Nic Petit First to Ambler

Nicolas Petit in Cripple

The sun was just creeping over Bornite Mountain when Nicolas Petit rode into Ambler in first position. It’s the third checkpoint in the Kobuk 440 and where mushers tend to take longer rests.

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16 Teams Depart Kobuk 440 Start in Kotzebue

Snowy sled dog, Ambler

Sixteen dog teams took off from Kotzebue this afternoon at the start of the 2018 Kobuk 440. Leading the pack across the sea ice was this year’s Iditarod Rookie of the Year, Jessie Holmes. Absent was Kotzebue musher Katherine Keith, although some of her kennel’s dogs will be on the trail.

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17 Mushers Registered for 2018 Kobuk 440 (Updated)

Past Iditarod champion Jeff King with his team in Shungnak during Kobuk 440. Photo: Francesca Fenzi, KNOM (2015)

Out of the 17 teams currently registered to race the 2018 Kobuk 440 — from Kotzebue to Kobuk and back, starting April 12 — about half are women. With fewer than 20 mushers on the roster, the funds remaining after the champion’s prize will be doled out among the total number of finishers at the end of the race.

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Norway’s Ulsom Wins Iditarod

At Iditarod finish line, musher interacts with race officials and smiles for press photos.

Last month marked another running of Alaska’s epic, 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. 2018 brought a fresh face to the roster of race champions — and saw KNOM volunteer alumni on the trail, both as reporters and even as a competitor.

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Ulsom Wins Iditarod 2018

Close-up of musher Joar Leifseth Ulsom, wearing blue hat, sunglasses, black parka

Joar Leifseth Ulsom is the champion of Iditarod 2018. The Norwegian musher claimed his first Iditarod win at 3:01am Wednesday, arriving under the Burled Arch with 8 dogs.

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