Update 4:22 p.m. The Department of Transportation says Eagle Summit is open, but travelers should be prepared for winter conditions.


FAIRBANKS — It may look like four-time Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race champion Lance Mackey is on the hunt for his fifth win, but not if you ask him.

His goal? To start the race conservatively, ramping up to win the 4 ounces of placer gold in Dawson City and then on to finish in the top five. But goals are just goals and the realities of the race may not work in Mackey’s favor.

“If those happen, that would be a successful year for me,” Mackey said. “But I’m not expecting that. I have zero expectations. I’m going to have some fun, run some dogs and see how it turns out.”

Mackey, 44, said this is a rebuilding year. The team that led him to four Quest wins and four consecutive Iditarod wins is done racing.

“I ran them a lot, in a lot of different races, and they’re old all of a sudden,” he said. “Age-wise they’re not that old, but physically and mentally, they’re old. I learned that I put too much on them at an early age.”

This year’s Quest is Mackey’s first 1,000-mile outing since last year’s Iditarod, where he finished 16th. While his older team may be done, Mackey said he still has a “pretty good core” of eight to 10 dogs in his race lineup. He noted that in previous Quests he had 10 dogs going into Dawson, the same 10 dogs that led him to a first-place finish.

“I’m not saying I’m going to go win the Quest or Iditarod ever again, but I’ll damn sure have a team that’s capable,” he said.

This year’s race might have a small field of 24, but it’s one with plenty of depth. Besides Mackey, 1984 Quest champion Sonny Lindner is making his sixth Quest appearance.

Brent Sass, who placed fourth in 2011, is the top returning finisher from last year. Sass said he plans to be in contention to win this year. Training was tough in Eureka this season, he said, giving him the strongest team he’s ever had.

Also back is Hugh Neff, a perennial top finisher whose monumental lead for over half of the 2011 race was squashed when his team stalled on Eagle Summit. Neff said this year’s race will be dedicated to Geronimo, his dog who died in the attempt to cross the summit.

“(Geronimo’s) with me in spirit,” Neff said. “A lot of his brothers and sisters are on the team, and we’re doing this race for him.”

Neff calls his 2012 team “veterans with attitude.” Most of his dogs have run the Quest three or four times and some of his 6- or 7-year-old dogs have done seven or eight 1,000-mile races.

“They’re not super old, but they’re super experienced,” he said.

With over half the field comprised of rookies, there could always be a surprise. Big Lake musher Jake Berkowitz has notched several mid-distance wins in recent years, including the Copper Basin 300 in 2011 and this year’s Knik 200. In the 2009 Iditarod he finished 31st. Kristy Berington of Kasilof placed 29th in the 2011 Iditarod and will be running the Quest with a team from Paul Gebhardt’s kennel.

Trail update

The trail on the Alaska side of the race is in fairly good shape, according to Race Marshal Hans Oettli. However, with snow falling and warming weather in the Fairbanks area, things could change rapidly.

“We hope not too much,” Oettli said. “Out (on the trail) it is still much cooler than here, so we might be lucky.”

Trail breakers on Thursday reported two spots of overflow — one outside of checkpoint Mile 101 and another, about 4 inches deep, on Birch Creek. Last year mushers ran into chest-deep overflow on the same creek in miserably frigid temperatures that hovered near 50 below zero.

Eagle Summit is bare, Oettli said. Not an uncommon situation for the 3,685-foot, steep summit between Mile 101 and Central.

“One in 10 years there is enough snow to be comfortable,” he said. “This is not one of those years.”

Oettli received a trail report from the Canadian Rangers five days ago. The report said the trail on the Canada side has more snow than it’s had in many years — 3 to 4 feet in some places — which makes for a beautiful trail when groomed. No overflow was reported.

But Dawson, Carmacks and Whitehorse have all seen rain recently, and that is expected to change trail conditions.

“It’s always the same thing,” Oettli said. “What is good today, might not be there tomorrow. It’s the same for everybody, you just have to deal with what comes.”

Rule change

Mushers this year will for the first time be able to declare when they wish to take their first mandatory four-hour stop, either at Mile 101 or Central. The system is similar to how the Iditarod allows mushers to decide when and where to take certain mandatory stops. Last year, the first stop was done at the first checkpoint on the Canada side, Braeburn. The stops are crucial in that they allow veterinarians to do complete physical checks of the teams. The first stop also includes the start time differential.

Oettli said mushers have regularly requested to choose where to stop. This year will serve as a trial — if choosing the stop works, the race will stick with it. If it doesn’t, they’ll change it.

By having two spots to declare the stop, it means more work for officials and veterinarians. Oettli admitted that he was not in favor of the change.

“I don’t think the veterinarians are either, because, worst-case scenario, it creates double work,” he said.

It could also create a little race drama. If a musher declares a mandatory stop at Mile 101 and decides to leave before the allotted time is completed and before veterinarians have started examining dogs, that is considered legal. However, the musher must again declare it and take the full four-hour stop in Central.

“My feeling is that a lot of mushers will declare in 101 for strategic reasons because the competitor will think, ‘Oh yeah, he’s going to stay so I can scoot out and beat him.’ Well, that other musher can have a laugh and say ‘Yeah, I’m declaring it, but I’m not taking it,’” Oettli said.

The race starts at 11 a.m. today in downtown Fairbanks. The Yukon Quest 300 starts at 3 p.m.

Contact features editor Suzanna Caldwell at 459-7504 or follow on Twitter @FDNMQuest. The official Yukon Quest hashtag on Twitter is #YQ2012.