MCCALL, Idaho — A lack of snow and winter conditions led organizers to cancel both the 300-mile and the 100-mile Idaho Sled Dog Challenge, which would have taken place at the end of January.
Organizers recently discovered that several parts of the course, which are typically buried under feet of snow, are nearly down to the bare ground this week. A lack of snow can result in serious safety issues for mushers and their dogs.
Check out the video to see some of the footage of this iconic event from the past few years
"If you don’t have a consolidated base of at least six inches, you can’t get the snow hook to bite, and then you can’t stop the dogs," said one of the organizers, Dave Looney. "Unfortunately, winter has a vote, and how can you not be concerned about all of our winter sports?"
The 300-mile race is one of three qualifiers for the Iditarod, but 2023 was the last time they were able to run the qualifier. Last year it got canceled mid-race because of avalanche conditions, and the year before that because of a lack of snow.
"Covid, dry snow year, heavy fire years that take out the bridge on the race, and then we do finally get a snow floor down, and it starts raining," said Looney. "Now we've got avalanches coming down mid-race, and all those add up to the volunteer burnout and fatigue."
The Idaho Sled Dog Challenge costs 30-40 thousand dollars to put on, spurred by a team of volunteers that works year-round to prepare for the race.
Canceling early helps them recoup insurance and marketing costs while also giving the mushers and the volunteers a heads up weeks in advance, but it all raises doubts for the future of the race.
"There is a concern for us, and I think at some point we might need to look at the writing on the wall," said Looney. "Are we doing something that has a return on investment for all the people that are putting their time in and their money into this race?"
Looney tells me the future of the Idaho Sled Dog Challenge may depend on whether they can get a title sponsor, something they haven't been able to do so far.
This year, their biggest donor is Valley County, as the race would've happened during the McCall Winter Carnival, giving visitors and locals something unique to check out as the carnival moves back to a week long format.
"They want to see it continue and a lot of the folks have really seen the benefit, not just monetarily, but also the cool factor," said Looney. "We have hundreds of kids lining the starting chute to see the start."
The 100-mile race at Warm Lake still has a chance of happening as organizers will decide that for sure on January 15. That race features more local races, no prize money, but it is an economic boon for the Warm Lake area.
