Eagle Summit lived up to its reputation as one of the most notorious stretches of the Yukon Quest trail on Feb. 12 when a group of four mushers encountered winds gusting up to 65 kilometres per hour, blowing snow and near-zero visibility.
B次元官网网址淚t was something I donB次元官网网址檛 really want to experience again,B次元官网网址� said rookie musher Jason Biasetti of Dawson City. B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 think anybody can understand what we went through and how that wind was howling and how that snow was blowing unless you were there. I still can hear the wind in my head.B次元官网网址�
Veteran musher Rob Cooke said this was the worst he has ever seen the summit.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 by far the worst,B次元官网网址� said Cooke. B次元官网网址淭he visibility was so bad and it got to the point we didnB次元官网网址檛 know what we were going to do, whether weB次元官网网址檇 have to turn around or whether weB次元官网网址檇 stick it out.B次元官网网址�
At 1,113 m high, Eagle Summit is the third of four major summits along the Yukon Quest trail.
Storms on the summit have been the end of many attempts to run the Yukon Quest.
Biasetti said he left Central, Alaska, headed for the summit and onwards to Mile 101 on his own in the early hours of Feb. 12 B次元官网网址� tracker data pinpoints the time at 1:34 a.m.
B次元官网网址淓arlier on, we were told that it wasnB次元官网网址檛 going to be blowing that much up there, but we knew a storm was coming,B次元官网网址� said Biasetti.
After dropping his main lead dogs earlier in the race, Biasetti said he has been relying on a pair of two-year-olds since the Eagle checkpoint and using his eight-year-old leader, Inca, for particularly difficult sections.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檇 been keeping her in the middle of the team for most of the race,B次元官网网址� said Biasetti. B次元官网网址淥nly pulling her out when I needed her in the technical areas. I just know sheB次元官网网址檚 good on the ice and stuff like that.B次元官网网址�
Biasetti said he had Inca out front of his team in single lead as they started to climb Eagle Summit.
B次元官网网址淲e were pushing through the wind and the snow and it was kind of hard to see those (trail) markers,B次元官网网址� said Biasetti. B次元官网网址淵ouB次元官网网址檇 see them and theyB次元官网网址檇 disappear.B次元官网网址�
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He said his two-year-olds were ready to stop, but that Inca sensed the urgency of the situation.
B次元官网网址淪he knew we were in trouble so she kept going to the top,B次元官网网址� said Biasetti. B次元官网网址淪he was literally trying to push them up.B次元官网网址�
He said he thought the team was nearly at the top, but conditions were deteriorating and he had a choice to make.
B次元官网网址淒o I go down or not?B次元官网网址� said Biasetti. B次元官网网址淣ow it was getting worse and worse and you really couldnB次元官网网址檛 see those markers.B次元官网网址�
Biasetti said he bunched his dogs together and used his sled as a windbreak before waiting to see if conditions improved. He said he probably waited a couple hours or more before he decided it was time to head back down towards the tree line.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 pretty steep and you canB次元官网网址檛 see nothing, so I used my snow hook to slow my sled down but then I caught a marker. The marker was way over there and we were headed way over here,B次元官网网址� said Biasetti, gesturing in opposite directions. B次元官网网址淚 had my old leader up there and I led her in the right direction and I shined my headlamp on the marker and I just talked to her: B次元官网网址楧o you see it Inca? Do you see it?B次元官网网址� I know she understood me, so we went for it.B次元官网网址�
He said after they reached that marker, they went another 15 metres and the team lost the trail again, but Biasetti again caught sight of a marker and repeated the earlier process.
Misery loves company and Biasetti and his team werenB次元官网网址檛 alone much longer.
B次元官网网址淚 started going down and I saw RobB次元官网网址檚 (Cooke) freight train of Siberians come up and Andy (Pace) behind him, and I thought OK, Rob seems like heB次元官网网址檚 confident he can get us up there.B次元官网网址�
Cooke said he and Pace had decided to travel together after hearing about the conditions on the summit.
B次元官网网址淲e had been told that there was a winter weather advisory warning that was effectively going to mean it was bad weather over the slopes, so Andy Pace and I decided to team up and go together,B次元官网网址� said Cooke. B次元官网网址淚t was kind of intimidating knowing we were going to go out into some pretty bad conditions once we break the tree line.B次元官网网址�
Getting over Eagle Summit requires covering two climbs with a small plateau in the middle. Cooke said he and Pace ran across Biasetti halfway up the first climb.
B次元官网网址淲e decided that we were going to have another go to try to get to the top,B次元官网网址� said Cooke, adding the teams got up to the plateau fine but had difficulty spotting the markers on the second phase of the summit.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檇 stop at a maker and then walk ahead and try to find the next marker, but always try to keep the dogs visible as best we could,B次元官网网址� said Cooke. B次元官网网址淲e were just below the summit. The wind must have just been whipping over the top and blowing all the snow down onto us B次元官网网址� there was no visibility whatsoever.B次元官网网址�
By that point, Deke Naaktgeboren had joined the group, making four teams near the summit.
B次元官网网址淲e couldnB次元官网网址檛 even work out how we were going to turn the teams around safely,B次元官网网址� said Cooke. B次元官网网址淎ndy and I chatted about whether it was safe for the dogs to be up there and we decided there was still no risk to the dogs B次元官网网址� they were still OK B次元官网网址� and I got up for one more look to try and find a marker.B次元官网网址�
Cooke said he didnB次元官网网址檛 want to lead the teams onto the summit without knowing exactly where the markers were.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e heard of people getting lost up there,B次元官网网址� said Cooke. B次元官网网址淲inds were gusting up to (65 km/h) and IB次元官网网址漝 keep turning my back on the wind and if the wind would drop, IB次元官网网址檇 turn around and quickly scan to see if I could see a marker at all.B次元官网网址�
Amazingly, after Cooke and Pace had put the group on a five minute clock to find their way, Cooke saw a figure through the snow and haze.
B次元官网网址淭he one time I turned around, there was somebody walking towards me and I just couldnB次元官网网址檛 believe there was somebody else up there, let alone somebody actually walking down towards me,B次元官网网址� said Cooke.
That figure was Seth Adams, a photographer for the Yukon Quest. He was able to point out to Cooke where a trail marker was.
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B次元官网网址淎s soon as he said thereB次元官网网址檚 a marker there, the wind dropped and we could see the marker in front of us,B次元官网网址� said Cooke. B次元官网网址淲e regrouped and got the dogs up onto the summit.B次元官网网址�
On the summit, Cooke said the wind was still battering the teams but that the visibility was better.
The trail down the mountain into the Mile 101 checkpoint was just as blustery, but Cooke said the dogs knew they were headed down and were more than willing to push on.
B次元官网网址淭he dogs knew they were over the top and were on their way down,B次元官网网址� said Cooke. B次元官网网址淭hey were struggling to a certain extent, but they kept going and going to the different markers.B次元官网网址�
In the valley, the snow was deep but Cooke wasnB次元官网网址檛 complaining.
B次元官网网址淚t was slow going, but it was a relief for all of us to be off of the summit and for the wind to have dropped,B次元官网网址� said Cooke.
Biasetti echoed CookeB次元官网网址檚 feelings.
B次元官网网址淩ob led the way and got us down over the summit and we got out of that chaotic storm,B次元官网网址� said Biasetti. B次元官网网址淩ob took the lead. Just like a dog team, right? And everybody took their roles.B次元官网网址�
Cooke said the temperature was what made the whole thing possible B次元官网网址� and safe B次元官网网址� for the teams to even attempt.
B次元官网网址淚t must have been below freezing, but not much,B次元官网网址� said Cooke. B次元官网网址淭hat was a real saving grace. When Andy and I chatted, the dogs were hunkered down and they would just wait until they got another command from us to move and as soon as we told them or tugged on the rope, theyB次元官网网址檇 stand up and start pulling to the next marker.B次元官网网址�
Although an uncomfortable, disorienting situation, Cooke explained there wasnB次元官网网址檛 any immediate risk.
B次元官网网址淲e knew it was fairly warm and although we were getting battered by the wind, there was no immediate risk of danger,B次元官网网址� said Cooke. B次元官网网址淲e knew we couldnB次元官网网址檛 stay there forever. We couldnB次元官网网址檛 just wait B次元官网网址� we had to potentially get back into the tree line for safety.B次元官网网址�
Both Biasetti and Cooke said Rosebud Summit was relatively uneventful in comparison and all four teams crossed the relocated finish line on the Chena River the morning of Feb. 14.
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