Highest Rated Comments


Nome_AK12 karma

Sleep. And lack of it. For the first 4 days I slept two hours. When you pull into a check point, let's say for 4 hours, 2.5 of those hours are spent taking care of dogs (taking off 64 booties, oiling 64 feet, cooking dog food, putting on 16 jackets, taking off 16 jackets, putting on 64 new booties).

After day four I became more efficient and could pass out anywhere. I got by on 3 hours of sleep every 24 hours for the rest of the 11 day race.

Nome_AK9 karma

Sea biscuit.

Nome_AK9 karma

And to explain the "fewer dogs" thing - you start with 16. But drop dogs if they get sore shoulders / wrists or get otherwise ill. When you drop a dog, it's flown back to Anchorage and taken care of until the race ends. You have to finish with at least 5 dogs.

Nome_AK8 karma

It's insane. $3000 entry fee. $15,000 in high quality human grade meat and kibble for training / the race. $3,500 in dog booties. And a million other small expenses that add up. I don't know the total. And for a second Iditarod it would be cheaper. But not that much cheaper. I'd ballpark this racing season costing $25 - $30k? Not counting lost wages from time off to train.

I told that figure to an European musher that came over and he was floored - he paid $75k to run the race. But he has sponsors so it works out for him.

Nome_AK8 karma

SLEEP.