The leaders in Iditarod 35 made their way through the Farewell Burn last night, as at least two contenders scratched after crashing their sleds on the way into Rainy Pass. Doug Swingley scratched yesterday morning, saying he hit ice a few miles before the Pass and slid down a frozen waterfall. He’s out with broken ribs. The same spot later beat up Dee Dee Jonrowe, who said her hand was broken and she couldn’t go on.
The surviving teams headed on down to Rohn, with Jason Barron the first to leave there at 9:09 last night, followed by Cim Smyth an hour later. Just behind them, with five to six hours rest that Barron and Smyth didn’t have, were Lance Mackey, Zack Steer and Martin Buser. Mackey had come in to Rohn an hour ahead of Buser at about 4 in the afternoon.
By a little after midnight, close to 20 teams were in Rohn, including Aliy Zirkle, Paul Gebhart, John Baker, Robert Sorlie, Mitch Seavey, Tim Osmar, Rick Swenson, Ramy Brooks and Jeff King.
Meanwhile, APRN’s Annie Feidt reports on yet another innovation Jeff King is bringing to the Iditarod competition this year. In preparation for this year’s race, King has been bedding down his dogs at night in a specially-modified barn. Much like some other world-class athletes training for a big competition, King’s dogs slept in a chamber simulating high altitude conditions.