It was so hard to believe that today (Friday) was the last day of the conference. While we have done so much each and every day that last weekend feels like a lifetime ago, time has also just absolutely flown by. On the final day of the conference, there are several speakers lined up to tell us about their various roles within the Iditarod. We heard from  Rob Urbach, Iditarod CEO; Wes Erb, Head Pilot on Iditarod Air Force; Mark Nordman, Race Director & Race Marshal; Liz Millman, Return Dog Coordinator; Amy Miller and Reece Roberts, two coordinators from Race Communications. 

Iditarod Air Force is extremely fascinating. This team consists of about 25 volunteer pilots who bring their own aircrafts to help out during the race. Flying and pilots play an extremely important role in this event - they begin by helping to transport all of the drop bags and supplies around to the various checkpoints in order to get the checkpoints set up and ready to go for the race. They are responsible for flying out all of the staff and volunteers who are assigned to the checkpoints, flying return dogs to their assigned hubs to be picked up by handlers or to the quickest location where emergency vet care can be rendered should an emergency occur, picking up and bringing back drop bags left behind as well as hauling the trash out of checkpoints, and they also fly around the Teacher on the Trail. There are some Cargo planes that are also used by Iditarod for various purposes that can carry more, however those planes can only land where there is a runway. The small "bush" planes have skiis and can land on water/ice/snow as necessary - and it's very necessary to have that capability along the trail. Most checkpoints do not have more than a frozen lake, or at best a strip of snow covered land used as a landing pad or runway. Wes Erb explained that in what they do, dog care is always first priority - should there be return dogs that need priority care that cannot be provided at the checkpoint where they were left, a pilot's plan/schedule will be diverted to get that dog where it needs to go first, the rest can wait. 

Race Communications is a major component of this event. There are "comms" personnel (all volunteers) stationed at the Lakefront hotel in Anchorage (we were assigned a 6 hour shift there for Sunday night/Monday morning from midnight-6am). There are also comms volunteers at all checkpoints along the trail, and even working remotely across the United States! The supplies necessary to make comms work throughout such remote locations is incredible. Bins are filled up with all things possibly needed related to comms work - clipboards with attached writing utensils, office supplies, extension cords, electrical lighting, duct tape, satellite phones, etc. Each bin is labeled with where it goes along the trail, and different supplies may be needed between one location another. A lot of planning goes into make sure those bins have everything they need. Each comms volunteer going out on the trail also take a backpack full of needed supplies. It is the responsibility of the trail comms to transfer information such as when mushers arrive into checkpoints, leave checkpoints, the number of dogs they have, etc. In places with internet access this is done via Google Sheets as multiple people can be recording and/or viewing information at one time, thereby making the process of communicating that information more efficient. Other checkpoints however, may have to gather as much information as they can and then every so often make a call to Anchorage comms by satellite phone.  I know I've said it before, but the intricacies of the logistics that go into this are absolutely mind-blowing. I also thought it was great that this session was open to the public to allow more people to better understand the race. Iditarod seems to be a very transparent organization and event. 

After our last conference session ended, I had a brief lunch break and then had my dog handling training class!  This was required for us Teacher on the Trail Finalists anyway, but I was really excited to participate in the Iditarod start as a volunteer dog handler this year. Last year being my first ever Iditarod experience, I wanted to take it all in as a spectator, but this year I wanted to be more involved. I've had several people ask me, "What does a dog handler do?" Well, essentially they help with the dogs. Mushers typically have their own group of handlers - folks who work with them regularly, help them take care of and train the dogs, know their dogs, know the mushers' preferences in how they care for and run their dogs, and people that they trust. These dogs are their livelihood, minimal risk is necessary. However, volunteer handlers at the race start are typically going to just help bring the team up to the starting line. 

What did I take away from dog handling class? Holy cow - that is way harder than it looks! We actually had to practice handling for a team of Siberian huskies with an Iditarod Finisher musher - Wayne Curtis and the Stormwatch Siberians.  We only went a short distance down the back parking lot of the Lakefront Hotel, but I've watched handlers walk dog teams to the start many years over, and never did I understand how physical it is. And this was just practice! Luckily I was able to manage and earned my "Certified Dog Handler" card, which meant I was able to volunteer for ITC (Iditarod Trail Committee) as a dog handler for the Ceremonial Start on Saturday! I'd find out quickly that dog handling is very different in each given sitaution - from training, to the Ceremonial Start, to the Restart...

Every year, the Friday night before the Ceremonial Race Start, several dump trucks line the streets of Anchorage for the Snow Dump! This is how they line the formerly plowed streets (for driving safety) with snow for the sleds to make their way down 4th Avenue. Snow is hauled in, dumped, and packed down to create a few inches of snow-packed "trail." I've always wanted to see this, but last year when we were there we just had too much time to kill between dinner and the snow dump beginning and decided to head back to the hotel. It was awesome to see how this happens!