MCCALL, Idaho — The road to the world’s biggest and most prestigious dog sledding race is going through Idaho.
For the second year, McCall is hosting the Idaho Dog Sled Challenge race, which is the only race in the lower 48 states that is a qualifier for both the Iditarod and Yukon Quest races – two of the biggest in the world.
This year’s race features 13 teams from all over the country, including Oregon, Utah, Washington, Montana, Michigan, Alaska and even teams from Nova Scotia in Canada.
Idaho is represented as well, with one team from the city of Council competing.
The race goes on through three days and racers can compete in either a 150-mile race or a 300-mile race.
For many mushers, their goal is to qualify to move on to the bigger races, like the Iditarod, which is a 1,000-mile journey across some of the toughest terrain in Alaska.
Bruce Moroney is a race judge at this year’s event in McCall, but he and his wife Diana have been involved with the Iditarod for more than 30 years.
He said the McCall race has ideal conditions and an ideal setting and it’s a great practice race for any level of dog sled racing.
"The Iditarod and Yukon Quest are such extreme races in conditions and distance,” Bruce Moroney described. “In the early days, they didn't have qualifiers so there was a 25 to 30 percent failure rate. So this and that allows mushers to gain the experience and learn how to run with dogs, camp with dogs and be prepared for the elements, sleep deprivation, just everything that comes with long-distance racing."
Idaho Dog Sled Challenge in McCall
"Some of these racers have run multiple 300s already and it's given their team that time to become more of a cohesive team,” said Diana Moroney, the race marshall.
Even though it may be a practice run for many, that does not mean it’s an easy trip.
“There are huge climbs in this race,” Bruce Moroney described. “Total vertical is like 50,000 feet for the 300-mile race so there's a lot of ups and a lot of downs."
“It's a huge commitment for these mushers, financially and timewise," he added.
It takes several months for mushers to get their dogs ready and in shape to go 300 miles. Bruce Moroney said most of the McCall racers would have to have started preparing early summer to get ready for the race.
He added that for Iditarod racers, it takes about two years of preparation work.
Diana Moroney said the McCall track is well-done and sets the stage well. For her first time out to the race, she was pleased with what she saw.
“McCall and the surrounding communities should be very proud,” she said. “I’m amazed at a new race, the amount of community support, they deserve a big kudos because it’s just fantastic.”
Tuesday was the ceremonial start to kick off the event. Both the 150 mile and 300-mile races kick off Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 11 a.m. at Beaver Creek Lodge.