The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is less than a month away and set to run on its normal northern route this year.
Race officials said that’s a relief, after low snow conditions last year forced the race to start in Fairbanks, over 200 miles north, for the fourth time in history.
Snow conditions are generally much better than they were last year, said race director Mark Nordman, although there were concerns about the trail until just recently.
“It wasn't that long ago that I was still concerned about going over the Alaska Range, because there wasn't a lot of snow up by Rainy Pass Lodge, one of our checkpoints,” Nordman said. “But we've got plenty of snow now, and so I think we'll be good.”
In 2025, race officials said a portion of the trail outside of Nikolai was impassable because of the lack of snow. Nordman said that section, called the Farewell Burn, is notoriously challenging for its ice and windblown ground. But it currently has some snow coverage and “looks doable," he said.
The 1,000-mile race typically alternates routes each year, running the northern route on even years and the southern route on odd years. The trail is the same for the first 350 miles before splitting at the ghost town of Ophir, then rejoining at the Yukon River village of Kaltag before heading to Unalakleet and continuing up the Bering Sea Coast.
Clearing brush off the trail takes more work now than it used to, Nordman said.
“Where we might have only brushed the trail every four or five years in certain areas, it seems like it's every other year now,” he said.
One section in particular required extra effort.
The remnants of Typhoon Halong last fall decimated the trail between Kaltag and Unalakleet, Nordman said. The Iditarod hired a crew to clean up blown-down trees along that 85-mile stretch, and it’s now ready for mushers, he said.
“They spent a full month out there, cutting, opening it up, grooming,” Nordman said. “Otherwise nobody would be going over that trail this year.”
This year’s Iditarod starts March 7, with its parade-like ceremonial start through Anchorage. The race will officially start March 8 in Willow.
