Three mushers are now back into Skwentna, the last checkpoint of the 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and what is being called this year’s “White Mountain”. Dallas Seavey has a lead of one hour and one minute and that could be all he needs to seal a winning finish. That finish will likely happen in the early morning hours of Monday.
The top three teams are taking their mandatory 8 hour in Skwentna. Dallas Seavey is able to leave at 8:44 pm, Aaron Burmeister at 9:45, and Brent Sass at 11:40 pm. These times are based on the times they checked into Skwentna.
Seavey has slimmed down his team to ten dogs, at this point in the race that will likely be an advantage. It’s fewer dogs to change booties for, care for, and feed. Brent Sass has been telling Iditarod Insider that his plan was to get rid of as much weight as possible in Rainy Pass and Rohn so that he could be really light for the final stretch. It’s likely Burmeister and Seavey have done something similar.
Former Iditarod musher Bruce Lee spoke with Iditarod Insider, speculating a likely win for Dallas Seavey.
“Even when we’re going from White Mountain to Nome… an hour usually doesn’t get overtaken. We’ve definitely had upsets historically… but to me, it would be that Dallas would have to make a mistake in taking the wrong dog or say, loading an extra 50 pounds in there which slows him down… And I just don’t think that Dallas makes those kinds of mistakes very often.”
Bruce Lee, Iditarod Insider
There are still 67 miles from Skwentna to Deshka Landing and mushers could still run into challenges. If Seavey wins, it would be his fifth Iditarod win, tying him with Rick Swenson for the winningest musher in Iditarod history.
“I feel like my dogs are in slow motion here,” Buser told the ADN.
Listen to the full KNOM Iditarod Update here:
Image at Top: Dallas Seavey is speedy in Nikolai as he quickly feeds his dogs and gets back on the trail. Photo Credit: David Poyzer, Iditarod 2021.
