Copper Basin 300 canceled at Meier's Lake due to cold and snow

The Alaska Dispatch reported on the 15th that the Copper Basin 300 sled dog race was canceled following an emergency alert issued by the Copper Basin Race Committee. The race was officially canceled at Meier's Lake, which is a mere 75 miles into the 300 mile race.

It was a necessary call on the part of race officials to help keep mushers and dogs safe as temperatures dropped and snow accumulated. Snow machines sent ahead to break trail were sinking into deep drifts whenever they paused, and reports of temperatures in the rage of -50 F to -60 F were coming in.

Alaskans are tough, but there are times when even we need to take a step back and not press our luck against the harsh conditions that this great land can send our way. Dog mushing in Alaska is serious business, but I think anyone can agree that as well into the blood as racing is, it is not worth our dogs when conditions just get too harsh to keep pushing ahead.

My old battered knit cap is nodded respectfully to those who were a part of the 2012 Copper Basin 300, I know it had to be difficult to put that much work into the race only to walk away less than a third of the way through it.

To read the full details check out the article at Alaska Dispatch: Cold, snow and wind cancel Copper Basin 300 sled dog race.

Zorro flown to Seattle

Okay, latest report I have for Zorro, the injured sled dog from Lance Mackey's team, is that he is in Seattle, flew out today (Sunday), and is going to be getting an MRI to see how his back is. Lance Mackey and his wife Tonya flew out of Nome today with their dogs and are on their way to join Zorro in Seattle.

Mackey said that the person that had been riding the snowmachine did step up and talk to him, but Lance does not want to identify them because it seemed to be a genuine mistake. The headlamp was taken as another snowmachine hitting bumps in the trail. It is a bad accident, but that is all it was - an accident.

My thoughts are still with Lance and Tonya and Zorro, hoping that there is a full recovery. For more information see the Northern Light Media Sweepstakes Blog or the Alaska Sweepstakes Blog

To find out more about Zorro, Lance Mackey and Lance Mackey's Comeback Kennel visit www.mackeyscomebackkennel.com - Lance Mackey's official website.

Sled dog seriously injured due to careless use of a snow machine

As an ATV rider I am also interested in other outdoor recreational vehicles such as Jeeps, boats and of course snow machines. There are some people, however, that can not be responsible when they are riding something like an ATV or snow machine. Normally I am feeling upset about trail hazards when I see someone zipping down the bicycle path on a motorcycle or ATV. I've nearly been hit on my bicycle more than a few times by people speeding along the paved bike path and each time was forced to abandon the trail, diving into the ditch to avoid being flattened as the person on the motorized vehicle zipped on by ignoring that they had just forced a bicyclist off the trail. This time, however, it is far more serious than that.

Near the finish of the All Alaska Sweepstakes race a snow machine rider plowed into Lance Mackey and his team from behind. Lance dove aside at the last moment, but Zorro, a key dog in Lance's kennel, who was apparently only along as one last hurrah before retiring to life as a lazy stud making more babies to grow up and be racers, was seriously injured by the snow machine. There were other dogs from the team run over as well, but only reports I have so far are for how Zorro's doing. Zorro had been snuggled up asleep in a sleeping bag in the sled when the accident occurred and Lance had tried desperately to signal to the men using his head lamp that they were coming up behind a sled team.

As I write this reports have come in via Josh over at the All Alaska Sweepstakes Blog that Zorro suffered 3 broken ribs and possible damage to his spinal cord. Zorro can't seem to feel his back legs, but the doctors are uncertain on if it is due to swelling that will go down or because of a more serious permanent injury to the spine.

My hearfelt best wishes go out to Zorro for a speedy and good recovery and to Lance, who I know has an indescribable bond with his dogs that has to make it extremely difficult not to be able to be there with Zorro right now.

To find out more about Zorro's condition visit the All Alaska Sweepstakes Blog at the above link, hopefully Josh will continue to keep us updated on that. And thank you to Josh for all of the information you have provided so far.

There has got to be something done about motorized vehicles on the trail when there is a race. Even here, watching the race from home on television, we have seen how dangerous it is for the mushers trying to enter Nome. As the mushers are going into front street they are moved in on from all sides, making it difficult for the dogs to keep things moving along, and there are snow machines zipping alongside or in front of and behind the sled as it heads in. This has got to stop. I read something that another musher had their team run over in another race recently but have not tracked that information down. And the musher's have brought it up themselves many times that I know of that it is not safe for the trail to be open to snow machines when the sled dogs are on it.

Why can't the trail be closed for the time that the race is being run? Sure, the snow machiner's have a right to use the trail, but with all of the risks of moose stomping teams and sliding off the slippery trail on a hill and crossing sea ice... don't the dog mushers have a right to think they might at least be safe from their fellow humans not running over their teams with a snow machine?