Just 150 metres

Roger Dahl (picture) has caught up with Harald Tunheim. On the way into Jotka it is only 150 metres that seperates the two. Reports say that the weather is difficult and the condition for the teams are tough for those who fight for victory.

Roger Dahl (picture) has caught up with Harald Tunheim now. On the way into Jotka the distance between them is only 150 metres . Reports from Jotka tell us about extreme conditions for the dogs that fight for victory in the Finnmarksløpet.

At Jotka Roger was telling our reporters that he caught a glimpse of Haralds back when he was going out onto Iesjavre. He was about 15 minutes back then. In Jotka it was down to 2 minutes.

Harald has been going with a dog in his sled. He took this dog out of his team in Jotka and that can help his speed on the way down to Alta. Out from the checkpoint Harlads dogs were looking good while Roger had to lead his dogs out, but this is not unknown with Roger Dahl. Now they are going through a small hillside before coming down to the river.

Strong wind and bad weather. The trail is more or less blown over with snow again. After about a week of fantastic winter weather the Finnmark shows again why many mushers think mushing is tougher here than in other places. The weather will slow down the teams. This might be the deciding factor. In this kind of weather it is more important than ever to be able to trust the lead dog. Rogers and Haralds dogs have both performed in bad weather, but it might be the greater experience of Rogers dogs that can be tipping the scales.