A Day on the Yukon

As we went about our daily lives today, the questions were the same– Where’s Pete? What’s Happening? Who’s ahead?

It’s easy to think about the finish at this point for Kaiser Race Fans as this point is about the finish of the Kuskokwim 300. Pete has earned the nickname, “Three Pete” because he won that race the last three years.

But this race is a completely different animal and today really shows the difference between the races. Pete left out of Tanana bound for Ruby early this morning, just after 1am. By the time he reaches Ruby, he will have spent almost an entire day on just one leg of this race. Sticking to his race plan, Pete has led the pack, and then stepped aside to give the Team a break twice. I’m still thinking he is bound for Galena given this rest schedule. The long grind of this longest leg of the 2017 Iditarod has to be tough mentally as it must seem like it’s taking quite a long time to make it down the trail. The one good thing is that Pete has been through this before and knows what to expect.

As the race leaves Ruby, we will be once again on a traditional Iditarod trail for just one 50 mile leg to Galena and then it is off to the North country of the Koyukon and Huslia.

Stay Tuned!

Tonight’s Mushing Weather Forecast for: Lower Koyukuk and Middle Yukon Valleys
Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows 10 to 25 below. Light winds.

Go Team Kaiser!

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Video- 2017 Fairbanks Interview

Team Kaiser’s pit crew is now back in Bethel! After we saw Pete in Nenana we had to wait until the following day (Tuesday) to head out on the “trail” ourselves via Alaska Airlines. Bethany, Ari, Ron, Rick Hanson, and myself, and our mountain of baggage arrived last night to join all of you as we concentrate on the tracker together!

Here is Pete’s pre-Race interview on Monday morning, just before taking to the trail.

 

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Trio Out of Tanana

Ruby – Wednesday Morning March 8 – (-31 degrees)

After a 4 hour 34 minute break, Pete and the Team left Tanana last last night at 1:07am. He was joined by a Dallas Seavey and Wade Marrs, who also left at the same time. These three Teams are some of the fastest in the Race and Team Kaiser led the way for 5 hours until it was time for his break. He is stopped about 6:15am 43 miles down the trail.

The next checkpoint, Ruby, is 119 miles and will require a rest for Teams making their way downriver today. Doing a little armchair mushing, I’d expect Pete to discount Ruby altogether in his calculations and make for Galena as his final goal. He will have to check in at Ruby, but if he breaks down the Tanana to Galena run into 4 sections, the 169 mile run would be 43 miles per section. In 2015, Pete took his 24 hour in Galena which is 396 miles into the Race, so I’m thinking that is today’s strategy.

Traditionally, Pete takes is 24 hour in Takotna, 329 miles into the Race. In a Fairbanks start, Galena makes sense as it is right before the long runs into Huslia and back and down the river to Kaltag. A good break in Galena seems like a great strategy especially since the weather seems to be holding and actually improving

Speaking of weather- Today’s Yukon River Iditarod forecast calls for sunglasses!! It’s very cold this morning with Galena reporting -31. Today’s high temperature will rise up to +4 though and it is what we call in the aviation business- Severe Clear!

Tonight will be a bit chilly once again as temperatures fall to -20, but after that it’s a fairly warm forecast.

Lower Koyukuk and Middle Yukon Valleys

Today- Sunny. Highs around 5 above. Light winds.
Tonight- Clear. Lows 10 to 22 below. Light winds.
Thursday- Sunny. Highs 9 to 12 above. Light winds.
Thursday Night- Mostly clear. Lows 1 to 13 below. Light winds.
Friday- Sunny. Highs in the lower 20s. Light winds.

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Tanana Trail – Welcome to the Yukon

From Insider Video

From Insider Video

Pete and the Team are into the Tanana Checkpoint at 8:33pm. It’s been a sunny cold trail from Fairbanks to Tanana where Pete spent his rest time out of the checkpoints. Sticking to a rest/run schedule didn’t line up with staying in the checkpoints, so he just stopped when he needed to stop. Tonight, though, after bedding the dogs down and snacking them, he will benefit from some of the best food on the trail. Tanana is known for great hospitality and this year is no exception.

Bruce Lee is reporting that the trail has been far better than expected and teams are looking good into the first checkpoint on the Yukon. Nicholas Petit was the first Team to reach the Yukon and the $3500 cash prize. Along with the cash, Nicholas also feasted on a five course gourmet meal.

Listen to Pete’s Insider interview from the trail.

Mushers are hunkering down in Tanana tonight as this will be the coldest night of the Race so far. A warming trend is predicted as Teams move West, but tonight the temperatures are looking like -35 to -40 along this section of the trail. A warm meal and shake off of trail snow will be in order for most Mushers and Teams.

Tanana Trivia- The first person to reach the summit of Denali in 1913, Walter Harper, was from Tanana. Also notable is that Tanana was the site of Fort Gibbons, an important telegraph and commerce center that connected Nome to the world.

Walter Harper Denali Ascent

 

 

 

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Peter Kaiser – Leading the 2017 Iditarod

In a Deja Vu moment from the 2015 Iditarod, Pete and the Team have pulled into the Lead!

Veteran Team Kaiser watchers will remember the 2015 Iditarod where Team Kaiser led the Iditarod for a bit in this section of the Race as well.

Pete is sticking to his 5/2.5 schedule, which will see him stopping for a rest in a couple more hours, but for now, Team Kaiser is Leading the Iditarod!

 

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Strategy from the beginning… Resting near Manley

Good Morning Race Fans! It’s a cold one on the river this morning! Manley Hot Springs, the next checkpoint in the 2017 Iditarod is reporting a chilly -31 degrees this morning. While we experienced the chill for a single morning, this is life for Mushers and Teams competing in the race.

Speaking of competition, Team Kaiser is running near the top this morning and we are beginning to see strategies play out throughout the top Teams. Yesterday we saw Pete take his break before Nenana while other Teams just moved in and rested in that checkpoint. A stickler for strategy, Mr. Kaiser is showing to have a plan in place for this first part of the race.

This morning has Team Kaiser resting 9 miles out of Manley. Martin Buser is doing his traditional long run/short rest schedule and has him first into Manley, but looking at the Tracker replay shows Pete and the Team to have been running in second position behind Buser until it was time for Pete’s break. Looking at the analytics below shows the difference in the run rest strategies of these two mushers as well as Mitch Seavey, who has a completely different run/rest schedule.

Pete and the Team are doing great and the excitement is already building just one day into the race! Martin Buser has many times been the jack rabbit at the start, but hasn’t been able to quite put it together later. We will see how this plays out, but I am thinking it is a battle right from the Start of these two strategies and possibly a battle of Kaiser/Seavey at this point.

Stay Tuned!!

Go Team Kaiser!

 

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Fairbanks Restart Photos!

A picture is worth 1000 words… It was just a beautiful day and one of the most fun Starting Line Events I have covered. I’ll let the pictures do the talking–

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Off For Nome, but First Nenana!

What a great day! We were expecting a bit of the madness from 2015, but it was all but gone and it is a credit to the Iditarod Trail Committee for pulling it off so nicely.

Rick Hanson and I ran around getting a few things and of course coffee and breakfast for Pete and the crew. Pete, Ron, Beth, and Ari, showed up just about 8:30 and everything just fell into place nicely.

This year they gave ample time for all Teams to make it to the Start Line and it just was a brilliantly nice day. It was cold enough that the handwarmers I had did nothing at all. But as the sun warmed, the warmers picked up speed, and it was hot action at below zero!!

Pete and the Team were off on-time at 10:50 am. The sun plays tricks with you this far North and it seems like much later. In any case, now we are blasting off to meet Pete and the Team in Nenana after a short break at his ranch halfway to Nenana.

I have lots of photos and video, but now we have to hit the trail ourselves!

Stay tuned!

Go Team Kaiser!

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