Two-time Iditarod winner Robert Sørlie reached Nome as number 12 in the 2007 Iditarod Sled Dog Race in Alaska. Norwegian rookie Sigrid Ekran placed 21, the highest placement of any rookie and any woman.
1/16/2008 :: March 15
Sigrid Ekran arrives in Nome at 4:21 in the morning, after racing for 10 days, 13 hours and 21 minutes. She places ahead of all other rookies and other female mushers.
March 14
Robert Sørlie arrives in Nome, after racing for 10 days, 4 hours and 34 minutes.
March 10
Robert Sørlie and Sigrid Ekran have arrived at Eagle Island. They are both maintaining good speed on the windy Yukon River. Both are expected to arrive in Kaltag this afternoon.
March 9
UPDATE: Sørlie looses a mitten!
Robert Sørlie lost one of his mittens on the way into the Iditarod checkpoint. Mittens are essential in these extreme conditions where the wind can make the temperature drop to - 80 below. Rick Swenson, an Iditarod champion, found the mitten and handed it to Sigrid Ekran at the checkpoint. With no time to loose, Robert managed to borrow a new pair which would allow him to continue up the trail.
Robert Sørlie arrived in the small village of Anvik in the early morning. He has experienced some difficulties with maintaining the dog's good health, as some of his four-legged team players have suffered from some mild diarrhea.
At the Iditarod checkpoint, Sørlie also neded to drop one of his "engines" in the team, a dog called "Langbein". The stretch ahead on the trail will be tough for Sørlie without the large, strong sleddogs. There is little snow on the trail, making it hard for large dog mushers such as Sørlie to move forward at good sped.
Sigrid Ekran had to drop her dog "Frost" when arriving at Iditarod checkpoint. "Frost" suffered a minr injury when the team was moving at night through an area where moose had crossed the trail and left deep footprints in the frozen snow. Unfortunatley, not seeing the large holes in the trail, "Frost" stepped right into one, and injured his shoulder. Sigrid, an extremely gentle dog handler, opted to put "Frost" in her sled for the remaining miles into the Iditarod checkpoint.
March 8
Robert Sørlie and Sigrid Ekran has left the checkpoint at Takotna. Sørlie passed straight though Takotna which is perhaps the most popular of all the checkpoints on the trail. He is continuing straight onwards to Ophir.
Sigrid Ekran has opted to take her 34 hrs mandatory rest at Takotna, where she will receive some much needed sleep and attention to her bruised face.
March 7
Sigrid Ekran has arrived at Takotna. She is currently in 14th place, and the first rookie musher to arrive at the checkpoint. Sigrid will most likely spend her mandatory 24-hour rest at Takotna. It is anticipated that she will receive good support from her father and brother who have flown out to the small village to support Sigrid.
Robert Sørlie is currently in 21st position. He is following his race schedule - his recipe for success - which has been carefully composed by Team Norway's "professor", Kjetil Backen. It is still early in the race, and it is well known that the Iditarod Sled Dog Race holds many challenges and surprises down the trail.
March 6
Robert Sørlie has left the checkpoint at Nikolai and is on his way to McGrath. He is currently in 10th position, and is mushing with 13 dogs. He has raced the five hour stretch from Rohn to Nikolai with one of the team's largest dogs in his sled. The Norwegian rookie Sigrid Ekran is keeping an impressive pace. She is currently in 21st position, and resting at Nikolai. Sigrid is proving to be a serious contender to the title "Rookie of the Year" as she keeps the lead on the remaining 25 rookie teams in this year's Iditarod race.
The conditions on the Iditarod trail is proving to be extremely difficult. The lack of snow and the steep ascend from Finger Lake at 979 ft. (298 meters) to Rainy Pass at 3771ft. (1149 meters) where the trail is reported to be very icy, has put some of the most experienced teams out of the competition. The Norwegian teams have come through this tough part of the trail with minor injuries. Robert Sørlie decided to leave one dog behind at the Rohn checkpoint, while Sigrid tended to a broken nose and black eye. Her sled took a beating on the tough stretch, and is reported to be out of alignment. She is, however, continuing in the race, and will have the option of replacing her sled with a reserve at a later checkpoint on the trail.
No less than seven teams scratched at Rainy Pass, including one of the favourites to win this year's race, four- time Iditarod champion Doug Swingley, and 22-race Iditarod veteran Dee Dee Jonrowe, who finished last year's race in fourth place.
March 5
The two Norwegian mushers Robert Sørlie and Sigrid Ekran are well on their way to Nome, having passed the four first check points of the Iditarod trail. This first part of the route offers some of the most challenging terrain, taking the mushers and their dog teams over the Alaska Range. The current conditions on the trail offers dangerous little snow and large, icy patches where some of even the most experienced mushers can run into trouble. Four time Iditarod champion Doug Swingley ran into an accident between Finger Lake and Rainy Pass, suffering broken ribs and a dislocated thumb. He has withdrawn from the race, reducing the favourite "Gang of Four" to three (Martin Buser, Jeff King and Robert Sørlie). Sørlie has now completed 272 miles of the 1,100 long trail to Nome. He is currently resting at Rohn in ninth position.
Sigrid Ekran is on her way to Rohn, currently in 24th position. She has completed 224 miles, and is keeping a good pace in the race. Ekran dropped her dog Sabena at Finger Lake, and is currently mushing with 15 dogs.
March 4
The 2007 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across Alaska started Sunday, March 4. A total of 82 sled dog mushers and their teams will brave the 1,100-mile long sled dog race from Willow to Nome, AK. This year, Team Norway Captain and two-times Iditarod champion (2003, 2005) is back on the trail, seeking his third victory. Robert Sørlie, a 49-year old firefighter from Hurdal, Norway, is the first and only Iditarod chamption from outside of the United States. Having won two of the three races he has entered, Sørlie's winning is unprecedented. He is also the most winning Iditarod musher of this decade.
Sørlie first raced the Iditarod in 2002, finishing ninth as rookie of the year. Sørlie did not race the Iditarod last year, but followed his nephew and fellow Team Norway musher Bjørnar Andersen on the trail as his handler. Back in Alaska, Sørlie and his 16 dogs are most certainly looking to take home a third win.
Sørlie will not be the only Norwegian on the Iditarod trail this year. Sigrid Ekran, a 27-year old Norwegian Master student at University of Alaska Fairbanks is racing the Iditarod for the first time.
Robert Sørlie of Team Norway leaves Anchorage at the ceremonial Start of Iditarod 2007 with IditaRider Dr. Nancy Livingston wearing Bib #1.
Photo: Dean L. Sanders/Hurdal.com
Trude L. Paulsson / Royal Norwegian Embassy