Extreme Winds Force Teams to Drop Out

Extreme Winds Force Teams to Drop Out

Thursday, February 24, 2011 at 13:30

 

 

Bitterly cold winds are taking their toll on teams in the Canadian Challenge Sled Dog Race between Prince Albert and La Ronge.

 

Four teams have had to drop out along the way – mushers Harold Johnson, Dena Wannamaker, Rick Wannamaker and Marvin Lizotte had their races come to a close early.

 

Musher Sid Robinson arrived in La Ronge just after 10:00 this morning.

 

Robinson says the wind has been “really bad” on Lac La Ronge, and was also a problem on Molanosa Lake yesterday. He says it’s hard on the dogs, who have a better chance of getting hurt if they’re cold.

 

The wind was gusting between 27 and 36 kilometres per hour last night when teams were traveling towards La Ronge, creating windchills of nearly -40 degrees Celsius.

 

Robinson says that made for a cold night for both him and the dogs, since they couldn’t get completely out of the wind.

 

The President of the Gateway North Sled Dog Association, Gill Gracie, says all dogs are checked by a vet at the La Ronge checkpoint.

 

Teams are arriving in La Ronge and preparing to move along to Grandmother’s Bay.

 

At last word, frontrunner Aaron Peck had passed through the Lynx Lake checkpoint, dropping one dog and continuing on with eight. He is one of several mushers that have been forced to leave dogs behind along the way.

 

Three more teams are already on their way north, with a couple of teams in La Ronge and five more on the way including the two remaining eight-dog teams.

 

Teams will continue to arrive at Patterson Park through the day. The eight-dog teams will finish their race in La Ronge while the twelve-dog teams will continue up north before returning by the weekend.