Iditarod rookie criticizes race officials
Originally published Sunday, May 17, 2009 at 11:55 a.m.
Updated Sunday, May 17, 2009 at 5:38 p.m.
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Stumble It!ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race officials are being criticized by some back-of-packers, including a rookie musher who was removed from the race because he wasn't traveling fast enough.
Rob Loveman has protested his withdrawal. He said it was unfair and that back-of-the-packers are being pressured to keep moving. And he said the pressure to keep moving may have contributed to the death of a dog in musher Lou Packer's team.
Packer, also a rookie, had two dogs die in a blizzard. He's not happy, either. He's had his lawyer send letters to those who suggest a more capable musher might have avoided the dog deaths. He points the blame at the Iditarod Trail Committee.
"Jeff King didn't have to worry about being withdrawn if he turned his team around," Loveman said. "Lou Packer did. Given the arbitrary way the noncompetitive withdrawal is carried out, (mushers like Packer) would be far less inclined to return once they saw how bad conditions really were."
Race marshal Mark Nordman said no musher would be kicked out of the race for making a decision that was in the best interests of his dogs. Loveman's dogs, Nordman said, were in great shape when the rookie driver was ousted.
"He was just having a hard time staying awake and just trying to keep up with his dogs," Nordman said.
By the time the race marshal pulled Loveman, a 52-year-old Montanan, he had slipped to the very back of the pack and faced the long, desolate and difficult 90-mile trail to the ghost town of Iditarod alone with his team.
Out in front of him on the trail, 47-year-old Kurt Reich from Divide, Colo., was already in trouble. Another rookie, he eventually had to be rescued from a cabin by Iditarod officials who found him seriously hypothermic.
Weather conditions during the race were brutal this year. Temperatures plunged to 50 degrees below zero in the area north of McGrath and winds swirled deep, soft snow into ground blizzards. Nordman said it has been years since Iditarod mushers encountered such sustained extremes.
Packer's two dogs died when he got pinned down on the trail in bad weather. His attorney, Ward Mendes from Fairbanks, is now questioning whether the Iditarod did enough to support him and other back-of-the-packers.
In a letter to race veteran Diana Moroney, a longtime volunteer and Iditarod Air Force pilot this year, Mendes blames the Iditarod Trail Committee for failing to adequately monitor the progress of tail-end mushers, arguing that this is why Packer, Blake Matray from Fairbanks and Kim Darst from New Jersey ended up in trouble.
"When the ITC observed that these three mushers had not moved for 12 hours," Mendes wrote, "somebody should have immediately checked on these mushers. If there is any blame to be pointed at in this situation as to who made 'many errors' it should lie squarely on the feet of the ITC."
Nordman said the race works hard to help rookies prepare for what they will be getting into, but race officials can't hold everyone's hand while they are on the trail.
Someone with a little experience and some intelligence about the condition of the trail ahead might have advised Packer, Matray and Darst to hold in the Iditarod checkpoint and await better weather, he said.
Community Discussion
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Ever seen that bumper sticker and tee shirt slogan "If you can't run with the big dogs, don't get off the porch"? It's called the last great race! Not the last great camping trip!
Oooh! He had his lawyer send letters! Big guy!
The truth is an absolute defense to libel.
You've got a point, DNMW. I've talked to some of our neighbors who are mushers and pretty knowledgable, and the general consensus (which I agree with, for what it's worth) is that the race has gotten too big, too wide open, and too many "wanna-be"s are being allowed to enter. The only thing that's going to keep the campers from entering is to bring the entry requirements up. They raised the entry fee, but all that does is keep the poorest of the wanna-bes out. Maybe mushers need to have actually proven themselves to be competitive by winning/placing in qualifying races instead of just having to finish. The logistics of monitoring and safeguarding the health & well-being of 50, 60, 70+ entries (with a human and 14 - 16 dogs per team) leaves a lot of room for error. But the bottom-line is: if you can't take care of yourself and your ***dogs*** AND be competitive to some degree, don't enter.
Maybe someone needs to start a "guided Iditarod experience" for the campers.... Let those who know they aren't going to be competitive and want to take three or four weeks to do the thing start a day later, not muck up trail traffic for the real competitors, and have some hand-holding by people who can assure them having a safe and pleasurable trip.
This whole society is just so wrapped up in a culture of litigation - if something doesn't go your way, sue somebody! That's bogus. I've heard stories from people who were on the trail and involved in/with the race. It seems to me that some people just made mistakes or were not prepared for the reality that is Alaskan wilderness in winter. It sounds like Packer is just looking to place blame somewhere besides on his own table.
The Iditarod has yet to release necropsy results and their findings on the six dog deaths this year, despite saying this was forthcoming in March. I sent an email to the head of the Iditarod and to the chief veterinarian asking when this info would be released to the public and neither responded. Despite the very flashy website and all the hype, this is not good management.
Kurt Reich from Divide, Colo. had no clue what he was getting into. Kurt Reich had never been to Alaska before this race. Folks tend to think, "Oh, I am only a cellphone call away from help."
The iditarod already has requirements that must be met before entering the race.
And they decided before the 2009 race to limit the field next year.
http://www.iditarod.com/mushers/iditarod...
Booo Hoo, hhooooo! Every sport has em, don't they!
The attorney in question is most likely NOT Mendes but Merdes -- with an "r" NOT an "n". He's local, so maybe someone could check this out. I sent a message to the original author at the ADN but the name remains unchanged. C'mon people. Merdes is an old Fairbanks name. This attorney's father was Ed Merdes, well known in Fairbanks legal and political circles in the 70s and 80s.
I checked out the Iditarod rules--sad that PR and carrying promotional materials is #7 while the dog care section starts at #37-pretty telling about priorities.
Excuse me please if I have it wrong, but isn't the race about survival in extreme conditions that are prevalent and unpredictable? And if I remember correctly, isn't the race in honor of a delivery of vital medications that were delivered years ago by men that braved conditions that no one thought could be survived?
Seems to me that not being prepared and not doing your research; ie: at least one trip to the areas in question at the right time of year to check things out, might be in order. Not doing so and then running into things that cannot be controlled are whiney reasons to try to sue people that do try to honor the integrity of the origins of the trip.
I say let them run free and look for them in the spring.
Sure glad none of those whiners were tasked with getting the medicine to Nome back in the day.
This is all just a reflection of our society. Blame someone else - and get a lawyer. I am so sick of it all.
DNM Watcher - I couldn't agree more - these folks could NOT run with the big dogs. Maybe they can show their pups at the Westminster Kennel Club instead (and sue if they don't get Best in Show).
I think everyone who wants to pay , train and try should be given that chance. Its a free world out there. I think that they should also sign a waver saying if they get into trouble for not being prepared and or ready..then the ax falls on their own necks and no one else.
Let them run..just let them run at their own risk...
JustMe........Let 'em run!!!!!!!!!Just don't expect to be able to sue to cover your bills cuz you went some place you had no business being!
I don't think inexperienced people who have no idea what they're getting in to should be allowed to run the Iditarod, especially imbeciles like Packer. He hunkered down in his warm sleeping bag in his sled when he ran into the storm and left his dogs out in the open with no protection. Then he supposedly said he didn't know they could die of exposure. Duh. Not even animals who have evolved to survive arctic conditions run around in the open during a blizzard! They hunker down and wait it out in a safe place. Sled dogs did not evolve to survive the arctic out in the open in a blizzard. Thinking otherwise demonstrates Packer's stupidity. Getting a lawyer demonstrates that he's a whiner with money. He should spend some of that money on a hefty fine for his negligent behavior.
The responsibility for the safety and welfare of the the dogs is the musher. If the musher cant answer the question, without any doubt, " Am,I capable of looking after their ( the dogs ) well being and safety no matter what the circumstances?", then they shouldn't run the race.
If a person is into mushing to stroke their ego, they are in it for totally the wrong reason.
Dont blame the race organization for your errors. Look in the the mirror and see the real person responsible for the problem.
I am not ashamed to admit, I do not feel capable of running the Iditarod or the Yukon Quest,in adverse conditions, after 35+ years of mushing. I know my limitations, that doesn't mean I cant enjoy my mushing lifestyle!
miortuk- well said and I completely agree.
I think the Iditarod has become a beacon-like Holy Grail of dog mushing and there are some mushers who rush ahead without an honest self-assesment.
I'm probably never going to climb Everest or K2, doesn't mean I don't want to try it but I know I am in no way prepared or experienced enough to try it.
I like the hand-holding tour idea. It allows rookies to mush the trail at their own pace and to learn how to better care for their dogs along the trail. Maybe the ITC could start runs like that this next year and then require rookies to run 3 of these milk runs before being allowed to run the race...
"I like the hand-holding tour idea. It allows rookies to mush the trail at their own pace and to learn how to better care for their dogs along the trail. Maybe the ITC could start runs like that this next year and then require rookies to run 3 of these milk runs before being allowed to run the race..."
You're kidding, right? Welcome to the interior of Alaska in the wintertime. What do you think this is, a Japaneese Tour company? I agree with the above posts, if you can't run with the big dogs, curl up with your newspapers in a warm cabin.
I guess the question is, how far back did Packer want to be before he was yanked off the course? Maybe he would still be going today. Can you imagine Sig (Captain of the Northwestern) from the show Deadliest Catch, calling the Coast Guard everytime a wave washed over his bow. It wouldn't happen, and he's out there in 50 ft. seas with his crew tossing pots. That is the difference with a rookie and a captain with several years under the belt.
This is what makes a seasoned musher different from a rookie. Maybe Packer should run in some of the smaller races, and then move up the the "major leagues" of mushing.
Use_your_head: "I like the hand-holding tour idea. It allows rookies to mush the trail at their own pace and to learn how to better care for their dogs along the trail. Maybe the ITC could start runs like that this next year and then require rookies to run 3 of these milk runs before being allowed to run the race..."
Nosunlight: "You're kidding, right? Welcome to the interior of Alaska in the wintertime. What do you think this is, a Japaneese Tour company? I agree with the above posts, if you can't run with the big dogs, curl up with your newspapers in a warm cabin."
I have to agree with use_your_head. The Iditarod people could use it as both a way to thin the herd and a way to make some cash. They could make the real race more competitive by saying you had to come in as one of the top 20% of the practice race (or have completed the Yukon Quest in under a certain amount of time) before you can enter the real one. They could charge more for the practice race because they are giving more support, and it would make the real race cost less because there would be fewer laggers so they could finish up sooner. It also gives people who want to race a half way point and some training between curling up in a warm cabin, and running with the big dogs.
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