Iditarod and Nome(pictures to come)

Well, today we arrived in Nome, about 100 miles south of the artic circle. Rainy, and a bit cold the day was turning out to be not too exciting. We didn’t do the local tour, as we had some filming to cover before the passengers arrived, so I have nothing too exciting to report for today.
So, instead I will fill you in on the rest of yesterday. We had a meet and greet with the other cruise passengers, and a special guest presentation by Martin Buser, 5 time Iditarod champion. This guy was captivating, he has been running the race, for the past 25 years. For those of you who don’t know what the Iditarod is, you should check it out. Originally inspired by a dog sled relay, that delivered Diphtheria vaccine to the local inhabitants of Nome, thus saving thousands of lives, it is now a race of one person and their team of dogs, over 1100+miles of frozen land. I had never really considered the race before last night, I mean I knew about it and I thought it seemed interesting, but I had never followed it or researched it. A grueling test of man against nature, and a great equalizer, just as many women have won it as men. You start out with a team of 16 dogs, but never finish with all of them. At every checkpoint there are veterinarians who thoroughly inspect every dog, if they are over fatigued, injured, anything at all they get sent home, and you move on with what you’ve got. The record (held by Martin) is just over 8 day, although most people finish it around 12 or so.
So, meeting someone who has made it their life, was fascinating. He cares so much about the dogs, and the message of environmental impact that he has won several humanitarian awards, and is sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund. He gave testimony to how Alaska, once being such an untouched wilderness, is a good litmus for how our environment is changing and being affected by our social and economic choices. Even though he makes probably, close to half of his living from the race itself(the purse can be quite large) he always errs of the side of caution when it comes to the heath and welfare of his animals. Inspiring…Oh, and did I mention, he brought puppies! As you can see they were unbelievably cute, and complete show stoppers. He carries them around in his shirt after they are born, the entire litter, so that they get used to his scent, his voice, his mannerisms. They eventually learn up to 15 commands to execute during a sled run. All of this made me want a kennel and team of my own to drive around in the snow with!