It's hard to fathom what it would be like crossing 1,100 miles (1,770 km) of Alaskan wilderness on a dogsled. The frigid conditions alone would make many adventurers think twice about this challenge. Throw in unexpected encounters with angry moose and dangerous journeys across melting lakes, and readers have an idea of what the remarkable race called the Iditarod is all about. From its heroic beginnings to its most amazing winners, all aspects of this dogsled race are covered with special attention to the real athletes, the dogs!
For use in schools and libraries only. The author recounts her experiences in the 1985 Iditarod race from Anchorage to Nome Alaska, and shares her insights on strategy, sled dogs, and winter survival.
Paulsen and his team of dogs endured snowstorms, frostbite, dogfights, moose attacks, sleeplessness, and hallucinations in the relentless push to go on. Map and color photographs.
This is the definitive story of the Iditarod, the dogsled race that has been run for over a century--told in brisk inviting stories and fully illustrated with color photographs, including updated information through the 2018 race. The famed 1000-mile dogsled race from Anchorage in Southeast Alaska to Nome on the Bering Sea is a test of endurance, both human and canine. The great history of the race has unfolded in the accounts of mushers and dog teams, fierce weather, accidents and good luck--with personalities like Joe Redington Sr., Rick Swenson, and Libby Riddles being joined by Lance Mackey, DeeDee Jonrowe, and Mitch & Dallas Seavey in recent years. The book is thoroughly illustrated with Jeff Schultz's photography, including coverage of the most recent runnings of the Iditarod.
Joe Redington Sr. was an ordinary man with extraordinary dreams—and buckets of determination! His vision was as vast as the majestic Alaska landscape he loved to explore. This firsthand account is of the man whose love for the Alaskan husky and the Iditarod Trail evolved into the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Joe’s adventurous spirit, fierce perseverance, and creative heart burned strong within his character and enabled the impossible to become a reality. His spell-binding stories and genuine love of Alaska drew people into his dreams. This is the story of those unique feats that defined Joe’s life, and built the foundation for the most demanding and famous sled dog race in the world.
“Adrenaline-pumping . . . [A] polished action mystery . . . [with] dazzling Arctic sights.” —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review Winner of the Macavity Award and the Anthony Award Murder on the Iditarod Trail is a gripping mystery set during Alaska’s world-famous Iditarod: a grueling eleven-hundred-mile dogsled race across hazardous Arctic terrain. It is an arduous sport, but not a deadly one. But suddenly the top Iditarod contestants are dying in bizarre ways: first a veteran musher smashes into a tree, then competitors begin turning up dead, with each murder more brutal than the last. State trooper Alex Jensen begins a homicide investigation, determined to track down the killer before more blood stains the pristine Alaskan snow. Meanwhile, Jessie Arnold, Alaska’s premier female musher, has a shot at winning for the first time. But as her position in the race improves, so do her chances of being the killer’s next target. As the mushers thread their way through the treacherous trails, Jessie and Jensen are drawn deep into the frozen heart of the perilous wild: where nature can kill as easily as a bullet and only the Arctic night can hear your final screams. “Engrossing . . . The howling winds, the snow, the ice, the dancing away from wolves, the crazing fatigue, the welcome heat and food, are almost palpable.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review “Excellent . . . well-paced, well-conceived, engrossing . . . moves along like a healthy, well-trained dog team.” —The Anchorage Times “A book that will give you a feel for how the Iditarod is . . . Sue Henry has a genius for characterization, plot, and setting.” —Mystery News
In 1985, Libby Riddles made history by becoming the first woman to win the 1,100-mile Iditarod Sled Dog Race. This brand-new edition of Riddles's timeless adventure story is complete with updated narrative details, sidebars on all aspects of the race, photographs, and all-new illustrations by beloved illustrator Shannon Cartwright. An inspiration to children and adults everywhere, this is a compelling first-hand account of the arctic storms, freezing temperatures, loyal sled dogs, and utter determination that defined Riddles's Iditarod victory.
The Iditarod may be the only race that awards a prize for last place. But then how many people can even complete a course that ranges across 1,000 miles of Alaska's ice fields, mountains, and canyons at temperatures that sometimes plunges to 100 degrees below zero? In conditions like these, anything can go wrong. For Brian Patrick O'Donoghue, nearly everything did. In My Lead Dog Was a Lesbian, his reporter and intrepid novice musher tells what happened when he entered the 1991 Iditarod, along with seventeen sled dogs with names like Harley, Screech, and Rainy, his sexually confused lead dog. O'Donoghue braved snowstorms and sickening wipeouts, endured the contempt of more experienced racers (one of whom was daft enough to use poodles), and rode herd of four-legged companions who would rather be fighting or having sex. It's all here, narrated with self-deprecating wit, in a true story of heroism, cussedness and astonishing dumb luck.
