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Another Yukon Quest death - Geronimo, died while on the trail

Another Yukpn Quest death - Geronimo, died while on the trail

http://newsminer.com/view/full_story/11395841/article-And-the-winner-of-the-2011-Yukon-Quest-is--?instance=home_most_popular4

And the winner of the 2011 Yukon Quest is ...who are the real losers in this game?
by Suzanna Caldwell / scaldwell@newsminer.com Fairbanks Daily News Miner
Feb 14, 2011

FAIRBANKS - Three mushers are on the homestretch to the finish line of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.

Dallas Seavey was the first out of the Two Rivers checkpoint, leaving at 12:46 p.m. with 10 dogs. He was followed by Ken Anderson at 12:53 p.m. Anderson had arrived at the checkpoint first, but was assessed a half-hour penalty for failing to sign out of the Mile 101 checkpoint. Anderson had eight dogs in his team. Sebastian Schnuelle followed at 13:26 p.m. with 11 dogs.

From Two Rivers, it’s 75 miles to the finish line on the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks. As of 6 p.m., the SPOT tracker showed Seavey in the lead at Pleasant Valley, followed by Schnuelle and Anderson. A winner is expected between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m.

For the latest updates on the mushers' whereabouts, follow the SPOT Tracker. (http://yukonquest.com/site/live-tracking/)

•••

MILE 101 — Eagle Summit is often a game changer in the Yukon Quest, and this year it’s proving to be a massive one.

Ken Anderson might have grabbed the lead by speeding through the Mile 101 checkpoint, but it was Sebastian Schnuelle who surprised everyone by being the first to make it to the checkpoint at the base of Eagle Summit at 6:29 p.m. Monday.

Schnuelle, the 2009 Quest champion, was the first musher to make it over the summit and surpass Hugh Neff’s seeming insurpassable lead.

Schnuelle was the fourth musher out of Central about noon Monday.

This isn’t the first time he has made big gains on the 3,685-foot summit, or been in nearly the same position. In 2009, he was fifth out of Central, but pushed past mushers stuggling on the summit, and came into Mile 101 first. He won that year.

The weather has been working to his advantage. Schnuelle prefers some difficult weather, but not as much as he’s seen this race.

“If I would have known we’d get all of this, I probably would have withdrawn; I would not have signed up,” he said. “In a way I hope for a little ugly weather, but not this much, not for days on end.”

Neff left Central early Monday morning, but struggled on the trail between the two checkpoints. He led by more than eight hours leaving Central, and had been in first place for almost the entire race. One of Neff’s dogs, Geronimo, died while on the trail. Neff and his team was trucked into Mile 101, where a necropsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.

Earlier, the Tok musher could not get his dogs to get over the summit, where winds were reported to be blowing about 30 miles per hour.

Chatanika musher Dan Kaduce scratched at Mile 101. Kaduce drove his team to the Steese Highway, where he flagged down a passing vehicle. The vehicle drove to Central, where a truck and veterinarian were dispatched to get him and bring him to Mile 101. His reasons for scratching were unclear, but all of his dogs were fine.

Schnuelle was in good spirits inside the tiny checkpoint cabin. When the checkpoint chef asked how many eggs he’d like, he jokingly asked for 10 before going down to three. Named for its milepost on the Steese Highway, only two small cabins and several outhouses make up the entire checkpoint.

Schnuelle said he would stay until the next musher came in. Minutes later, Anderson checked in without stopping. Schnuelle was out the door.

Earlier in the race, Schnuelle said winning didn’t look like an option for him, but he now recognizes that it could be a possibility.

“I’ll take it one at a time as I usually do, but by no means is it packed in the bag,” he said. “One (bad) turn of events and I’m in the same boat.”

Multiple mushers ended their time on the trail Monday. Fort Yukon’s Josh Cadzow scratched in Circle after his dogs caught a virus, rookie Didier Moggia scratched in Eagle, and 2010 champion Hans Gatt scratched in Central after second-degree frostbite on his hands left him unable to continue.

With Neff and Kaduce out of the race, just 14 mushers remain on the trail out of the 25 that began the race on Feb. 5 in Whitehorse, Yukon. The fewest number of finishers to date is 13, in 1995.

The bottom third of the remaining mushers were still on the Yukon River late Monday night, heading to Circle. The front-runners, meanwhile, will leave the Mile 101 checkpoint for the next official stop, a mandatory eight-hour rest at Mile 53 Chena Hot Springs Road. From there, teams head to downtown Fairbanks.

The winner is expected to arrive at the finish line on the Chena River at the Cushman Street bridge later today.

Contact features writer Suzanna Caldwell at 459-7504.

Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - And the winner of the 2011 Yukon Quest is

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Sled dog dies on Yukon Quest trail
Another Yukon Quest death - Geronimo, died while on the trail
The dogs didn't die - they were KILLED

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