The 2023 Iditarod starts this weekend. Here’s what to know.

The 2023 Iditarod kicks off Saturday with a ceremonial begin in Anchorage adopted by an official race begin in Willow.

From there, 33 mushers and dozens of sled canine will make the 1,000-mile sprint to Nome.

It’s the smallest group of groups within the Iditarod’s historical past, however it’s a reasonably aggressive one.

Right here’s what to learn about this yr’s race:

When will the Iditarod begin?

The race begins with a parade-like ceremonial begin in Anchorage on Saturday, March 4.

Mushers and their sled canine will collect downtown early that morning to prepare.

Beginning at 10 a.m., they’ll take off one-by-one each couple minutes from Fourth Avenue, close to D Avenue. They’ll head down metropolis streets, onto the paths and finish on the Campbell Airstrip. 

Listed here are locations to look at from. Folks collect all alongside the path for the occasion, however some hotspots embody downtown, the hill on Cordova Avenue and the Trailgate get together within the Eastchester Park space.

Subsequent up: the official race begin on Sunday.

After the ceremonial begin, mushers and their canine groups truck to Willow for the official begin at 2 p.m. on Willow Lake. They’ll once more go away at two-minute intervals, and head to Nome.

The Iditarod says people wanting to look at the beginning ought to search for indicators on the Parks Freeway in Wasilla and at Houston Excessive Faculty that may have info on obtainable parking. 

What’s the path route this yr?

The path will go from Willow to Nome alongside what the Iditarod calls its “southern route.” Groups haven’t taken that route since 2019.

The primary a part of the southern route is identical because the northern one. Then, as soon as groups get to Ophir, it cuts south by way of the Beaver Mountains to the ghost city of Iditarod. From there, there’s plenty of river operating by way of Shageluk, Grayling and Anvik earlier than linking up with the principle path in Kaltag. 

The southern route is barely longer and is considered more difficult with mountains and many mushing on the uncovered Yukon River.

How are the path circumstances? 

Usually, superb, in line with race director Mark Nordman.

Snow has hammered a lot of Southcentral, together with the primary chunk of the path as much as Wet Move Lodge. 

From there, groups should sort out the infamous Dalzell Gorge — a twisty path marked by a collection of steep downhills and a few very tight turns. Nordman stated the gorge is in good situation.

However then issues get powerful: He stated the route from Rohn to Nikolai has among the many worst moguls in race historical past. 

“Think about a washboard besides each ridge within the washboard is 4-feet excessive,” stated Nordman, “So it’s simply this up and down, up and down.”

From there, the path is in good situation till the ghost city of Ophir, stated Nordman. He stated the snow degree remains to be decrease than he’d like from Ophir to Shageluk, although some snowfall is within the forecast. 

As soon as mushers hit the coast, there could also be some rerouting.

Historically, groups go throughout the ocean ice on Norton Sound and Golovin Bay, however winter storms have pushed a few of that ice out. He stated it’s unclear if mushers will journey over the ice or take an overland route round it. 

Who’s competing on this yr’s race?

There are 33 groups signed up together with most of final yr’s high 10 mushers. That features reigning champ Brent Sass and 2019 winner Pete Kaiser, plus Jessie Holmes, Dan Kaduce, Richie Diehl, Ryan Redington and Aaron Peck.

RELATED: All eyes on Brent Sass in extremely aggressive Iditarod discipline

There’s additionally 9 rookie mushers hoping to cross the Nome end line for his or her first time, together with a Denali climber, a former Anchorage rubbish truck driver and a father-son duo.

Meet 5 Iditarod rookies

Noticeably absent: There are not any Seaveys within the race for the primary time in additional than a dozen years. 5-time champion Dallas Seavey stated he’s sitting out to spend time together with his household and his dad, three-time champ Mitch Seavey, stated he’s taking a yr off to let his physique recuperate. However they each have canine groups within the competitors: Kelly Maixner is operating canine from Dallas, and Christian Turner is operating Mitch’s workforce. 

Right here’s the complete record of groups.

Why are there so few mushers racing this yr?

The Related Press crunched some numbers and located the common variety of mushers beginning the Iditarod over the past 50 years was 63. The very best? 96 in 2008.

So 33 groups just isn’t solely the smallest discipline ever, however it’s nearly half the common measurement.

The Iditarod neighborhood has cited a wide range of causes for the low turnout.

A few them: 

• There are fairly a couple of longtime Iditarod mushers who’ve stepped away from mushing in recent times, and there isn’t a giant group of groups to interchange them. Apart from the Seaveys, Aaron Burmeister and former champ Joar Leifseth Ulsom say they’re taking a break to be with household. 4-time winners Jeff King and Martin Buser, plus fan-favorite Aliy Zirkle additionally aren’t racing. Race icon Lance Mackey died final yr.

• There’s additionally the price. Many mushers say inflation has hit them laborious with pet food costs doubling within the final couple years, plus many missed out on tourism revenue throughout COVID-19. Some estimate that operating the Iditarod takes a minimum of a $20,000 funding, and prize cash has been stagnant for years because the Iditarod loses big-name sponsors.

What number of canine are on a workforce?

Mushers can begin with as much as 14 canine and as few as 12. They will need to have a minimum of 5 canine pulling the sled throughout the end line in Nome.

The place do the canine go that don’t make it to the end line?

Mushers can go away canine with veterinarians at race checkpoints alongside the path. Mushers should present them with 4 kilos of meals and coats, in line with race guidelines. 

There’s a wide range of causes a musher could ship a canine residence, together with sickness and damage or as a result of the canine can’t sustain. Additionally, close to the top of the race, mushers will usually slim down their groups to only their quickest canine.

The canine left behind get flown again to Anchorage or Nome relying on their location.

Are there any COVID-19 protocols this yr?

COVID precautions are principally gone this yr, with the vaccine requirement eliminated and no common testing out on path. All of the checkpoints that had been closed down earlier than will likely be open this yr. Race director Mark Nordman stated that there will likely be an epidemiologist out on the path in case there are COVID infections. 

When can we count on a winner?

Traditionally, the race winner has arrived in Nome in as little as eight days, so that may imply a end late Monday night time, March 13, or early Tuesday morning, March 14. 

How do I comply with alongside? 

Bookmark alaskapublic.org/Iditarod!

Alaska Public Media reporters Lex Treinen and Ben Matheson are headed out on the path this yr. We’ll have tales and images from them on alaskapublic.org and on 91.1 FM.

Plus, preserve a watch out for the most recent episodes of our Iditapod podcast, now in its seventh season. You possibly can pay attention on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

On high of that, we now have the Iditarod e-newsletter! Subscribe right here. Throughout the race, we’ll ship you a every day round-up of the most recent Iditarod tales, podcast episodes and even canine profiles straight to your inbox. 

Different native information retailers will even be following the race, and there’s protection supplied by the Iditarod itself on iditarod.com. 

Have a query we missed? Electronic mail Tegan Hanlon and Casey Grove at thanlon@alaskapublic.org and cgrove@alaskapublic.org.

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For extra Iditarod protection go to alaskapublic.org/Iditarod and click on right here to subscribe to our free Iditarod e-newsletter, despatched every day in the course of the race. For episodes of our Iditapod podcast go to alaskapublic.org/Iditapod.