Nasty weather stops Iron Dog - again

Slapped by warm winds that whipped up a ground blizzard, the Iron Dog ground to a halt again early Thursday evening as small packs of snowmobilers holed up for the night in White Mountain and Golovin to wait out conditions some race officials called life threatening.

The racers remaining in the 2,000-mile race from Big Lake to Nome to Fairbanks left the City of the Golden Sands at midday under a yellow caution flag. Traveling in small bands for safety, riders slowly headed towards Unalakleet, ducking overflow on creeks and rivers while blinding snow that cut visibility near zero at times.

"It's very nasty, so we're going to hole up in Golovin and White Mountain tonight," Iron Dog treasurer Jim Wilke said by phone. He said the delays in resuming racing made it a "virtual certainty" that Saturday's planned finish in Fairbanks would be postponed.

White Mountain is about 140 miles from Unalakleet on the Seward Peninsula. Golovin is some 120 miles away.

When the racers resume racing is anyone's guess. The big winter storm that rolled in from the southeast had cancelled all flights into Nome since Tuesday night.

Racers meeting with Iron Dog officials Thursday morning in Nome were split about how to proceed.

"There were two camps," Wilke said, "and one of them was basically, 'This is a race, let's go.'

"But in the interest of safety, we decided to yellow flag it and restart in Unalakleet. We would have had guys out there all night long in really tough conditions. You really have to err on the side of safety. This is a race but it's also supposed to be fun.

"But more guys than you might think wanted to drop the flag and go."

Bob TenEyck of the National Weather Service office in Nome said blowing snow made conditions miserable, but as he spoke late Thursday afternoon conditions began improving.

"In the midst of all this horrendousness, I can see a bit of sun poking through to the south," he said.

Snow accumulation in Nome was expected to reach 10 inches. Gusts from the southeast reached 45 mph and the temperature hit 32 degrees.

"It's blowing water up every creek and every river," Wilke said.