Congratulations to our first finisher on skis, Asbjørn Bruun!
We have our first official ski finisher ever in the Iditarod Trail Invitational! After reading yesterday on how few people have skied to Nome, it is such a joyous occasion to see this finish today. 24 days after the race start from Knik, Asbjørn was able to maintain speeds as high as 5.5mph on skis as he made his way towards Nome, apparently enjoying a tailwind. The ceremonial arch was carefully moved from the west end of Front Street yesterday, where it has sat since March 3rd to greet finishing dog teams and ITI racers as they made their way to the end of the trail.
You can find the burled arch near Nome City Hall on 1st and Division for the remainder of the year, and Asbjørn had to travel just a little further for his finisher’s “trophy,” aka a photo at the arch - well worth the extra effort. The Iditarod Trail Invitational doesn’t have cash payouts or awards like other events, it’s a test of true grit and determination for those who want to test their personal limits. It was so exciting to watch another finisher on skis today, we hope you are all as excited as we are!
Today we see six athletes working their way through the Topcock hills towards the shelter cabin that sits at the bottom of the final Topcock hill. This shelter cabin is used by many trail users as they dry their gear, refuel, and prepare for the coastal winds as they make their way to Safety. Winds over 50 mph are common around this area, and in 2000 there was a ridiculous recorded 100mph wind that locked a wild 25 humans inside of the warm shelter for THREE days.
In 2020, the shelter was updated thanks to the Nome Kennel Club. After a series of three phases of updates, the cabin is vastly different from when they took refuge within its shelter 24 years ago. Improvements included raising the shelter on supports because it was sinking, installing a new wood stove and handrail for the deck, and even LED lighting and an outhouse! The Topcock cabin provides a much needed place to rest, though we saw Asbjørn rest there for only 2 hours before continuing onwards to the finish. Our Danish friend is the first ski finisher in the current rendition of the ITI. Four other skiers are working their way to Nome. As of right now, there have been 8 finishers to Nome, with 15 athletes still on the course: a healthy mix of more skiers, foot, and fat bikes. 15 participants making the long trek to Nome have since scratched due to a magnitude of other reasons.
Let’s take a moment to cheer Asbjørn on one more time before checking in with the rest of our racers! We are SO proud of this athlete!
Gavin Hennigan on foot from Ireland and Ryan Wanless on bike from North Dakota, are traveling at similar speeds after finding a good spot to hunker down. They slept in their bivies for a bit before continuing onwards, Gavin taking a shorter break at the Topcock cabin than Ryan. Weather is reported to be pretty horrible, surely part of the reason Asbjørn finished on skis ahead of those on foot or on those two-wheeled suitcase contraptions. Roughly 10 miles away from the shelter cabin as of 4:30pm, we see Jan Francke. Jan rested at White Mountain for about 4 hours before continuing down the trail. Jan reported that conditions were very tough, it seems like what was traversed today has been one of the worst parts of the trail recently. We’re hoping, especially after seeing Asbjørn’s speed on skis, that conditions improve further along for our pals! Jan is feeling good out there, and we’re excited to see how far he gets this evening.
Trail insight from Jan, “It was brutal, first breaking the track, then quite a steep hill and then the wind picked up, and it made me so angry that I couldn't stop and do anything, the sleds were rolling behind me and spinning until the skis broke on them, I stopped it with a hard fall, then one more fall, in the cabin I had some food, and then it was blowing in the back and it went, in Golovin the director surprised us and invited us to school and for soup, that was great, and then a mega flight to White Mtn, if it was going like this to the finish line it would be great.” We’ll keep our fingers crossed! Judging by how far he has made it from White Mountain (a bit less than 20 miles in about 6 hours) things are going well.
Beat and Christof are not far behind Jan, hopefully able to move swiftly through ski tracks if they still exist. Leah Gruhn follows those two, hopefully able to ride on the descents through the hills as she makes her way to the cabin. Leah left White Mountain early in the morning and has about 10 more miles before she gets to the warmth of the Topcock Hills safety cabin. We know after this long push that she’ll love having the ability to rest, and we can’t wait to see how far she gets tomorrow.
Nearing the McKinley safety cabin nearly 50 miles behind Leah are Faye Norbyand Jeff Leuwerke on foot. These two have both packed pillows with them for comfort, which has left us regretful that we didn’t ask the 1000 mile ITI athletes about their sleeping systems. Closed foam sleeping pads are dependable and can’t break or leak, but closed-cell pads can be bulky and not quite as warm as an insulator. Some racers will take both, or double up one over the other. We’re interested in who takes what and can’t wait to pick brains in the coming months as we look forward to next year’s ITI.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here, we’re still only 24 days into this year’s event, and the racer’s have 30 days before the “cut-off” of the Iditarod Trail Invitational. One of the things that we love about this event is that, at this point, no one gets pulled from the course after the 30 day cut off. Participants are able to continue onwards so long as they are keeping their safety in mind, allowing them to finish what they started. One of the many unique and lovely things that brings us coming back year after year to the ITI.
Brandon on foot is steadily moving forward, after resting for a short amount of time at Kwik River he is making his way towards the Moses Point shelter cabin. The wind can blow hard in this area and the trail can drift over in many spots. There is an abandoned Federal Aviation Administration station in this area which feels eerie to pass.
Hendra left Koyuk and has less than 20 miles to get to the creepy Moses Point shelter, after a 6+ hour rest in Koyuk. Mark rested a bit before heading to Koyuk in a “character building” storm, and it looks like Joshua Brown made it to the school after pushing through after a nice rest.
Working their way across the sound right now, we see Petr Ineman and Sunny Stroeer both on skis, enjoying a really nice tailwind! Sunny shared through her inreach mapshare page that she got a really great taste of glare ice with a strong tailwind through Shaktoolik. This is terrifying, both to Sunny, and to those who have never skied more than 10 miles before in their lives. She estimates that she may have hit 30 mph with minimal ability to steer and without brakes.
As we move onward through the night and into day 25 on the trail, we’re incredibly happy for our first ski finisher Asbjørn, and looking forward to hearing tales from our athletes of the wind, snow, and scenery out on the Iditarod Trail. The burled arch has been moved, Nome has quieted, rookie Iditarod awarded musher Victoria Hardwick has been awarded her Red Lantern Award, which is given to the last musher to cross the finish line and to complete the Iditarod trail. The Red Lantern is a symbol of perseverance and determination and it was given 2 days ago, on Monday, March 18th. Cheers to our ITI athletes as they persevere along the trail!
Written by Jill Martindale
Photo credit Cynthia Durand