Snowless Iditarod

[Frostbit]

Injured Buser 'worried sick' about less-experienced Iditarod racers on rough trail



"It's been a bumpy 24 hours on the Iditarod Trail. Here's what you need to know this morning: Fan favorite DeeDee Jonrowe is out of the race after a rough ride into Rohn. Limping race leader Martin Buser is taking his mandatory daylong break in Nikolai as other mushers, battered by the snowless trail, arrive dented and bruised. "It's a minefield out there," says former Yukon Quest champion Hugh Neff."

<snip>

Asked if his fast-start strategy was working, Buser said he would find out in the race to come. It was something he tried in 2013, when he finished in 17th place after getting bogged down in warm, wet snow.

"The end result will be in Nome. If I live that long," he said. "I pretty much do what I think is right for my dog team. I'm not doing it because I want to come in 17th, I'm doing it because I want to win."

"You've got to train for it. You've got to practice and set it up right. You can't just do it, deciding overnight that you're going to do that. It's a major, major preparation."

[Gingersnap]

Can't they just put wheels on the sleds?

[Frostbit]

"Scott Janssen, an Anchorage undertaker known as the Mushing Mortician, was back home early Wednesday after getting a cast for the broken bone he suffered on Tin Creek, about 40 miles from Nikolai.

According to Janssen's Facebook site, the ordeal started Tuesday when he crashed his sled between the Rohn and Nikolai checkpoints, hitting his head. He lay unconscious for more than two hours and awoke to find his dogs huddled next to him.

After caring for his canines, Janssen fixed his sled and continued on the trail.

But one of his dogs, Hooper, then got loose from the line and took off.

Janssen anchored his sled and tried to catch the animal. But he fell through the ice shortly before Hooper returned to him.

Janssen's boots then froze, and he slipped on the ice, breaking his ankle. He couldn't get back to his sled and ended up sitting on the ice and water until the next musher came along 45 minutes later.

Newton Marshall, from St. Anne, Jamaica, stayed with Janssen until an Alaska Air National Guard helicopter arrived to take him to Anchorage."

LINK

[Adam]

"Scott Janssen, an Anchorage undertaker known as the Mushing Mortician, was back home early Wednesday after getting a cast for the broken bone he suffered on Tin Creek, about 40 miles from Nikolai.

According to Janssen's Facebook site, the ordeal started Tuesday when he crashed his sled between the Rohn and Nikolai checkpoints, hitting his head. He lay unconscious for more than two hours and awoke to find his dogs huddled next to him.

After caring for his canines, Janssen fixed his sled and continued on the trail.

But one of his dogs, Hooper, then got loose from the line and took off.

Janssen anchored his sled and tried to catch the animal. But he fell through the ice shortly before Hooper returned to him.

Janssen's boots then froze, and he slipped on the ice, breaking his ankle. He couldn't get back to his sled and ended up sitting on the ice and water until the next musher came along 45 minutes later.

Newton Marshall, from St. Anne, Jamaica, stayed with Janssen until an Alaska Air National Guard helicopter arrived to take him to Anchorage."

LINK

Well, shit. Who's going to take care of the arrangements if the "mushing mortician" dies? Can't have that happen. So of course the dog-sledder from Jamaica takes care of him.

Pardon me while I sit on this toadstool and puff on a hookah.

[Frostbit]

Well, shit. Who's going to take care of the arrangements if the "mushing mortician" dies? Can't have that happen. So of course the dog-sledder from Jamaica takes care of him.

Pardon me while I sit on this toadstool and puff on a hookah.

Bwahahahahahahaha....

I heard about Janssen on the radio on the way home from work. I called Joyce and told her and asked if she had a second choice. :tip hat:

It does sound a bit surreal that a musher from Jamaica would be out there rescuing an Alaskan during the Iditarod. How the hell do you train in Jamaica Mon? Ya ya ya ya

[Frostbit]

Holy S-H-I-T


Link to story

Hold tight! Helmet cam footage by 4-time Iditarod champ Jeff King

[Gingersnap]

Come to my house! It's snowing right now!