And we're off!

Fjestad's insight

And then we’re off. Over 70 mushers in the 8 dog team, 500 km class and over 60 mushers in 14 dog team, 1000 km call have started. They are now heading out on the challenge they have been practicing and working towards for years, some their entire life. I will follow the 1000 km closely and give you my prospective of the development of the race, factual information and maybe some anecdotes from previous races. The first leg from Alta to Sorrisniva has been completed, the passengers are off, the dog teams have been filled from 10 to 14 dogs, and the race sled has replaced the start sled.

Approximately 50 kilometers from Alta is Jotka Mountain Lodge. Jotka is the first checkpoint (and the last). Some rest here, but not everyone. Most go straight through and go directly to Skoganvarre, a total of 108 kilometers from Alta. Wise? Not so sure. Many say that the race doesn’t really start until they reach Kirkenes, or the area around there. No. The race definitely starts in Alta. The mushers hardest job is to control an eager dog team over some of the toughest terrain of the track. The dog’s wrists and shoulders are particularly endangered in hard trails as we have now. A rested dog team filled with energy and an overly eager musher can be a bad combination.

Everyone that comes to the finish line with a healthy dog team have won over their own limitations. A good musher will start shaping the dog team already from the starting point. Good routines when it comes to snacking , which means a small feeding of approximately 150 grams of meat/fat/fish every other hour or more often, replacing socks that fall of, give care both physically and mentally to their team, convey calmness and satisfaction. Trust is built, winners are shaped.  

Many Europeans and people from other parts of the county have “shaken in their boots” at the top of Gamas when the highest tree reaches you to the ankle, and the great white reveals itself, with winds whipping your face. Not very far from Jotka, but far, far from the finish line.   

How you make your way through the first part of the race, is deciding what you have left in the last part of the race.

The race is on! – from Alta

Stein Håvard