I ate my first pizza slice for breakfast on the trail. The rest I saved for a lunch break. We’ll get to that. The primary concern on the leg to Shaktoolik is wind, which often reaches hurricane force. Combined with deep sub-zero temps, that can lead to wind chill factors lower than -70F.
The first 25mi cross a mix of woods, taiga, open areas, and exposed ridge tops. Besboro Island far away in the Norton Sound looked surreal, and so did the sea ice. There were over 1,000ft of climbing through the Blueberry Hills on the first 20mi. I reached the Foothill cabin rather exhausted, in time for lunch. Two locals on an ATV stopped. They insisted on shaking my hand. When they saw my pizza, they both laughed and said “frozen pizza, eh?” I did not laugh. Once they left, I ate my frozen pizza. I was cold when I left. What was I thinking?
The trail descended from the hills to the Norton Sound beach. The next 12mi to Shaktoolik are known to be extremely difficult because of the wind. And indeed they were. One is completely unprotected in the open, barren coastline. As soon as I reached the beach, the wind got so strong that I could barely walk. My sled got blown over several times. I had to be completely bundled up, with zero skin exposed. It was the most challenging 12mi I ever did. You can’t stop or give up because there is nowhere to go. Drinking and eating become a real challenge.
It was getting dark when I finally reached Shaktoolik, exhausted and beaten up by the wind. I asked a local where the school was. He said he’d walk me there. One the way he told me that he had just participated in the rescue of the last standing skier in the race, who had suffered frostbite on his hand. Gosh! At the school, I was welcomed by the said skier, his arm heavily bandaged, and two ITI bikers. Troy and Jason spent more than a day of their race coordinating the rescue and assisting with the skier’s evacuation on a bush plane to Anchorage the next day. What an amazing sportsmanship!
No skier has ever completed the Iditarod Trail Invitational 1000 to Nome (although some others did in other contexts), and no one would this year. What a bummer!
I ate my first slice of pizza for breakfast on the trail. It was not frozen.
Magic view of Besboro Island and the sea ice in the Norton Sound.
The Foothill cabin served as a great lunch shelter.
All my remaining pizza was of course rock solid frozen by lunch time. What was I thinking?
The 12mi to Shaktoolik are known to be extremely difficult because of the wind. One is completely unprotected in the open, barren coastline.
The sea ice piling up on the (snow) beach.
The “beach” with the sea ice.
Bundled up with zero skin exposed. It’s challenging to eat and drink in these conditions.
Aerial view of Shaktoolik. Two rows of houses and a single road on a tiny stretch of land. The town is completely exposed and hammered by the worst winds. Photo stolen from https://iditarod.com/zuma/virtual-trail-journey-shaktoolik. Photo credit: Terrie Hanke.
In these conditions, there is no room for mistakes.
#iti2022 #iditarodtrailinvitational #ultrarunning #nome #alaska