Some legendary careers are winding down. Other mushers are taking a break. All are grappling with higher costs in an already-expensive sport.
Things could change in the months before the race begins on March 4. Sign-up is possible after Dec. 1, but the fee jumps from $4,000 to $8,000. There’s also a chance that entered mushers could drop out.
Four-time Iditarod champ Jeff King talks with others in downtown Anchorage before the Iditarod ceremonial start in Anchorage on March 5, 2022. Brenda Mackey, niece of mushing legend Lance Mackey, was a rookie last year. Her husband, Will Rhodes had initially planned to make his debut in 2023. Due to family concerns, they decided not to sign up prior to the deadline.
Talkeetna musher Anja Radano, a two-time finisher, said higher gas prices make it harder to travel with her team to train and race. The $4,000 entry fee for the Iditarod is significant, but both Mackey and Radano said it’s a drop in the bucket compared to total operating costs. Cody Strathe finished the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race in Fairbanks on February 13, 2019. He's also and Iditarod veteran.
“I will be back 2024, saving up money this season,” Waerner wrote on Facebook. “This year things are too expensive and not easy to get sponsors with all that is going on in the world. Looking forward to see the trail and all the people again.”Jeff King, a 28-time Iditarod finisher and 4-time winner, is one of several past champions who raced in 2022 who chose not to enter the 2023 race. But seeing the relatively small roster of entrants made King pause to consider it.
King said his love of mushing remains strong and he intends to remain active. He signed up for the Copper Basin 300 in January and plans to drive 1,800-plus miles to Canada’s Northwest Territories for a race in March. Though he hasn’t ruled out a return to Iditarod, he said he enjoys using his expertise and resources to mentor younger mushers.Four-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser drives his dog team up the wind-swept Yukon River near Kaltag on Saturday, Mar. 9, 2013.
“We’re often saying ‘Gone are the days where we all had nicknames, when everybody knew the Shishmaref Cannonball or the Yukon River Fox,” he said, referring to Herbie Nayokpuk and Emmitt Peters Sr. “You’re not just going to wipe that out in a couple years of downturn,” Buser said. “People of the north, they’re connected to their huskies, one way or another.”
Musher Anna Berington takes her dogs on a training run near her kennel in Knik on November 23, 2022. On a recent afternoon at their kennel in Knik, the Beringtons clipped their teams to a gangline for a 40-mile training run. Both signed up for Iditarod on the day registration opened in June.
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