We have a 130 Winner! Dennis Staley into Winterlake Lodge at 19:57 Feb. 26.
Congratulations!!
Today has been a mixed bag on the trail.
Light snow this morning at Skwentna, followed by glorious sunny skies at Shell Lake and then a massive ground blizzard going into the Finger Lake lodge checkpoint.
Progress from Shell to Finger is very slow, with punchy trails covered in new snow.
ITI 1000 foot racers Peter Ripmaster (left) and Beat Jegerlehner (right)
Missy Schwartz at Shell Lake
The weather is changing fast
Hello blizzard
Pit stop at Winterlake Lodge
Coloradan Neil Beltchenko in his second year racing on the Iditarod Trail is leading the 2018 ITI and is only 5 miles from the halfway point at Rainy Pass Lodge less than 24 hours from the start. He has put 8.5 miles second place rider Clinton Hodges III from Anchorage. A surprise is Jussi Karjalainen from Finland in his rookie year is in third place at the moment.
First woman is Nina Gaessler from Norway closing in on the Winterlake Check point. Nina won the 130 mile event to Winterlake two years ago. Beyond Winterlake, the trail will be new to her.
In the running race we have Tuscobia Ultra winner Scott Hoberg ahead of ITI veteran and record holder David Johnston from Willow traveling with rookie Gavin Woody from Washington state.
Two French runners are off route and appear to have taken a snowmachine ride out to Deshka Landing near Willow. We should hear more about them this afternoon.
The leaders are out of Winterlake Lodge this morning. Neil Beltchenko from Colorado is in the lead this morning, while Clinton Hodges III, Jay Petervary and Jussi Karjalainen from Finland are still resting at Winterlake Lodge this morning. It is snowing this morning in Southcentral Alaska.
The forecast:
Rest Of Today
Snow likely in the morning, then scattered snow showers in the afternoon. Snow accumulation up to 5 inches. Highs 15 to 25. Light winds.
Tonight
Mostly cloudy with isolated snow showers in the evening, then partly cloudy after midnight. Lows zero to 5 below. West wind 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph.
The leaders are in and out of Yentna Station tonight. Jay was in and out first followed by Neil B., Clinton H. and Casey F.
Images at Knik Lake today by Andy Romang:
http://www.andyromang.com/Sports/2018/ITI-2018-Iditarod-Trail-Invitational/
Good progress today.
At 7pm, race leaders Neil Beltchenko and Jay Petervary are already 44 miles up the trail and following the Yentna River.
Soft, punchy conditions are reported on Flathorn Lake.
Bike racers are doing a lot of pushing.
Follow the race live here: http://www.iditarodtrailinvitational.com/tracking
Find more updates here: https://www.facebook.com/iditarodtrailinvitational/
The racers are off from Knik Lake today at 2 PM Alaska Time under sunny skies! Coloradan Neil Beltchenko in the lead at mile 35 at the Susitna River with Jay Petervary right behind him at 5:42 PM.
The 2018 ITI starts today at 2 PM. Follow the race live here on our tracking page.
We will have daily updates on face book, twitter and on our latest news page here on our website.
https://www.facebook.com/iditarodtrailinvitational/
Congratulations to Asymetriq Productions on releasing the trailer for their new film about the 2017 ITI, Safety to Nome, to be released this summer.
The Rainy Pass area was in great shape last night when the ITI crew passed through during the final supply flight. As often happens in Alaska, though, a system moved in shortly afterwards and dropped several inches of snow.
