The world’s longest, toughest, cross-country snowmobile race was held in Alaska Feb. 8 to 14.
The 25th annual Tesoro Iron Dog race covered 1,971 miles from Wasilla to Fairbanks. Pro Class racers, consisting of a two-person team on two snowmobiles, started from Big Lake and traveled north along the Iditarod trail to Nome and then south to Fairbanks.
The seven-day trip of 39 team Pro Class racers included veteran racer Todd Palin of Wasilla and his teammate Scott Davis of Soldotna. They drove Arctic Cat F6 600’s. Both veteran and rookie team racers competed in the sub-zero cold, deep snow and blinding visibility for cash prizes with $25,000 minimum (up to $100,000) going to the first place winner. Total purse was $150,050 with more than 37 sponsors awarding prizes of varying values.
{Q}Two senior Baldwinsville residents booked reservations to watch the race and volunteer their services{Q}, if needed. John Hudson, retired owner of Hudson & Mowin service station in Baldwinsville and Paul Kulba, retired chef of Raphael’s restaurant in Lakeland, are experienced snowmobilers who ride the NY trails of CNY, the Tugg Hill plateau and elsewhere. This trip was well planned without the need of a travel agent or snowmobile guide. These men chartered their own expedition.
“It was better than planned,” Kulba said. “We could not have planned it any better.”
Their first jubilation occurred during the mid-air flight to Alaska. While talking with passengers on the Iron Dog race, a stranger overheard their discussion and on approach, both recognized him as Jim Tallon, veteran racer. The stewardess temporarily allowed Tallon to block the aisle while he kneeled in conversation next to Hudson and Kulba, but reluctantly made him return to his seat. A half-hour later, a note passed back from Tallon invited them to contact him in Wasilla.
Upon landing in Anchorage, the two men drove to Wasilla for the Iron Dog race. They volunteered Saturday for marking the plowed roads to the race start and with putting up banners. They drilled 12- to 15-inch deep holes for fencing stakes along the racetrack. Big Lake was alive with activity and traffic consisting of people, recreational motorized vehicles and even motor homes.
“There must have been 20 parked airplanes on the ice,” Kulba said.
Early Sunday morning, more road marking checks were done in preparation for the start. A 10:30 a.m. patriotic ceremony opened the event with speeches by Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, Wasilla Mayor Verne Rupright and others.
Tallon met up with Hudson and Kulba and invited them to a social event at his home. But first, they were allowed to green flag start a couple of the pro class race teams. After a photo opportunity with Sarah Palin, Hudson and Kulba were off to Tallon’s for some Alaskan hospitality.
The Iron Dog race leg from Big Lake to Nome had three layovers (six hours per location) with a choice of eight layovers. This was the race halfway point. By Tuesday, Hudson and Kulba had arrived at their Gate Creek cabin rental, where there was a view of Mt. McKinley from their room.
“It’s kind of a lone mountain in the Alaskan range with tundra surrounding it,” Kulba said.
On Wednesday, they turned from race spectators to recreational trail explorers on renting 2005 Ski-Doo Rev 550 Summit snowmobiles. These longer length track sleds are designed for mountain climbing. However, their riding was on the snowmobile club trails around the tundra — some groomed, some not groomed. With only a compass, they kept their bearings by reading the trail maps on the trees. Trail signs were posted on florescent fiberglass poles and although some poles were knocked down, overall, the trails were clearly marked.
Hudson and Kulba’s trek was a 150-mile round day trip to and from Trapper Creek. There they met three other snowmobilers who were staying at the Trapper Creek motel. Next stop was ‘Reflector Tree,’ so named for the reflectors on the merger of five trails. This tourist stop is also known for its “telephone on the tree” – for emergency purposes. As a safety precaution, Alaskan snowmobilers are encouraged to use GPS when trail riding.
The Iron Dog race from Nome to Fairbanks had two layovers (six hours per location) with a choice of six layover points. Before Fairbanks, at Tanana, the racers were held for a mid-day finish at Fairbanks. Hudson and Kulba were not needed as race volunteers, so they chose to sight see and visit Denali National Park.
On Saturday, the Chain of River finish line was setup similarly with stakes marking trails to guide the racers in. Hudson and Kulba assisted with the race on checking the racers and their survival equipment. In addition, they checked the sled’s skid frame for its identification number, which meant you had to scrape the ice from the frame to confirm the skid number. If the number was different, racers could be disqualified.
“Skid frames can be exchanged in less than five minutes,” Kulba said. “Shocks and bogie wheels exchanges take much longer.”
As they crossed the finish line, racers were met by Miss Alaska and Gov. Palin. The Governor greeted each racer over a period of five hours. The champions were team no.16: Todd Minnick and Nick Olstad, both of Wasilla driving Polaris Dragon SP 600s; second place to team no. 8: Tyler Aklestad of Wasilla and Tyson Johnson of Ealge River driving Ski-Doo Rev XP 600s. Todd Palin and Scott Davis took sixth place.
A Saturday night banquet concluded the event with team racers exchanging stories.
“The whole thing was a whirlwind,” Kulba said. “Again, it was better than planned. We could not have planned it any better.”
This Alaskan trip recollection is per an interview with Paul Kulba. Thanks to Ray Reiss of B’ville for first informing your writer in December 2008 on this trip. Kevin Bamerick was a former director of the NYS Snowmobile Association.
