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Q: What is the Musher's Banquet ?
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A: The Musher's Banquet is held every year two days before the race start at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage. Here you will have a chance to talk to the mushers and collect autographs. During the banquet, mushers come to the microphone and thank their sponsors. Mushers draw starting numbers from a boot. The order in which mushers pick numbers from the boot is determined by the order in which mushers signed up for the race the previous summer and fall.
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Q: Could I personally participate in the race ?
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A: You can participate as an IditaRider. Many people want to ride with the mushers at the beginning of the race. Seats for the Iditarider program are auctioned off a few weeks before the race. The person who bids the highest becomes what is called an Iditarider. This is a fund raiser to support the race. The Iditarider rides in the basket of the sled for about eight miles across the town of Anchorage.
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Q: Which checkpoints are used for fly-outs ?
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A: After the re-start in Wasilla we fly to the following checkpoints: Yentna, Skwentna, Finger Lake, Rainy Pass. Guests who travel to Nome can visit the following checkpoints: Safety, White Mountain, Golovin, Elim, Koyuk and Shaktoolik.
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Q: How about weather conditions ?
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A: The weather is always an unknown variable. From November to early March, when the amount of daylight ranges from 10 to less than 4 hours per day, the lowest temperature readings will fall below zero. Low temperatures of -40 to -50°F or colder occur each winter. Long periods of five to ten or more days of extremely low temperatures occur during the winter months. Nome is the exception, with Norton Sound moderating the local temperatures. While Nome’s overnight winter temperatures typically fall to near zero, readings lower than -20°F are uncommon. From October through April, snow cover is persistent in most areas, without interruption. Colder weather is easier on the dogs, which generally run best in a range from 20-below zero to 20 degrees above. The coldest temperature ever recorded on the Iditarod Race was in ’73 when the temperature with wind chill plummeted to –130º F.
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Q: Could you customize a trip for me ?
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A: We can certainly customize a tour for you. Please contact us.
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Q: What kind of clothing should I wear ?
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A: We recommend to pack the following clothing: warm winter boots, shell lining such as Gore Tex or other winter (ski) jackets, windbreaker, wool or fleece pullover, long underwear, gloves, hut, sunglasses, wool socks, wool shirts, jeans, fleece pants.
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Q: Where is the starting line ?
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A: The race begins the first Saturday of March on Fourth Avenue in downtown Anchorage. However, the first day is just a ceremonial start, and teams run only from Anchorage to Eagle River, 25 miles away. The time from that day has no effect on the final outcome of the race. This ceremonial start is done in order to allow for better publicity and coverage for the mushers and the race, and it also allows each musher to give one lucky "Idita-Rider" a ride in his or her sled at the starting line. On the following day, the race is re-started in Wasilla, about 50 miles from Anchorage. This is the official timed start of the race. The reason for moving the teams out of Anchorage for the restart is that the congestion of Anchorage streets coupled with the geographic barrier of the Knik River and Knik Arm of Cook Inlet (part of the Pacific Ocean) make it safest to start in Wasilla.
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