Yukon Quest '07

A crowd of friends and family assembled at the finish line in Fairbanks to watch Brent and the team complete the epic journey they began 12 days and 1,000 miles earlier in Whitehorse, Canada. To Brent’s surprise, the dogs had no problem passing by their familiar dog yard at the Chena Hot Springs checkpoint. Madonna pushed right on through, and they ran the final 100 miles of trail with only short rests.

Richie Beattie, from Two Rivers, also had to pass his home dog yard along the last section of trail. Richie’s team passed their turn-off to home with little coaxing, but they promptly sat down several miles later, upon reaching the North Pole checkpoint, only 33 miles from the finish line. When Brent arrived in North Pole and found Richie’s team stalled, Brent spent a half-hour trying to get Richie’s leaders to follow his team. It was no use, so Richie rested his dogs, and Brent finished 15th in the race, only 4 minutes behind Kelley Griffin. The assistance to Richie cost Brent 14th place, as he would’ve beaten Griffin with the extra half-hour, but that was of no concern to Brent. Richie eventually roused his dogs and crossed the finish line in 16th place. The front page of the Fairbanks newspaper ran a photo of Brent posing with one of the pints of Ben & Jerry’s “Half-Baked” ice cream that he stashed in every drop.

We apologize that the Wild and Free site has been down the last couple days. With more and more people checking on Brent’s progress, we exceeded the allocated bandwidth, and the site was temporarily disabled. Danny Dominick, a loyal Fairbanks friend, claimed personal responsibility for 3,794 refreshes on the day the site was crippled, and probably he is not alone. Well, the bandwidth has been increased to accommodate the traffic, so refresh to your delight. Greg Petitto is the computer wizard keeping Wild and Free alive, and he has done a tremendous job displaying the provided content in a simple and aesthetic format. Zack, the pilot, kept us airborne during even the coldest days by heating the engine for hours before dawn with an MSR stove. He put that bird down in some incredibly tight spots (Eagle Summit, for example), and timed our aerial passes to position us properly for the photos.

Brent appreciates all the support people have shown. He knew way back at Braeburn, when Silver incurred the shoulder injury, that it would be a long race. Little did he know that the -30°F temperatures that night would be considered a warm spell in the second half of the race. Nor did he know that Melville would suddenly collapse after 700 miles of trail, due to a piece of fabric he had ingested. Fifty below on the Yukon Quest is lonely and inhospitable, but Brent and the team endured, knowing that a lot of people out there wanted to see them cross the finish line. Brent claimed that he “was never cold the entire race.” Thanks for following!

Brent and the team at the finish line on the Chena River, downtown Fairbanks.

Brent and his handler/father, Mark Sass.

posted by Greg  # 10:56 PM 1 Comments

The team and Brent resting at the 101 dog drop, Eagle Summit in the background.

Russ Bybee, Kelly Griffin, and Brent Sass crested a pink Eagle Summit at dawn Thursday, all within 15 minutes of each other. Both mushers ahead of Brent left Central well before him, but the eight remaining dogs, and Brent, showed that they remembered how to climb hills. Travelling remains slow for the team under normal trail conditions, but Brent said that the team accelerated on the climb to Eagle Summit, momentarily narrowing the gap between the three teams. Bybee rested short at the 101 dog drop, and Griffin blew through. At the 101 dog drop, Brent’s team looked healthy, and he rested them for several hours in the seemingly tropical -25°F sun. After the rest, the team left 101, and were seen moving steadily toward the base of Rosebud, the final summit in the Quest. At the same time, Bybee was beginning the ascent on Rosebud, Griffen was on the ridge, and Beattie was making the final push to the summit.

It has been a long race for Brent and the team – dropping Silver at the first checkpoint, losing Melville on the Yukon, and enduring the frigid temperatures. In spite of these major setbacks, there remain eight healthy pulling dogs on the gangline, one inspired musher, and a light at the end of the tunnel.

Brent made it to Chena Hot Springs Thursday evening, and rested the team until early morning, at which point they began the final 100 miles to Fairbanks. Hopefully, at this point, the monumental hurdle of getting the eight remaining dogs to continue beyond Chena Hot Springs – the familiar dog yard where they live – is behind them, and they are en route to Fairbanks. See you at the finish line!

Kelly Griffin on the final push over Eagle Summit.

Richie Beattie on the final push to the Rosebud summit.

posted by Greg  # 3:30 PM 2 Comments

Thunder and Ross.

Brent and the team left Circle this morning at 4:00. Brent and the dogs still had plenty of energy, if not enthusiasm. Under yet another cloudless fifty below sky, the team ran until dawn and a cabin on Birch Creek, where they rested. Later today brought more endless but aesthetic meanders of Birch Creek, and one long run into Central.

The dogs are tired, and Brent has used phrases like “the grind” to describe the psychological and physical hurdles of long cold runs. Mushers have repeatedly said that open areas are monotonous for the dogs. Richie Beattie at Slaven’s described how his team would accelerate markedly when the trail went from the main channel of the Yukon to a slough. More confined trails stimulate the dogs, and this is manifest in their speed. When Brent’s team hit the woods after Medicine Lake this evening, they immediately sped up to 10 mph and maintained for an hour to the Central checkpoint, where they are resting. It’s 2:45 Wednesday and Brent is awake preparing the team to greet an old friend at dawn – Eagle Summit.

Brent preparing to leave Circle.

John Schandelmeier on the trail past Slaven’s cabin.

Exhausted, but determined!

A fan (Zack) on Birch Creek.

posted by Greg  # 8:00 AM 0 Comments

The reliable wheel-dog, Melville.

It has been a sobering couple of days on the Yukon.

Brent and Richie left Eagle with the aurora overhead at 22:30 Saturday, and they ran slow and cold into Trout Creek Cabin, where they rested Sunday morning. The temperature took one final dive to -53°F, and we spotted Brent on the Yukon just after sunset. We landed ahead of him, and he stopped and talked to us. It was one of the most frigid pastel moments I’ve ever seen. All the dogs were healthy, but tired from 700 miles of trail. Brent said that they were moving about five mph. We wished him luck, then flew 10 miles downriver to Slaven’s Roadhouse, a National Park Service cabin. When Brent arrived a couple hours later, he was shaken-up. Melville, the wheel-dog, had collapsed without warning and died on the trail.

Moments before Melville’s collapse, Brent experienced the high point in his mushing career. After 10 hrs of running at 5.5 mph, the team accelerated to 13 mph and held that pace. Brent later recollected that he had been telling the team to “Do it for Silver.” He speculated that their hearing Silver’s name excited the dogs and caused the acceleration. After 20 minutes at high speed, they slowed and sustained 9 mph for another 30 minutes, and then Melville collapsed.

Brent rested himself and the dogs 12 hours at Slaven’s, but it was a cold rest for the dogs. He had to drop The Dude to frostbite, but the vet said that the other eight dogs were in good shape. She added that it was evident from the dogs’ demeanor that Brent treated them well.

The cumulative weariness and extreme temperatures have taken their toll on other teams as well. Several mushers in this part of the pack are considering scratching, and their attitude seems to have shifted from one of competitive racing to one of dog care and finishing. Mushers could be seen coaxing teams out of Slaven’s this morning, ready to be done with fifty below and the now-monotonous Yukon.

The preliminary necropsy results revealed that a piece of fleece blanket had lodged at the entry to Melville’s intestine. None of the blankets on the trip have been chewed, so the fabric was likely ingested prior to the start. Melville’s collapse was apparently unrelated to the conditions or aerobics.

Brent left Slaven’s this morning, determined to make it to the Circle checkpoint, but perhaps not further. He was concerned about ruining his remaining eight dogs by pushing them beyond Circle, particularly with two large climbs still ahead. He arrived at 19:03 and decided to continue the race.

Brent and the team leaving Eagle under aurora.

A frigid dusk.

Benedikt Beisch leaving Eagle.

Mike Jayne and Richie Beattie at Slaven’s.

Brent on the Yukon.

Russ Bybee on the Yukon.

In Memoriam, Melville.

posted by Greg  # 8:28 AM 3 Comments

Brent and the team cresting American Summit.

After a good rest at Forty-mile yesterday, Brent and Richie ran slow and cold up the Forty-mile River to the wall tent at the Taylor Highway bridge, where they rested again. Today, they climbed up and across American Summit, before descending into Eagle. Brent had not slept since Dawson (36 hours) and told stories of falling asleep behind the team.

He described the inadvertent practice of “ditch-diving,” in which you jerk awake to find the sled dragging through the ditch. The Quest trail has no rumble strips, unfortunately. Brent adopted the habit of wrapping a rope from his sled around his waist. This way, when his body relaxes into sleep and his knees break, the rope prevents him from falling backward off the sled. In stark contrast to these stories, Brent appeared totally coherent in Eagle this afternoon.

Brent’s team and Richie’s team are moving at the same pace, resting on the same schedule, and sharing similar trail habits. It is -34°F and dropping, and both teams are scheduled to leave around 22:00. They follow the Yukon to Circle from here, where they turn southwest and head overland toward Fairbanks.

Lance Mackey on the Yukon, pushing record time.	American Summit.
Brent and the team in Eagle.

posted by Greg  # 11:56 AM 2 Comments