Ask a Climatologist: Iditarod edition

03/14/19 • 9 min

Like it is affecting a lot of things in the north, our warming climate is affecting the Last Great Race. There are some nuances, however, and to suss it all out, we brought in our resident climatologist, Brian Brettschneider with the University of Alaska Fairbanks, who we hear from regularly on a segment on Alaska Public Media called Ask a Climatologist. Brettschneider says mushers and others on Alaska's western coast are seeing open water because a confluence of factors has caused historic low sea ice in the Bering Sea this spring.

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S3E15: Kaiser Racing team hangs on for first Iditarod win

That’s right: Iditarod has a new champion. And it’s really looking like we’re going to have three women in the top 10 for the first time in 47 years for the Last Great Race. As for the pride and swelling hearts of Bethel, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, maybe all of Western Alaska, Peter Kaiser and eight dogs crossed under the Burled Arch in Nome at 3:39 a.m. Alaska time Wednesday trailed only 12 minutes later by the 2018 champ, Joar Leifseth Ulsom.

Next Episode

S3E16: A new trio of elite women mushers

It happened, because Paige Drobny made it happen: The top 10 of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race includes three women for the first time ever. Fans of Drobny, Aliy Zirkle and Jessie Royer are ecstatic, as are some Bethel residents who were cheering on 2019 Iditarod champion Pete Kaiser. We hear from them in this episode, plus a lightning round of questions and... a couple special guests!