The later winter months in Western Alaska are made busy, each year, through the sled dog and snowmachine (or snowmobile) competitions that our listeners and community members follow so intently.

We’re in the thick of race season, which means our entire mission is keeping extra busy.

Last month, news director Laureli Kinneen had the opportunity to fly to southwestern Alaska – just past the southernmost reach of KNOM’s AM signal – to cover an important sled dog race. The Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race is an annual, popular competition that leads mushers (sled dog team leaders) and their teams over 300 miles of terrain, starting and finishing in the Alaskan hub city of Bethel.

In 2014, for the first time in recent memory, among the K300’s competitors was one of KNOM’s own.

Volunteer engineer and dog musher Rolland Trowbridge (pictured) competed in this year’s K300, as part of his goal to prepare for the 2015 running of the longer Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, another race season event that KNOM covers annually.

Winter events like sled dog mushing are so ingrained in the culture of the region we serve, and they’re such an important and unique part of Alaska. Thank you for helping us to bring coverage of events like the K300 to our listeners. It’s greatly appreciated!