A month ago, the New York Times told us that global warming had ruined the Iditarod. As usual, they have no idea what they talking about.
February 28, 2013
Mark Nordman, Race Marshal and Race Coordinator, told me that late snows have blanketed the full thousand miles of trail, and with local traffic between villages and the passing of the Iditarod traigroomers,should leave the mushers with an excellent trail to Nome.
Trail Report—and Bonus-Harrison nailed good grades and earns ride with John Baker – Iditarod
“Trail Groomers”? They have ruined the quality of the race! That is as bad as cyclists doping for the Tour De France!
The NYT never said the Iditarod was ruined. What they actually said:
It has made for a trying winter for mushers. Several Iditarod qualifying events have been postponed, rerouted or canceled because of a lack of snow. The John Beargrease sled dog race, a trek of some 400 miles in northern Minnesota, postponed its start to March 10 from Jan. 27. In Alaska, the Don Bowers Memorial 200/300, the Sheep Mountain Lodge 150 and the Knik 200 have been canceled. The Copper Basin 300 in Glennallen, Alaska, had to cut its trail for several teams by 25 miles (emphasis added)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/06/sports/warm-weather-forces-changes-ahead-of-iditarod-race.html?_r=0
I’ve been the trail boss more often than not over the past 11 years and we stopped the race at Tolsona this year due to some muddy conditions on the last leg.
The NYT article, like so many of their past reports really likes to paint a picture that doesn’t exist.
Regardless, the CB300 is the toughest sled dog race on the planet.
No wonder their boss closed down their green astrology blog.