Leaders roar into Skwentna Sunday

DAY 1: Big Lake's Martin Buser shows early speed on trail.

Staff and wire reports

Published: March 5, 2007
Last Modified: March 14, 2007 at 06:45 PM

With temperatures heading well below zero, the lead pack of mushers zipped up the Yentna River and reached the Skwentna checkpoint before 9 p.m. Sunday night.

Big Lake's Martin Buser seemed to have the early speed.

Buser, who started 19th Sunday afternoon, averaged 13.4 mph on the 34-mile run between Yentna and Skwentna to pull in at 8:21 p.m. in third place.

Jim Lanier of Chugiak was first into Skwentna at 8:01 p.m., but Lanier had started ninth. Zach Steer of Sheep Mountain was second, arriving at 8:04 p.m. Steer had started seventh.

Mushers left the start line in Willow every two minutes, beginning at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Some mushers will stop to rest in Skwentna. Others will push on another 45 miles to Finger Lake to rest their dogs there. Wherever they stop, mushers can expect a frigid night. The National Weather Service was forecasting wind chills down to minus-40 after midnight, with temperatures on Monday not getting far above zero.

Earlier Sunday, Buser, the four-time champion, relaxed with family, friends and fans around a small grill with sizzling sausages, awaiting his turn to head down trails he knows well.

The 48-year-old, one of three four-time champions hoping to join Rick Swenson of Two Rivers as the race's only five-time champion, expects a wind-swept, hard-packed trail. That means sore muscles and bruises for dogs and mushers -- and maybe some battered sleds.

"I see a lot of bare ground ahead of me," Buser said. "I'm packing a big repair kit, bigger than ever before."

With sunny conditions and temperatures reaching into the teens, mushers gave reassuring pats to their dogs and checked the sled bags for the last time, making sure the requisite items -- including snowshoes, an ax and dog booties -- were on board.

Buser said his team has not "peaked" yet, but he thinks they may soon. That's a good thing in the Iditarod, where even the smallest mistakes or bit a bad luck can dash dreams.

"I feel they are ready for it. I feel they are on the verge of being superior," Buser said when asked about his dog team.

Some of the prerace buzz has focused on the so-called Gang of Four -- Buser, defending champ Jeff King, Doug Swingley of Montana and Robert Sorlie of Norway, who has won twice in three tries.

That doesn't sit well with some of the other top mushers.

"Baloney," said Paul Gebhardt of Kasilof, who finished third last year behind Swingley, the four-time champ from Lincoln, Mont., and King.

Gebhardt said he's returning with almost the same dog team as last year, but his dogs are bigger, stronger and more experienced.

"If they don't take us seriously, they're making a big mistake," he said.

Aliy Zirkle, 37, of Two Rivers, who finished 14th last year, said she doesn't mind all the talk about what she calls "the foursome."

"I would rather they put all the hype on them," Zirkle said.

And Mitch Seavey, 46, of Seward, said his dog team is every bit as good as his champion 2004 team.

Swenson, 56, the winningest musher in race history, said everyone is discussing the wrong number. Think six, he said, not five.

"They're not going to get it. I'm going to get six," said Swenson, who last won in 1991.

This year's race carries a $795,000 purse with prize money awarded to the first 30 teams to finish. It should take about nine days for the race winner to reach Nome.

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