Great video by Mike Curiak of last year's race.

Check out Mike Curiak's video he made last year during the Invitational race traveling by bike himself.
2011 Iditarod Trail Invitational race video

Fan Packages at Winter Lake Lodge available in 2012

Winter Lake Lodge is offering fan packages at special rates for race fans for the 2012 Iditarod Trail Invitational. Fly out to this remote lodge and check point of the Invitational race and watch the racers come through. Check out dog mushing with Carl and enjoy Kirsten Dixon's award-winning cuisine. Contact WithinTheWild directly at:
info@withinthewild.com

Winter has arrived in Alaska

Winter has arrived in Alaska. While Alaska's coastal villages got pounded with winds and storm surges in the last few days,Southcentral received a significant amount of snow recently.Temperatures have been well below freezing at night and the rivers are starting to freeze up. Lakes are freezing over and Alaskans are getting excited about winter travel.

" Ice on the large lakes means that winter has come to Alaska. Ponds become meadows, lakes are landing strips and our rivers return to being highways." I am quoting John Schandelmeier, longtime Alaskan here in a recent article in the ADN.

Read more: http://www.adn.com/2011/11/07/2159580/ice-on-lakes-means-winter-is-truly.html

And he is right. Winter time is the time to travel to places in Alaska otherwise out of reach in the summer months.

It is also the time we have our race on the Iditarod Trail. And with the arrival of winter we are getting excited about the race. For about two months of the year this imaginary line in the Alaskan landscape comes alive with mushers, racers,bikers, skiers, runners,dogs and snowmobiles on the trail. We are looking forward to this time of year.

The race roster has been full with a long list of qualified racers.

We still hava spaces left in our winter training camp from January 23-27, 2012.
Upon completion participants receive approval to enter the 2013 Iditarod Trail Invitational.

See you in Alaska this winter.

Kathi Merchant

September 2 Iditarod Trail Invitational updates

Hello All,      Kathi and I have just finished our summer guiding season here in Alaska with back to back trips, rafting the Marsh Fork of the Canning River on the north slope of the Brooks Range and paddling the Savonoski Loop in Katmai National Park. Seems like summer was gone in a flash. Now we go south for a fall MTB guiding season in Utah. Before we know it it will be time to switch from dust and slickrock to ice and snow back in Alaska.        After two years of near perfect conditions I wonder what surprises the Trail holds for 2012. This is year 15 on the Trail for me either competing or breaking trail on a machine. I have been asked why I don't get tired of the same trail. I probably couldn't explain it to someone who has to ask. I have never seen the same Trail twice anyway and that includeds years I rode machines from Knik to McGrath and back to Knik. Something for racers who have only experienced the smiling face of the Iditarod Trail to keep in mind when trimming gear etc. for this years race is ," It ain't always that way!" You never know when we will be wading knee deep river wide over flow at -30 ( had to throw that one in for you Mr.O) pushing bikes over half the way to McGrath in soft snow, rain turning to wet snow with temps dropping to -35 overnight, I could go on and on but I am sure all of you have done your homework and read the reports from past years. Being prepared for a "What if???" can save fingers and toes or even your life. All that said the best stories come out of overcoming adversity not relaxing on blue bird days. Here's hoping this year's race leaves us with a lot of stories to tell and on the right side of the grass to tell them afterwards.                                        We look forward to seeing all of you on the Iditarod Trail.                                                                                       Bill and Kathi

The 2012 race roster is full! 2012 dates for winter training camps

The 2012 race roster is full! There is a long waiting list for racers that didn't receive a spot. The race will start Sunday, February 26th @ 2:00 PM. Bill and I are spending some time in Southern Utah currently mountain biking and getting ready for our guiding season in Alaska. We will answer racer's e-mails and questions about the race between trips whenever we are near a computer.

We have set three dates for our winter training camps since there has been a lot of interest this year.
Those are designed to prepare athletes without previous cold weather experience for the conditions during the 350 mile race on the Iditarod Trail, in order to finish the race safely and sucessful. The sucess rate among the participants of our camps is very high. Participants that complete the camp successfully will receive a spot in the race the following year.

We hope everyone has a great summer full of adventures and look forward to seeing everyone next February.

Kathi Merchant

2012 race roster published today.

The 2012 race roster was published today. A waiting list will be kept.

Entries for the 2012 race

We have received many applications by race veterans and race rookies over the last week. Bill and I are evaluating the rookie entries and choose the most qualified rookies for the 2012 race. We will publish the 2012 race roster next week.