Girl, You Would Not Believe the Night We Just Had
Have you wondered how these ITI updates got started? Leah Gruhn several years ago, started writing updates on women in the ITI and posted them to the Wild Winter Women (WWW) Facebook group. WWW was created to support and celebrate women in the winter ultra-endurance space and provide a community for these athletes to share knowledge, skills, and ideas to help others succeed. Leah asked for volunteers from the group to write them in 2023 while she participated in the ITI. We band of merry ITI nerds jumped at the opportunity and, if you couldn’t tell, we’ve been having fun with it, and here we are in 2025 still going strong.
On the northern coast of Norton Sound, racers awoke to cooling temperatures and moderate winds from the north, with area weather stations reporting temperatures ranging from -10 to 6 deg F above, and reported winds from 6 to 10 knots. These are some of the lightest winds we’ve observed recently and should allow for good riding conditions.
Biker Ryan Wanless is on the final approach into Nome; he stopped for several hours overnight at Topcock Cabin and should finish this afternoon. Ryan hails from South Dakota, and returned this year for his fourth finish in Nome. In 2022 he made the trip on foot, and every year since he’s preferred to ride. His love of this event shows in many kindnesses along the way. Perhaps as a racer you were thinking about scratching because of that terrible wind storm with deep snow drifts? Fear not, Ryan might just talk you into sticking it out.
One of the things that draws Ryan back year after year is his love of interacting with the local communities. He is incredibly generous to the people he meets on the trail. He purchased locally made jewelry while in Nikolai, and that fry bread that finishers in Nome have been enjoying? Purchased by Ryan as a part of a local fundraiser. We don’t know exactly how much he’s sent out to the villages, likely more than the Wisconsin Badgers shirt, hat, and even a bike that he’s known to have gifted. Ryan approaches Nome with mixed emotions, he really enjoys his time on the trail and will be sad to leave it. That said, he is very excited to stop at the Safety Roadhouse, this is the first year he’s made it there early enough to find it open. If he stopped, he didn’t stay for long.
What’s that, roadhouses that aren’t always open? Safety Roadhouse gets its name because the trail between White Mountain and Nome can be dangerous, with cold air currents and known blowholes that can be very dangerous, a high ridge to cross before Topcock, and considerable potential for ground blizzards. These weather conditions can make following the trail difficult, and Safety provides a respite from these conditions.
During the winter, the roadhouse is only open during the Iditarod sled dog race. Once the last musher passes, it closes for the season and ITI racers will find a shuttered building. This means that some bike, and all foot and ski racers typically don’t get to enjoy lunch or a hot drink at this cozy stop 22 miles before Nome. Traditionally, visitors write their name on a dollar bill and staple it to the wall.
Bikers Julie Garcia and Karl Booth are also expected to finish today, after a short stay at the Kuich cabin (local name) between White Mountain and Topcock that is not marked on Trackleaders. They are now both between Topcock and Safety.
Julie Garcia is back this year for the fourth time. She completed the 350 in 2015 and 2016, and returned in 2023 for her first bid for Nome. Due to a knee injury sustained early on, her race ended in the ghost town of Iditarod. In 2024 she volunteered at the 350 finish in McGrath, we’ve heard many anecdotes about how well she took care of racers. Julie came back in 2025 armed with strong knees and a fur ruff (much longed for during -40 weather in 2023). When she’s not competing in cold weather races, Julie is a self proclaimed nerd, AKA a software engineer that taught herself to code when she was six.
Karl Booth is from the UK and has been working towards the goal of riding to Nome for 10 years. This is his second ITI, having completed the 350 in 2023. Karl is well-liked by fellow racers for his friendly and easy-going style. He is so helpful that while in McGrath the volunteers couldn’t stop him from helping out with dish washing and cleanup! He and Julie have been traveling together since near the start.
After a long visit in White Mountain with longtime ITI host Joanne Wassillie, Matt Tanaka and Janice Tower left at 10:00am, and are planning to finish on Sunday. Matt said in a social media post that he once told Joanne he’d ride there one day for a visit, and he’s finally made that promise come true.
The foot and ski athletes are making their way through Unalakleet, runner Jon Richner presumably got his headlamp from Erick Basset (said headlamp was forgotten at an earlier checkpoint), who arrived in Unalakleet last night around 10:30 pm. Jon and Erick departed Peace on Earth this morning and are well on their way to Shaktoolik.
We have an incredible story to share from runners Kari Gibbons and Petr Ineman, or to quote Kari herself “Girl, you would not believe the night we just had.” Kari and Petr arrived at the Old Woman cabin last night around 9:00 pm. Perhaps they were expecting to have the cabin to themselves but instead, they found a Norwegian group that was guiding a mushing trip, a massive operation.
Perhaps fearing a crowded cabin, they were instead fed a hot pork and creamy rice dish, with Norwegian chocolate for dessert and even whiskey! After this luscious meal, they were put to bed in a private heated tent where they slept on a caribou hide. Seriously, a caribou hide! It’ll be hard to top that surreal experience, but they did manage to drag themselves away early this morning, and Kari was looking forward to an “easier” day on the trail. Tonight they’ll dine on pizza and if they’re lucky, even a salad.
Weather forecast this morning in Unalakleet is mostly cloudy, currently 7 degrees with a high near 14, and southwest winds 5-10mph.
Author: Amber Crawford