"All's Well That Ends Well" goes the headline of the Fairbanks News-Miner story that relates the resolution of the story of the lost mushers on Eagle Summit in the Yukon Quest long distance race. Of course, they would say that, wouldn't they?
Five mushers and their teams were airlifted off the summit by helicopter after high winds abated. The lost dog-team of Randy Chappel was found, lying down all lined out -- it helped that this time ran without necklines, greatly reducing the potential for tangling in the lines. What could have been a major disaster resolved into just a good scare for everyone, largely by good luck, and the Quest goes on. Minus the rescued mushers Saul Turner, Jennifer Cochran, Phil Joy, Yuka Honda and Kiara Adams, who were disqualified from further participation by race marshall Mike McCowan. Eight of the Quest 300 mushers were also withdrawn from the race. Only six drivers now remain in the 300 event, while the main-event Yukon Quest is down to fourteen competitors.
The Quest still holds plenty of potential for further bad situations, as it's a poor snow year in the north, with lots of exposed boulders and other trail hazards. Also there's quite a bit of overflow, and Yukon River ice is probably quite thin as there has been little hard cold this winter. This year, even more than most, the Quest remains an unsatisfactory event in terms of trail safety and monitoring. As we have just seen, it's too easy to get into serious trouble just through lack of advance information about trail conditions.
Posted by ditkoofseppala at February 14, 2006 12:51 PM