Back on track: After confusing first day, mushers dig in for long haul

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

By BETSY COHEN of the Missoulian


LINCOLN - There's an understood credo among mushers, and it goes something like this: “Expect the unexpected.”

When you are racing 350 miles through remote and rugged country, chasing the clock and banking your destiny on a pack of dogs, the unplanned is bound to happen.


And it did on Saturday during the official start of the 20th running of Montana's Race to the Sky dog-sled race.

While event officials had been tracking the weather and knew a snowstorm could be moving in, no one had planned on the posse of snowmobilers who unintentionally crisscrossed the dog-sled course in preparation for a weekend poker run.

Just as the competitors where lining up to take to the course at Camp Rimini, a blizzard descended.

Mark Stamm, a Washington state musher, was first to hit the trail, and with no dog tracks to follow and blowing snow obscuring the trail markers, Stamm took a wrong turn onto the poker run trail, said Ken Rosenbaum, a race organizer.

As Stamm was the first to go, and the first to put down tracks, about half of the other 23 competitors followed his lead.

“The blizzard blew in the trail and it caused a lot of confusion,” said Jon Bunderson, a veteran musher from Soda Springs, Idaho. “It just disoriented a lot of teams.”

“There was a little confusion with the trail,” said Cindy Gallea, a veteran musher from Seeley Lake. “But I see it more as musher error and sheep behavior - one musher made a wrong turn and a lot people just kept following him.”

The mushers eventually realized their error and were able to turn their sleds around and get back to the official race course and - eventually - to Deer Lodge, where the first 50 miles of the race concluded.

On Sunday, the race resumed with a restart in Lincoln, and what would be the beginning of nearly continuous running for the mushers and dogs as they set out to cover 300 more miles, taking them to Ovando, Seeley Lake and back to Lincoln to cross the finish line at High Country Beef Jerky.

The fastest teams are expected to complete the race sometime early Tuesday morning, officials said.

Although he's entered and competed at races throughout the northwest this winter, Bunderson said he set early season strategies with the Race to the Sky in mind.

“I've mostly focused on this race in training,” he said. “It's a good race because it gives you lots of mileage and it's the biggest race in the region.”

Bunderson's hoping this is his year to take the title, and with 10 of his 12 dogs willing and able to serve as lead dogs, he's got his best team ever.

“We just love coming to this race. Everybody from the organizers to the people in the communities we meet are really friendly and supportive,” he said. “And the race? It's the best challenge in the lower 48.”

Because the folks in Lincoln are so friendly, said Rodeo Vincent, a first-time competitor from Yellowstone, he was moving slower than he had planned.

“The lady at Lambkins (restaurant) wasn't going to let me leave,” he said. “She said ‘You need to eat more, I can't have you leave hungry - you've got a race ahead of you.' ”

With 50 miles under their belt and 300 miles in front of them, the dogs were all business on Sunday, said Sue Geske, head veterinarian for the race.

“It was a long, arduous trail yesterday, but the dogs seem to be in good shape,” Geske said.

Most of the teams were well rested and fresh and hadn't been competing in recent races, she said. “These dogs look really healthy and really ready to run.”

When Race to the Sky began 20 years ago, no one ever thought it would become a Montana winter tradition, said Jack Beckstrom, one of the founders of the race.

“It's had a great life, and it just keeps getting better,” Beckstrom said. “Every year we get great mushers and great volunteers, and people have come to rely on this as a way to break up the winter.

“It's a great relief for cabin fever, which is known to come on this time of year - who knows how many marriages we've saved because of Race to the Sky.”

[mrsgrubby]

I bet people get lost alot in these races? But it would be really scarry.