of the field. As this Fairbanks News-Miner profile of John makes clear, he was just expecting to have a long run with the dogs.

John and his wife, Zoya DeNure, run Crazy Dog Kennel which functions more as a rehabilitation center for ‘rescues, rejects, and runts’ than a serious racing enterprise. With two wins and more than a dozen top ten finishes on the Quest, John doesn’t feel the need to prove anything to anyone but his team.

Update: About 25 minutes after midnight CST Allen Moore made it into Pelly Crossing.

Standings at 4:30PM CST (2:30PM PST):

Beyond Dawson
1 Brent Sass (2)
2 Allen Moore (8)
3 Hugh Neff (14)
4 Cody Strathe (10)
5 Matt Hall (3)^R
6 John Schandelmeier (17)
At Dawson
7 Ken Anderson (6)
8 Torsten Kohnert (13)^R
9 Curt Perano (16)^R
10 Dave Dalton (5)
11 Jerry Joinson (4)
12 Mandy Nauman (11)^R
13 Brian Wilmshurst (9)
14 Hank DeBruin (18)
Beyond Eagle
15 Tony Angelo (12)^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, and the small “R” indicates a 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.

The weather is staying cold in the Yukon River valley, the day is lengthening by 6+ minutes, and there is a quarter moon at night. Tony Angelo should be in Eagle at any time where he can pick up new batteries for his tracking device. The race is down to Eagle to Dawson, with the leaders leaving Dawson latter today. Brent has a 2½ hour lead over Allen, but that isn’t much at this point.

Tony Angelo apparently had some problems this morning. He was originally right behind Hank DeBruin heading out toward Eagle, but he turned around and went back to the Trout Creek cabin. He may have been soaked by an overflow on the Yukon and needed to dry out before continuing. He is back on the trail as of 1PM CST and his tracker is working again.

Standings at 7:30PM CST (4:30PM AKST):

Beyond Dawson
1 Brent Sass (2)
2 Allen Moore (8)
3 Hugh Neff (14)
At Dawson
4 Cody Strathe (10)
5 Matt Hall (3)^R
6 John Schandelmeier (17)
7 Ken Anderson (6)
8 Torsten Kohnert (13)^R
Beyond Eagle
9 Dave Dalton (5)
10 Curt Perano (16)^R
11 Brian Wilmshurst (9)
12 Mandy Nauman (11)^R
13 Jerry Joinson (4)
14 Hank DeBruin (18)
At Eagle
15 Tony Angelo (12)^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, and the small “R” indicates a 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.

The leaders are in Dawson for 36 hours while everyone else is still camping out. The teams are spread out on about 150 miles along the path of the Yukon River.

Jerry Joinson has been penalized another 4 2 hours for failing to leave food for a dropped dog. When a dog is left at a checkpoint the musher is required to leave 4 pounds of food with the dog. There is food at the dog drops if a musher forgets, but it is the musher’s responsibility. He will be spending two full days 44 hours at Dawson instead of 36 hours. [Final penalty was 2 not 4 hours.]

Standings at 9:00PM CST (6:00PM AKST):

At Dawson
1 Brent Sass (2)
2 Allen Moore (8)
3 Hugh Neff (14)
Beyond Eagle
4 Cody Strathe (10)
5 Matt Hall (3)^R
6 John Schandelmeier (17)
7 Ken Anderson (6)
8 Torsten Kohnert (13)^R
9 Dave Dalton (5)
10 Curt Perano (16)^R
Beyond Slaven’s Roadhouse
11 Hank DeBruin (18)
12 Jerry Joinson (4)
13 Mandy Nauman (11)^R
14 Brian Wilmshurst (9)
15 Tony Angelo (12)^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, and the small “R” indicates a 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.

Based on the arrival times at the YQ 300 Standings site, this the current order as of 4:30PM CST:

Finished At Central
1 Aliy Zirkle
2 Chase Tingle
3 Heidi Sutter
4 Sebastian Schnuelle
5 Ryne Olson
6 Jimmy Lebling
7 Amanda Gecas
8 Laura Allaway
9 Andrew Pace

Andrew Pace made it to the finish, while Simon McLoughlin scratched at Circle. Simon was crawling along from Central to Circle barely at walking speed for most people, so there was definitely something wrong.

The batteries on some of the tracking units would seem to have failed, notably Sebastian’s and Simon’s, so it hasn’t been easy keeping up with what is happening.

Brent is still leading, but Allen and Hugh are just behind him. Judging by past races, Hugh will make a move when it means money, so the run to Dawson should be a spirited race within the race. You have to finish to receive the Dawson prize, so a team can’t push too hard, even with 36 hours to recover.

Jerry Joinson will be sitting in Dawson an extra 8 hours as a penalty. He pranged his sled on the trail between Central and Circle and it was too damaged to repair. He will be using a replacement of the same size and weight, but the Quest penalizes the use of more than one sled.

Standings at 10:00PM CST (7:00PM AKST):
[Note: the current standings on the web site are wrong. These standings are based on the Tracking site.]

Beyond Eagle
1 Brent Sass (2)
2 Allen Moore (8)
3 Hugh Neff (14)
At Eagle
4 Cody Strathe (10)
Beyond Slaven’s Roadhouse
5 Dave Dalton (5)
6 John Schandelmeier (17)
7 Matt Hall (3)^R
8 Curt Perano (16)^R
9 Torsten Kohnert (13)^R
10 Ken Anderson (6)
11 Mandy Nauman (11)^R
12 Jerry Joinson (4)
13 Brian Wilmshurst (9)
14 Hank DeBruin (18)
At Slaven’s Roadhouse
15 Tony Angelo (12)^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, and the small “R” indicates a 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.

Aliy Zirkle and all 12 puppies made it to Circle just minutes after her husband, Allen Moore, pulled out. Allen left at 4:54AM and Aliy arrived at 4:57AM.

[My mistake – I forgot that they have a mandatory six-hour stop at Circle, and then head back to actually finish at Central and make the full 300 miles. Too much going on simultaneously, and the last time they ran this route was in 2012.]

Aliy crossed the real finish line at 10:32PM (7:32PM AKST).

Standings at 10:45PM CST (7:45PM AKST):

Finish At Central
1 Aliy Zirkle
Beyond Circle
2 Chase Tingle
3 Heidi Sutter
4 Sebastian Schnuelle
5 Laura Allaway
6 Jimmy Lebling
At Circle
7 Amanda Gecas
8 Andrew Pace
9 Ryne Olson
Beyond Central
10 Simon McLoughlin

Deke Naaktgeboren and Jesse Brattrud scratched at Mile 101.

They are leaving the road network behind today as the leaders head out from Circle on the Yukon River. In the winter transport is confined to sleds and aircraft. Normand Casavant made the decision to scratch at Central out of concern for his dogs. Some teams are fine but a good number are dropping dogs. The icy trail causes foot and leg injuries as the puppies want to run.

Mike Ellis and his Siberians have scratched at Circle. If you aren’t sure of your team, you have to stop at Circle, because after Slaven’s Roadhouse your team has to make it to Dawson. Eagle can’t take dogs due to a lack of transport.

Standings at 10:30PM CST (7:30PM AKST):

Beyond Slaven’s Roadhouse
1 Brent Sass (2)
2 Hugh Neff (14)
3 Allen Moore (8)
At Slaven’s Roadhouse
4 Cody Strathe (10)
5 Dave Dalton (5)
Beyond Circle
6 John Schandelmeier (17)
7 Matt Hall (3)^R
8 Ken Anderson (6)
9 Curt Perano (16)^R
10 Torsten Kohnert (13)^R
At Circle
11 Mandy Nauman (11)^R
12 Jerry Joinson (4)
13 Hank DeBruin (18)
14 Brian Wilmshurst (9)
Beyond Central
15 Tony Angelo (12)^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, and the small “R” indicates a 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.

The Yukon Quest 300, this year from Fairbanks to Circle, started yesterday at 3PM AKST [6PM CST] with 16 teams.

As of 10:30PM CST the standings are:

Beyond Central
1 Aliy Zirkle
2 Chase Tingle
At Central
3 Heidi Sutter
4 Sebastian Schnuelle
5 Amanda Gecas
Beyond Mile 101
6 Laura Allaway
7 Jimmy Lebling
8 Andrew Pace
9 Ryne Olson
At Mile 101
10 Deke Naaktgeboren
11 Simon McLoughlin
Beyond Chena Hot Springs/Two Rivers
12 Jesse Brattrud

Peter Klesper made it to Two Rivers and scratched. Jim Burton returned to Fairbanks and scratched, while Lisa Joinson scratched at Two Rivers. Shaynee Seipke scratched at Mile 101.

The teams from the Yukon Quest and YQ300 will be mixed for a while, as the Quest teams have to pace themselves for about a thousand miles of icy trail.

It’s decision time for the four-hour stop. Brent Sass has chosen Central by blowing through Mile 101, but most will probably rest their teams before scaling Eagle Summit.

If the trail is mostly ice, the descent from the top of Eagle is going to be really nasty, more of an uncontrolled slide with no sure footing for the dogs, and not much control of the sled.

Jean-Denis Britten has scratched at Mile 101. He had already had to drop 2 puppies, so I’m guessing he’s concerned that the team may have health issues. Respiratory illnesses pop up in warm weather, even among dogs.

Standings at 10:30PM CST (7:30PM AKST):

Beyond Central
1 Allen Moore (8)
2 Cody Strathe (10)
3 Dave Dalton (5)
4 Hugh Neff (14)
5 Brent Sass (2)
6 Matt Hall (3)^R
7 John Schandelmeier (17)
8 Ken Anderson (6)
9 Normand Casavant (1)
At Central
10 Mike Ellis (7)
11 Curt Perano (16)^R
12 Torsten Kohnert (13)^R
13 Hank DeBruin (18)
14 Jerry Joinson (4)
15 Brian Wilmshurst (9)
16 Mandy Nauman (11)^R
Beyond Mile 101
17 Tony Angelo (12)^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, and the small “R” indicates a 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.

The race is starting today about an hour and a half after sunrise, which gives the first team out 5½ hours of light. The moon is a 6% crescent and will set at 8:44PM AKST, so it is all headlamp and the aurora at night. The temperature is back to seasonally cold, but there wasn’t much snow this year, and a lot of it was melted during the Chinook wind in January.

The teams leave with a three minute spacing between them, and that is equalized at the first mandatory 4-hour stop.

Update at 11:00PM CST (8:00PM AKST):

At Chena Hot Springs/Two Rivers
1 Hugh Neff (14)
2 Normand Casavant (1)
3 Jerry Joinson (4)
4 John Schandelmeier (17)
5 Dave Dalton (5)
6 Mike Ellis (7)
7 Brian Wilmshurst (9)
8 Hank DeBruin (18)
Beyond Fairbanks
9 Brent Sass (2)
10 Matt Hall (3)^R
11 Ken Anderson (6)
12 Allen Moore (8)
13 Cody Strathe (10)
14 Mandy Nauman (11)^R
15 Tony Angelo (12)^R
16 Torsten Kohnert (13)^R
17 Jean-Denis Britten (15)
18 Curt Perano (16)^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, and the small “R” indicates a 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.

These are the mushers who will be starting the Quest tomorrow:

Quest Winners
Allen Moore (8)
Hugh Neff (14)
John Schandelmeier (17)
Veterans
Normand Casavant (1)
Brent Sass (2)
Jerry Joinson (4)
Dave Dalton (5)
Ken Anderson (6)
Mike Ellis (7)
Brian Wilmshurst (9)
Cody Strathe (10)
Jean-Denis Britten (15)
Hank DeBruin (18)
Rookies
Curt Perano (16)
Matt Hall (3)
Mandy Nauman (11)
Tony Angelo (12)
Torsten Kohnert (13)

The numbers after their names are their starting position.

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Fairbanks 440 feet [134 meters] Start
Chena Hot Springs 1550 feet [472 meters] 72 miles [116 km]
Rosebud Summit 3640 feet [1109 meters]
Mile 101 Steese Highway 2250 feet [686 meters] 42 miles [68 km]
Eagle Summit 3685 feet [1123 meters]
Central 435 feet [133 meters] 33 miles [53 km]
Circle City 597 feet [182 meters] 74 miles [119 km]
Eagle 880 feet [268 meters] 159 miles [256 km]
Dawson City 1050 feet [320 meters] 100 miles [161 km]
King Solomon’s Dome 4002 feet [1220 meters]
Pelly Crossing 1558 feet [475 meters] 202 miles [325 km]
Carmacks 1722 feet [525 meters] 73 miles [117 km]
Braeburn 2326 feet [709 meters] 77 miles [124 km]
Takhini Hot Springs 2089 feet [637 meters] 70 miles [112 km] Finish

The total distance is approximately 900 miles [1450 kilometers]

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