Dogsled racers rescued from storm
Published: February 15, 2006
A gruelling, 1600-km dogsled race turned into a high-drama rescue when a blinding blizzard trapped a number of teams on a mountain in Alaska Sunday night and left many of them stranded throughout yesterday.
Mushers and their dogs fought metre-high snowdrifts and zero visibility as they struggled against the elements and attempted to find the course - a diabolically challenging route from Fairbanks, Alaska to Whitehorse in the Yukon.
“I didn’t know where I was going, or where I had come from,” said Didier Moggia, a musher in the Yukon Quest International Dog Sled Race who reached safety only late yesterday. Moggia’s comments were relayed in a news release.
The race, considered by many to be the toughest competition on earth, had only started a day before the storm hit. Many of the competitors were en route to Eagle Summit, a steep and mountainous climb to roughly a kilometre in altitude.
When organizers realized the extent of the blizzard, they dispatched search teams on snow machines. But the conditions were so bad those teams had to head back.
At that point, the Alaska State Troopers and the Air Guard were contacted. Helicopters were able to locate and airlift five dog teams and their mushers.
One musher, Randy Chappel, was rescued by another team after he got separated from his dogs (which were rescued).
“It was the worst weather I have ever seen in my life,” said Chappel. “With the blowing snow you couldn’t see 20 feet in front of you and you couldn’t hear them bark because of the wind.”
The race’s head veterinarian says most sled dogs are checking out well after the ordeal.
“The dogs are doing better than the mushers,” said Kathleen McGill.
Some teams were taking longer rest breaks today, but the leaders were already off on the next stage of the competition. The current leader is Austrian Hans Gatt, who lives in British Columbia.
The race takes between 11 and 12 days to complete, with more than $100,000 (U.S.) in prize money available.
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