Posts - Page 61 of 286 - Christof Teuscher

I ate my first pizza slice for breakfast on the trail. The rest I saved for a lunch break. We’ll get to that. The primary concern on the leg to Shaktoolik is wind, which often reaches hurricane force. Combined with deep sub-zero temps, that can lead to wind chill factors lower than -70F.

The first 25mi cross a mix of woods, taiga, open areas, and exposed ridge tops. Besboro Island far away in the Norton Sound looked surreal, and so did the sea ice. There were over 1,000ft of climbing through the Blueberry Hills on the first 20mi. I reached the Foothill cabin rather exhausted, in time for lunch. Two locals on an ATV stopped. They insisted on shaking my hand. When they saw my pizza, they both laughed and said “frozen pizza, eh?” I did not laugh. Once they left, I ate my frozen pizza. I was cold when I left. What was I thinking?

The trail descended from the hills to the Norton Sound beach. The next 12mi to Shaktoolik are known to be extremely difficult because of the wind. And indeed they were. One is completely unprotected in the open, barren coastline. As soon as I reached the beach, the wind got so strong that I could barely walk. My sled got blown over several times. I had to be completely bundled up, with zero skin exposed. It was the most challenging 12mi I ever did. You can’t stop or give up because there is nowhere to go. Drinking and eating become a real challenge.

It was getting dark when I finally reached Shaktoolik, exhausted and beaten up by the wind. I asked a local where the school was. He said he’d walk me there. One the way he told me that he had just participated in the rescue of the last standing skier in the race, who had suffered frostbite on his hand. Gosh! At the school, I was welcomed by the said skier, his arm heavily bandaged, and two ITI bikers. Troy and Jason spent more than a day of their race coordinating the rescue and assisting with the skier’s evacuation on a bush plane to Anchorage the next day. What an amazing sportsmanship!

No skier has ever completed the Iditarod Trail Invitational 1000 to Nome (although some others did in other contexts), and no one would this year. What a bummer!

I ate my first slice of pizza for breakfast on the trail. It was not frozen.

Magic view of Besboro Island and the sea ice in the Norton Sound.

The Foothill cabin served as a great lunch shelter.

All my remaining pizza was of course rock solid frozen by lunch time. What was I thinking?

The 12mi to Shaktoolik are known to be extremely difficult because of the wind. One is completely unprotected in the open, barren coastline.

The sea ice piling up on the (snow) beach.

The “beach” with the sea ice.

Bundled up with zero skin exposed. It’s challenging to eat and drink in these conditions.

Aerial view of Shaktoolik. Two rows of houses and a single road on a tiny stretch of land. The town is completely exposed and hammered by the worst winds. Photo stolen from https://iditarod.com/zuma/virtual-trail-journey-shaktoolik. Photo credit: Terrie Hanke.

In these conditions, there is no room for mistakes.

#iti2022 #iditarodtrailinvitational #ultrarunning #nome #alaska

The stove was dead and the cabin was cold when I got up at 3am. By now, my routines were dialed in. Everything had a place in a bag and in the pulk. I knew blindly where to find my stuff, what to grab when going into checkpoints, and how to organize my resupplies quickly, without being overwhelmed by endless decisions. I find it rather amazing how one can adapt quickly and suddenly become comfortable in a very unwelcoming and challenging environment. So if you think you could never do this, my response would be: you very likely could.

Slowly but certainly I was leaving behind the pretty mountains, moving steadily through mostly open tundra toward the Unalakleet River. Once on the river, a sign indicated that it was 10 miles to town. A lot of blank ice was waiting for me. Thankfully the trail took a couple of overland shortcuts across river bends. Last but not least, I had to cross the frozen lagoon before I arrived in Unalakleet. I was told to expect the worst winds, but there was zero wind when I got into town. A local told me that he’s glad that he does not have to walk at a 45 degree angle today. I guess that says it all. The first musher who makes it to Unalakleet receives the Gold Coast Award, which includes $2,500 in gold nuggets. I was going to get pizza. I followed my GPS to the Peace on Earth pizza place, where I found peace immediately by ordering the largest pizza and grabbing the last beer from their fridge. I ate half the pizza and saved the other half for the next day.

My timing wasn’t perfect: at 8pm, there would be a party with 40 Iditarod officials, vets, doctors, pilots, etc. Ughs. I found a spot to get some sleep in their “Saloon,” a retired hairdressing studio that now served as a storage space. It was cozy and warm. Thankfully I had earplugs in my kit and slept like a baby. I left shortly after midnight to tackle the potentially challenging stretch to Shaktoolik. As we shall learn tomorrow, I was not disappointed by the challenges.

And…any guesses what happened to the pizza I had packed for the next day?