In one month, mushers will set off from Fairbanks for the start of the 2016 Yukon Quest. At the final deadline on Monday, 25 mushers had registered for the 1,000-mile international race to Whitehorse.
The roster includes three past winners: Allen Moore of Two Rivers, Hugh Neff of Tok, and the 2015 champion, Brent Sass of Eureka.
They’ll be competing against 11 rookies and 11 other veteran mushers, including last year’s third-place finisher, Ed Hopkins of 10 Mile, Yukon. Of the 25 competitors, 12 come from Alaska.
The 2016 purse is set at $115,000, and the race will once again include a 36-hour layover in Dawson City. Last year, the mandatory stop was set at just 24 hours, but feedback from mushers, vets, and race officials led organizers to reinstate the 36-hour layover.
The 2016 Yukon Quest will start Saturday, Feb. 6 in Fairbanks — as will the shorter Yukon Quest 300. The roster for that 300-mile race includes Iditarod mushers Aliy Zirkle and Jason Mackey.
Laura Kraegel covers Unalaska and the Aleutian Islands for KUCB . Originally from Chicago, she first came to Alaska to work at KNOM, reporting on Nome and the Bering Strait Region. (laura@kucb.org / 907.581.6700)
