| Home | Accomplishments | 2006 Sponsors | Store | Pictures | FAQ | Jessie's Iditarod Story |
 Hi Sled dog Fans! WOW! What a season so far! This has been an amazing winter. As most of you know, I drove to Montana in December to train in the mountains and to get my dogs used to the warmer weather. It certainly paid off. The dogs did really well. Our first race was the 8th of January in France. It was called the La Grande Odyssee, a 1000 kilometer race through the Alps. To get there I left Montana on the 2nd of January and drove with my dogs to Chicago (about 1500 miles). Each team was allowed 14 dogs. All the dogs and gear were then loaded on to Air France Cargo for the flight over to France. There were 5 other teams that also flew out from Chicago - two from Alaska, one from Canada, and two from the lower 48. It was a long flight over--about 8 hours. Once there we had to go through customs. We were at the airport almost 14 hours by the time we arrived and were able to pick the dogs up and leave. I was very excited to be in Paris but bummed that I had to spend the whole day at the airport instead of seeing some of the sights! They definitely had a hard time keeping me there. I was anxious to get going and see the country. When the dogs did finally arrive (they were on a different flight then I was), it was quite the media show. I was asked by the race officials if I would like to go and put my makeup on because there were going to be a lot of cameras when the dogs arrived. I just laughed and said "yeah right!" I never wear makeup--why start now. Anyway there were so many cameras that it was hard to even get to the dogs. And the dogs were anxious to get out. They had been in those kennels for almost 20 hours! All the mushers that flew in were given vans to drive during the race to transport their dogs and gear. They were very nice brand new vans loaned to the race organization as a sponsor. Pretty fancy!  The next day it was finally time to get serious and race! At 4:30pm, the teams took off at 2 minute intervals. It was 30 miles to the first checkpoint. Wow! It was a tough 30 miles. I knew racing in the Alps was not going to be easy, but in just the first run I found out why. I can now say that I have skied the Alps......with a dog team! Some places were so steep and long that I thought my lungs were going to burst before I got to the top as I was running behind the sled. Then just when you thought you were going to pass out you would make it to the top only to have the daylights scared out of you going down the other side! Just before the checkpoint, we came to a small village where the trail went right down a paved street! I had very little control over the dogs and the trail was not marked very well. I was beginning to wonder if I was on the right trail so I tried to ask some of the locals if this was where I was supposed to be. I quickly learned this was the next biggest hurdle in the race. I could not speak French and they could not speak English. Needless to say they were not any help. I continued down the pavement and finally came to a marked trail. Yes! I was the first team into the checkpoint. Boy, was there a lot of people and music-loud music! I was worried about the dogs getting rest. I knew they would never sleep with all the commotion going on so the race officials let us put some of the dogs in the vans. 
The next leg was 35 miles and since I was the first team in I was the first team out. With only 3 hours of rest and a few fresh dogs on the team (we could rotate dogs in this race) we took off on the second leg. I was told that this leg would be easier and not as steep. Yeah right! There is no such thing as 'not steep' in the Alps! With only 8 dogs in the team I ran a lot. We went to the top of every peak around...or so it felt. There were places I thought I might want to exchange my dogs for a team of goats! It was definitely one of the most technically challenging trails that I have ever been on. We traveled bridges over waterfalls and switchbacks so sharp (180 degrees or more) that the dogs would almost run off the trail because they thought it had just disappeared on them. It took them a few days to figure out that the trail turned so sharp it was now behind them. The only problem at first was that usually the switchbacks were on very, very steep hills. If the dogs missed the turn they would start to run off what was almost a cliff. Making those corners was no easy chore with a sled either! It was nighttime, so I was running with a headlamp. And since I was the first team that meant there were no tracks for me to follow. The trail was very poorly marked so I had to keep stopping and looking for markers. After almost 4 hours on the trail we finally pulled into the checkpoint.... very tired. The race schedule called for us to leave again in just 3 hours. None of the other teams were even in yet. It was almost an hour after I got in that the next team finally pulled in. The officials decided to call a halt to the race. It was getting obvious that the schedule they had planned for us was not workable. About 5 of the 18 teams got lost along the way due to poor trail markings. Times for this stage were later cancelled because of the lost mushers. I was very upset about this decision as I had worked very hard to find the trail and was able to stay on it. I think finding and staying on the trail is part of the race. I had a pretty big lead over second place but it was lost because of that cancelled stage.
Due to poor snow conditions, the last sections of the trail in this first stage were also cancelled. They were supposedly harder than what we had already been over. No thanks! If it was harder then I didn't want to see it. The race officials had to reorganize and figure out what to do about the poor conditions of the trails. The next day we ran a very short leg of only 4 miles. It was all uphill on a very icy trail. We could run the dogs up but not down. The solution? No problem--just load the dogs up in the gondola for the ride back down! That was interesting. Our handlers met us at the top and we each took 3 dogs in a gondola and rode down the mountain. These dogs were going to be well traveled before this race was over. After that, we ran 3 more legs over some of the same trails we had already been over with a few new ones too. On stage #5 the trail went up over a pass that was unbelievable! I would have never thought you could take a dog team over it. I was definitely wishing for a team of goats at the time. My team of 8 dogs did marvelous job though. After much huffing and puffing we made it to the top. Once there my sled was still going up when my dogs started to disappear over the other side. Oh boy! As I went flying over the top my foot got caught under my drag pad (brake) and my leg was dragging under the sled as we went barreling down this very steep hill. I was able to get the team stopped and get back on the sled without too much trouble. Then it was oh boy hang on till the bottom! Once at the bottom all the teams had to stop for about an hour and a half until the ski lifts closed. Hmmm. What could that mean? The whole last half of the 5th stage was on ski runs. I thought this was a dog sled race not a downhill ski race! I was getting pretty good at hanging on on the down hills and also getting better about running up the up hills (at least I didn't think I was going to die before the top anymore). Stage #6 was the last run for the first half of the race. It was a short leg that ended back at the ski resort of Avoriaz. It was a beautiful day out, blue sky, and maybe even a little too warm but you couldn't ask for a better ending especially with all the awesome peaks surrounding us as we came across the finish line. During this first half we traveled through several different ski resorts including a few in Switzerland. I felt very lucky to have been invited to come and race here. What a beautiful race and to top it all off I was still in the lead after 6 stages and almost 150 miles of racing. Sweet! My dogs were doing really well. They were so strong on the hills that not a team in the race could keep up with us. We passed all the teams in the hills. I have to say I really liked that feeling of power! Dog power that is! Even after all those stages, my dogs barely looked like they had even done anything. I was asked by a reporter after the first half if I thought I could keep up the pace and what would I say to all the other teams that were trying to catch me? My answer? Most definitely and good luck....they're going to need it! After the awards and the closing ceremony for the first part of the race, all the teams got two days off to travel to our next location, Haute Maurienne Vanoise. All the mushers and their handlers got apartments in a little village called Bramans. This area of the Alps was quite different from the ski resort of Avoriaz. I really liked the small town feel of this whole area. The villages were so cool! All the buildings were made out of stone and it was fun to learn about the history of the area. For this second half of the race, the schedule was more of a long distance format with longer and more continuous runs. We started in the town of Lanslebourg and went through the villages of Bramans, Bessans, Bonneval, Lanslevillard, and Termignon. We also climbed a pass up to a big reservoir called Le Col du Mont Cenis that was absolutely beautiful! After traveling around the reservoir (which took us very close to Italy), we stopped at a checkpoint called Base Polaire or Polar Base as most of us called it. The 13th Bataillon Alpins of the French Army hosted this checkpoint for the race. WOW! What an awesome job they did. First, they carried all of the mushers' gear for the dogs to the top. Then they had straw for the dogs, hot water to feed them, huge heated tents for the mushers to sleep in, message therapists for the mushers, and wonderful hot food for the mushers, their handlers and the race officials. It was quite the buffet too! All the soldiers were so nice. I got a chance to talk to a few of them that spoke English and really enjoyed visiting with them. They really made it a great experience for me. During this 300 miles of racing we had the privilege of stopping here for a rest 3 times. The view over the reservoir with the mountain peaks behind made it just icing on the cake! The schedule for this second half was pretty much to run 30 to 50 miles, stop and rest for 7 to 9 hours, then go again. The dogs were getting plenty of rest and we could still rotate dogs except when we were at Polar Base. There the team stayed the same. The trail was a little bit easier than it was at Avoriaz (thank goodness!). There were a few flat spots (really!) and the terrain in general wasn't as steep. Although there was that one ski hill.......wow. It was definitely a tough one. Parts of the trail were more in the sun so that meant it was very hard and icy with sidehills and sharp switchbacks. I would definitely call it extreme dog sledding! I was getting pretty good at those switchbacks and finding the challenging trail really fun now. Call me crazy, but yes I said fun. I had even started to run 10 dogs on them instead of the 8-dog team I did at the beginning. The last night of the race while we were all camped at Polar Base, a big storm came in and weathered us in pretty good. Of course we were all up on this big pass with no protection from the wind and snow. We had a visibility of about 10 yards. Some snow machines tried to make it through but were unable to see the trail so they had to turn back. The race officials decided to not time this leg of the race and just have all the teams caravan off the mountain together before the storm got worse. Once we found that it was not going to be timed several of us did not want to wait around for any caravan. I went out and hooked up my dogs and took off. I was the first team out so there was no trail. It was dark and snowing and blowing so hard that I could not even see my lead dogs in front of me. I had 8 dogs and my two leaders were Leo and Spider. Leo is my best storm leader. He has gotten me through many storms before so I just said "all right Leo let's get the heck out of this storm" and away we went. Even though I could not see him I had total faith in him to get us off that mountain. It wasn't long before we were back down to tree level and the wind wasn't so bad. There was about a foot of new snow on the ground so it made a little slower trail but I think the dogs really were enjoying the change. I know a few other teams left the camp not long after I did, but I never saw them until everyone started coming into the next checkpoint. I led the whole way and ran most of it with my headlamp off. I knew the dogs knew where they were going so it really made a nice and peaceful run in the dark. I even sang a little bit to the dogs and they just seemed to be happy running in the deep snow. It was as if they knew it wasn't being timed, so the pressure was off and they could just relax and have fun. What a night! The last leg of the race was going to be about 35 miles and passed through most of the villages before finishing in Lanslebourg. I was talked into letting a filming crew put cameras on my sled for this last run. There was one focused on the dogs and one on me (I think the lens broke on this one). I still haven't gotten to see the footage of it all yet. They had been filming the entire race and wanted to get a different perspective for the movie/video they are making of the race. I definitely want a copy of that when it comes out. After almost 450 miles of racing and staying ahead of 17 other mushers from 8 different countries, my dogs loped across the finish line as the champions of the 2005 La Grande Odyssee! Way to go guys! There were a lot of people at the finish line cheering all the teams in. It was really great to see. Kuling, Spider, Leo, Sawyer, Judd, Maya, Slurp, Turtle, Bower, Dusty, Dottie, Kate, Aztec, and Souix--you are definitely the BEST! I love my dogs....they rock! I also have to say that a HUGE part of my team's success was do to the best handler I have ever had for a race and that was Brent Sass from Fairbanks, Alaska. He was awesome! He was always on top of everything that needed to be done, including dog care and keeping my sled in top running condition. The runners on my sled were always waxed and ready to go. I definitely had an all around first class team. Thanks to all my dogs, Brent, and everyone at home who supported us and cheered us on! It was sad seeing the race end and knowing we had to pack up to go home. We had been in France traveling with all these other really neat teams for almost 3 weeks now. It was kinda like a big traveling family. I had gotten to know some of the mushers that I hadn't known before and was really enjoying their company. I had an absolute blast getting to do some last minute sight seeing and shopping with Carol (3rd place Grant Beck's wife) and her sister, along with Mary (8th place Tim Hunt's wife). It was a long 10-hour drive back to Paris from Haute Maurienne Vanoise in those vans. Although it was late when we got there Grant & Carol and their crew along with Brent and I just couldn't resist a whirlwind tour of Paris at night. You can't fly into Paris, spend almost 3 weeks in France and not get to see a little bit of Paris! At least that was my thinking. We had dinner at a neat little restaurant by the Tour Eiffel then drove around siteseeing as many places as we could until no one could stay awake anymore (about 3am). Many thanks to our friends in Paris for showing us crazy North Americans around in the middle of the night! The next morning all the teams flying out caravaned to the airport for the flight home. We had a guide we were all following since none of us knew how to get there. Great! Only one problem though. It was rush hour traffic in Paris! The French make driving here seem like a piece of cake! It may not have been so bad, but since none of us knew where to go and we were all trying to follow each other with the first guy following our guide, it was really crazy! Cars would cut in and I was starting to get too far behind. Afraid I was going to lose the vans in front of me, I had to get really aggressive and start cutting other people off to catch back up. Always up for another challenge I was actually starting to have fun driving like a maniac! Once at the airport all the dogs and gear where loaded up on Air France Cargo again for the 9 1/2 hour flight home. After the dogs were dropped off, all the mushers and handlers, except for Tim Hunt and his wife and John Schandelmeier, went to catch our own flight. Tim, Mary and John were to ride with the dogs on the cargo plane. Good thing they were there too. As the cargo crew loaded the dog kennels onto pallets, one of the kennels fell off the forklift and the door came open. Of course you guessed it, it just happened to be one of my dogs. Turtle got out and was so scared by all the people and planes that he was running all over the tarmac. Normally, if a dog gets on the tarmac the officials there just shoot it. Fortunately, they were able to get ahold of Tim, Mary and John. They all spent the next 2 to 3 hours chasing him around the runways and tarmac. Turtle is kinda shy to anyone but me so you can imagine how freaked out he was. Several cars were chasing him with planes taking off overhead. Tim and John kept trying to get everyone to quit chasing him knowing this was making things worse. But of course none of the people chasing Turtle could speak English so you can see how far that got them.... nowhere. Eventually they were able to get Turtle headed into the building where the other dogs were. Once Turtle saw the other dogs he just sat down and finally let Tim catch him. Thank God! I never found out about any of this until the dogs arrived in Chicago. Talk about leaving Paris with a flurry! Anyway, we are now back in Montana and getting ready for Iditarod. My big project right now is getting all my supplies for food drop done and shipped for the race. I usually send out around 2200 pounds of supplies along the way. That includes everything from dog food, booties, vet supplies, extra clothes and food for me to runner plastic for the sled. I will do some long runs with the dogs and maybe even some camping trips to get them ready as well. One more month to the start! I will probably be driving back to Alaska around the 22nd of February. There is a lot to do between now and then. I have full confidence in my dogs and their ability so I am anxious to see how they do. What ever the results though I know we will sure do our best and for that I will always be proud of my dogs. Thank you to everyone who has helped my team and I this year! We couldn't do this without the help of so many friends and family. It has already been a successful year! Thanks! Or as they say in France - Merci Beaucoup! Happy Trails to everyone! The 'J' team Jessie and team |