It's Fur Rondy & Iditarod time!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

The Anchorage Fur Rendezvous starts tomorrow (well, actually it kicked off last week) with three days of 25-mile sprint dog racing, a fur auction, etc., and the Iditarod race from Anchorage to Nome starts the following weekend.

PETA will of course be bitching at us in that high, screechy whine that they use, but screw 'em. I’ll be wearing my cross-fox fur hat and cheering on the mushers while munching a reindeer sausage, just like every year. The had matches my beard, and I’m quite dashing in it, I must say.

I look forward to this every year for several reasons, not the least of which is that it means winter is coming to a close in the near future. We’ve had tons of snow this year, and even with the recent Chinook, there is still plenty of snow for the races, unlike last year when the Rondy races were cancelled.

If you have never been to a major sled dog race, it’s hard to imagine the noise and excitement of the dogs. This year’s Iditarod has 87 teams entered. Since each musher must have between 12-16 dogs in order to start the race, that’s between 1044 and 1392 dogs just in the traces. The scene appears chaotic, with dogs leaping and barking (and sometimes squabbling), but the mushers and their helpers have things well under control.

It’s exhilarating and lively and entertaining and I wouldn’t miss it for anything.

2

Man, I miss Rondy! Always had fun. I haven’t lived in Anchorage since the early 80’s, but the memories still burn bright.

Is Susan Butcher still racing?

3

Yeah, I grew up with it as a child, before the Iditarod was even thought of. Saw the great racers like Gareth Wright, Roland Lombard, Joe Reddington and George Attla. I was gone for 30 years and now make sure I support it every year, since it’s been overshadowed by the big race to Nome.

Susan Butcher doesn’t race anymore. She does color commentary for Iditarod and has done a few commercials for GCI, etc. But Charlie Boulding is still running strong at age 62 and finishes in the money more often than not.