CNBNews

By Zachariah Hughes

The 53rd Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race kicks off this weekend, with a number of major adjustments for mushers and spectators alike.

Low snow across Southcentral Alaska this winter was looming over the event for weeks, and race organizers ultimately decided to shift the race route north to Fairbanks shortly after reports emerged from snowmachiners and trail crews that a challenging stretch of the trail north of the Alaska Range was completely bare, down to the dirt and rocks.

“We’ve had so much work to do to move us to Fairbanks,” Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach said Wednesday. “It was six months of work in six days.”

The event has moved to Fairbanks three times in the past, in 2003, 2015 and 2017. But this year’s route is slightly different from any precedent. As the result of a loop bringing teams through all three villages along the lower Yukon River, the total mileage this year — 1,128 — will make it the longest Iditarod run so far.

With just 33 mushers slated to compete, this year’s field is tied with 2023 as the smallest of any Iditarod. The inaugural race in 1973 had 34 participants, 22 of whom made it to Nome.

[Meet the mushers of the 2025 Iditarod]

Even the non-competitive parts of the annual wintertime ritual are being affected by the dismal snow conditions in Southcentral. The ceremonial start in Anchorage has been shortened to a quick jaunt from Fourth Avenue downtown to the parking lot of Sullivan Arena, roughly a mile and a half away. Given that teams won’t be darting down the usual 11 miles that comprise parts of the city’s greenbelt, many “trailgate” parties have been canceled.

“We don’t have snow,” said Karl Heidelbach, the race’s Anchorage start coordinator. “We’d like to go further, but we can’t.”

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