Five below isn’t exactly warm weather.
But for Ray Redington, Jr., training in temperate Wasilla didn’t prepare him or his dogs for the 30- to 40-below temps they’ve seen in the races this year. Redington is driving an older Iditarod team this year—with 13 of the 14 dogs he mushed in the recent Yukon Quest.
But this time around, he says his team is adapting well to the long, cold runs. “There’s a little more excitement here with more teams around.”
Redington credits his leaders with keeping the whole team together. That’s Oklahoma and DOG [Dee-Oh-Gee]. Looking ahead to the coast, he’ll be relying on them for safe passage along the familiar trail.
“It’s been 40- and 50-above down there,” says Montana’s Jessie Royer. “Even some days it hit 70. It’s been like springtime.”
Royer took her team to higher, snowier elevation to train this season, but even in Montana’s hills, the snow has been slush. Still, her team has been racing strong at the head of the pack. And for Royer herself? Not many complaints.
“I’m hanging in there just fine. I just don’t have a thermometer, so I don’t know how cold it really is,” she laughed. “I don’t want to know how cold it really is out there.”
