02/20/2025
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race will now start in Fairbanks, not Willow, due to a lack of snow, race officials announced Monday.
The last-minute change follows alarms raised by some mushers over the weekend who said stretches of the trail were not safe for their teams.
Race officials still plan to hold the parade-like ceremonial start in Anchorage on Saturday, March 1. Two days later, on Monday, March 3, the 33 teams will officially start their race out of Fairbanks and head to the Nome finish line.
‘Really, really worried’
The portion of trail that race officials have now deemed impassable is in the so-called Farewell Burn area, outside of the checkpoint in Nikolai, about a quarter of the way into the thousand-mile race.
Andy Angstman, the musher representative on the Iditarod’s Board of Directors, said dozens of people called him with concerns about that stretch.
“I got lots of calls, texts and emails from folks who had seen those videos and pictures from the Iron Dog, and they were very concerned about the welfare of themselves and breaking sleds and taking care of their dogs,” he said. “I’ve talked to dozens of people over the weekend who were really, really worried.”
Iron Dog snowmachine racers just traveled that part of the trail. It’s known for low snow. But photos circulating on social media show particularly bare and rough terrain. One Iron Dog racer described the stretch as “frozen tundra and straight hell.” Another wrote, “I don’t know how the Iditarod could run through 75 mi of dirt.”
In the Iditarod statement Monday, race marshal Warren Palfrey said with no snow in the forecast, “there is simply no way” officials could allow teams to travel that part of the trail.
“It is a shame because the remainder of the trail is in great shape all the way to Nome,” he said.
Several mushers competing in the upcoming race who raised fears online over the weekend declined to comment for this story, citing concerns about a rule that prohibits mushers from con
