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Hey Nanuq907

dpmule

What happened to Aliy Zirkle?

I see she must have crashed outside of Rohn.

I've used up my free views on ADN, so I can see nothing more than she crashed, no details.

Mule

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4 comments

Date Votes
  • dpmule

    Thanks Bill

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  • Nanuq907

    Hey guys, sorry I'm late seeing this. What a shame she had to scratch, this was her last year running it.

    The section from Finger Lake to Rainy Pass has the Happy River Steps that can be plenty tricky. You're cross-hill going down a real narrow steep drop and it's hard to hold the team back. Here's how to do it...



    Here's how not to do it.



    Then you hit the section between Rainy Pass and Rohn and the Dalzell Gorge. Lots of teams are busted and bruised there. It's tricky because you're in such a narrow cut with overflow and the river. But the really dangerous part is the drop down into the Gorge. There's the world famous Watch Your Ass sign just before the corner and the drop, and you darn well better be at walking speed. The dogs are going to pull because they don't want to get run over, the sled wants to take off, it's scary, steep and no straight runout at the bottom. You gotta do it in daylight, and she didn't, My guess is she dropped in, sled went sideways on ice, dogs ran, she hit the ground and got center punched by her own sled. She's lucky it didn't kill her. Godspeed Aliy!

    Here's some of her own video running the Dalzell from a few years ago. Look how smart these dogs are, the lead never needs any instruction where to go, and she's constantly telling them go slow and take it easy.


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjyItL68iqU


    For anyone interested, there used to be a musher named Don Bowers and he ran the race every year to enjoy it and document it. He was killed in a plane crash and I saved everything he wrote before his server went down. I put it up on my own server at home, and you're free to enjoy it if you'd like.


    tr-index
    The Trail Notes are complete with all photos as of 2-19-00. They will also be posted on the main Iditarod web site and keyed to the Trail Map. The trail for the 2000 Serum Run is the same as the Iditarod race route from Ruby to Nome.


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  • KenK/84Bravo

    It has been said that "The Only True sports are Bullfighting and Mountain Climbing." (Hemingway?)

    I've done Rock, Ice and Mountain Climbing in my past.

    I'd put long range extreme Dog Mushing in that category as well. Mad Respect.

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  • Nanuq907

    @... I bet this is something you never knew about.

    Joe Redington is the Father of the Iditarod, and Libby Riddles and Susan Butcher are two women that have won the race. In 1979 Joe and Susan mushed a dog team to the top of Mt McKinley, combining your sport, and mushing. Alaska, where the women are fast and the dogs are beautiful.



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