It is the last weekend of Fur Rondy, a festival established in 1935 in Anchorage for three days of winter sports during a time when miners and trappers brought in their winter yield. In 1946, the World Champion Sled Dog Race was established as part of Fur Rondy, becoming the iconic race of mushers throughout Alaska and the World. In 1973, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race was added as a seperate race, designed to commemorate the Iditarod Trail used for decades as the sole means of connectivity between Alaskan villages. Saturday marks the Ceremonial Start of the "Last Great Race on Earth."
Racing the Iditarod requires diligence, perseverence and a strong will for both mushers and their dogs. Travelling the distance between Willow and Nome is harrowing in many parts ranging from silent to exhilerating in the frigid arctic air. Temperatures drop to at least -40F, testing the toughest of dogs and men. Tales of trail ghosts, blizzards, rescues and trusted dogs fill legends only decades in the making. Made most famous by the serum run to Nome in 1925, the Iditarod Trail has been used by gold miners, missionaries, mail carriers and villagers for nearly a century. Still the only land path between remote areas of the state, this trail has its own stories to tell in the quiet mists of winter.