First female Iditarod winner celebrates in Nome 30 years later | KTVA Anchorage CBS 11

First female Iditarod winner celebrates in Nome 30 years later | KTVA Anchorage CBS 11

Emotional Iditarod 2015 finish for Lance Mackey in Nome | KTVA Anchorage CBS 11

Emotional Iditarod 2015 finish for Lance Mackey in Nome | KTVA Anchorage CBS 11

Web Extra: Scott Janssen says Lance Mackey rescued his dog team outside of Koyuk | KTVA Anchorage CBS 11

Web Extra: Scott Janssen says Lance Mackey rescued his dog team outside of Koyuk | KTVA Anchorage CBS 11

History of Huslia

Yukon here,

I am old but I don't remember the good old days. I was on Facebook and Danny Seavey, son of Mitch, brother of, Dallas, grandson of Dan, had this great article so I thought I would share it.  

This is copied from Facebook. 

Seavey's IdidaRide Sled Dog Tours

Huslia Hustlers - a history of mushing according to Danny Seavey, who does not have a history degree.

If you've ever visited Alaska, you know that many towns claim to be the 'home of' or 'start of' the ‪#‎Iditarod‬. Seward, Anchorage, Wasilla, Knik, Willow, Nenana, and Fairbanks all have varying claims on the title. But to really find the birthplace of modern mushing, you have to mush 493 miles down the Yukon River from any of them, to the Athabaskan village of Huslia, population 275 and dwindling.

Mushing (with more than one dog) was actually brought to Alaska by Scandinavian trappers and miners. As much as it pains me to admit it, these "new" Norwegian mushers actually have a much longer mushing heritage than Alaskans.

The Norwegians had found the Siberian husky while crossing Siberia in search of Sable. The Chukchi Indians had used them since at least 2000 BC, and the trappers or "promyshlenniki" were quick to recognize that mushing beat the heck out of walking. Sled dogs were also used in Iroquois Canada, where the French coined the term 'marche,' or 'mush' in English. (Even the French have more of a history than us - thus Nick Petit and Isabelle Travadon)

Once sled dogs were introduced to Alaska, the Native peoples perfected the art. Sled dogs driven by Norwegians and Natives were a huge part of the Gold Rush, were made famous by the All Alaska Sweepstakes from 1908-1917, and captivated the nation during the Serum Run to Nome in 1925.

However, once the gold dried up, the Europeans left, but the Native peoples kept the sled dog as a means of transportation, and none were better than the Huslians (yes, I just made that word up). Their I-don't-care-what-it-looks-like-as-long-as-it-wants-to-mush approach to breeding separated the modern Alaskan husky from the purebred Siberian. They had regular village races, and Huslia was the center of the mushing world for the next 50 years.

Sled dog racing came back to the cities in 1946 in the form of the Fur Rondezvous World Championship 'Rondy' in Anchorage. If you've followed the news lately, I'm sure you're aware of the passing of mushing legend George Attla, the Huslia Hustler, who won the Rondy 10 times. Less known is the fact that George Attla was just one in a long line of Huslia Hustlers. Jimmy Huntington, Warner and Bobby Vent, and many others made the name famous before Attla. They would mush in from the village, kick butt, and mush off into the sunset. It was years before the rest of the world caught up with the Huslians - literally and figuratively - in terms of dog mushing.

When my grandpa Dan Seavey first came to Alaska - a story excellently told in his book the 'First Great Race,' any dog from Huslia was a prize, you really had something if you could get a Huslia Sled Dog. My favorite book growing up was Jimmy Huntington's 'On The Edge Of Nowhere.' It's an awesome story of life in the village, and well worth the read.

Huslia has never been on the Iditarod route before, but based on the welcome they have given the mushers, and the mushers' obvious awe of the place, I would be surprised if it's the last.

Danny Seavey

The Ceremonial Start

Yukon here,
I am a little behind but here's a video from the ceremonial start in Anchorage.

Pictures from the Trail

Hermie here,

There is so much information available via the Internet so I have been reading and watching a ton of stuff. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the Alaskan Dispatch.

We Made the News!

Nip and Tuck here,
We are so proud of all the hard work the 5th graders are doing with using their skills to to track the Iditarod. Monday, Sara Sanchez from KURL 8 came to visit. Heres her report.

KULR-8 Television, Billings, MT

It's All about Math

Nip and Tuck here,
We visited Dew Claw Kennel blog and found out that if you are a musher you need to know your math. Jodi starts her blog entry with this statement, "Lately my head has been swimming in numbers. Which usually leaves me thinking, “why didn’t I work harder to study math when I was in school?”  Really to all the young mushers out there who want to know what they can do to prepare themselves for Iditarod – Study Math.  " 

We wonder why mushers would need to worry about math, so we continue to read.  Jodi needs to pack 1812 pounds of dog food, dog supplies, and human stuff into 50 bags that weigh less than 50 pounds each?

Wow! that made us think "how do you do that?" Then we thought, " what do we have to get in the bags. As we read on we found out about all the kinds of stuff that Jodi needs at A Post about Numbers or Drop Bags. Check out some of her past post to see what you need to pack if you are running the team on the Iditarod Trail,  Anatomy of Drop Bags. Gearing up to Pack it in, and Another Race in the Bag.

We learned a lot but wonder do all mushers do that? Then we remember that Hermie had talked about Ali Zirkle packing her bags in a previous post to we revisited it.

Food Drop Bags

Hermie here,

Yukon is all about food at home but I am worry about the dogs out on the trail. The experts say that it takes between 10,000 and 12,000 calories for each sled dog, each day of the race, and the average team is going to be on the trail 10 to 14 days. So that is 10,000 times each dog (16) times number of days sooo...it's A LOT of food. (Maybe one of you could do the math and let me know.) 

So how does all that food and supplies to get to the teams on the trail? 

SPKennels preparing food.

Let's watch Ali Zirkle go over how to pack.

Wow! That is a big job. 

It's Good!

Yukon here, 

I want to talk about food. Sled dogs need a lot of food. Let's see what my old buddy, Big Ben, and the other dogs at Nature's Kennel have to say about FOOD!

 

For more episodes of Rhu and Friends visit the  My Friend, Big Ben . 

March Madness is Here Again!

That's right it is time for the 2015 Iditarod Sled Dog Race. For the first time in three years, Mrs. B and I are going to watch the start and restart via the Internet. Thank goodness, ExxonMobil was kind enough to purchase an Iditarod Insider subscription. (email Mrs. B if you forgot how to login)

Although Mrs. B is a little disappointed, she is excited to spend more time on Iditarod STEM lessons with the 5th graders at Big Sky School.

I want to introduce you to our newest reporting team members. The twins, Nip and Tuck, who will be observing and reporting from Mrs. B and Ms. C's classroom.

Learning from the Big Dog!

The Big Dog 
Mr. Harvey - Technology Integration Specialistic

Mrs. B has been really interested in developing some lessons geography, science, math, and technology. She know she needed help, so she called in the Big Dog in Google Earth and other technologies, Mr. Charles Harvey, BPS Technology Integration Specialist and all around cool guy.

Mrs. B brainstormed Mr. Harvey a ton of really cool ideas. They did some research and Mr. Harvey created a very cool lesson, "Breaking the Trail" and even a cool website to help us connect geology, geography, today's Iditarod trail using Google Earth as a tool.

We started with how to use Google Earth.