Yukon Quest mushers embark on race's Alaskan half

As the lead mushers in this year's Yukon Quest departed from the Dawson City checkpoint on Thursday, race officials said conditions on the Alaska half of the trail are manageable.

After a mandatory 36-hour layover, Jon Little of Kasilof, Alaska, was the first to leave the Dawson checkpoint at 10:51 a.m. PT. He was followed 15 minutes later by William Kleedehn of Carcross, Yukon.

Although Kleedehn was the first to arrive in Dawson Tuesday night, race officials gave Little the first departure time because the Quest's staggered start times are factored into the Dawson departure times.

Hugh Neff, who calls both Skagway, Alaska, and Annie Lake, Yukon, home,left at 11:33 a.m. The Quest's website says six other competitors will be allowed to leave Thursday:

• Hans Gatt of Whitehorse, at 1:41 p.m.
• Sebastian Schnuelle of Whitehorse, at 2:29 p.m.
• Brent Sass of Fairbanks, Alaska, at 3:13 p.m.
• Michelle Phillips of Tagish, Yukon, 7:44 p.m.
• Warren Palfrey of Yellowknife, at 10:14 p.m.
• Martin Buser of Big Lake, Alaska, at 10:58 p.m.

Another 13 mushers have been assigned times for departures on Friday.

The front-running mushers and their dog teams now embark on the second half of the 1,600-kilometre race, which began Saturday in Whitehorse.

Teams will run through snow, ice and rugged terrain towards the finish line in Fairbanks, Alaska.

On Wednesday night, mushers in Dawson met with race officials to get an overview of trail conditions on the Alaska half of the race.

Alaska trail co-ordinator John Schandelmeier said there are sections of jumble ice on the Yukon River, between Eagle and Circle, Alaska.

Other than that, Schandelmeier said there is nothing on the trail that mushers cannot cope with.

"You should expect some obstacles, and you should be prepared to deal with them," he told mushers on Wednesday.

"Nothing is worse than going out of your yard with 16 fresh dogs, so this should be a piece of cake. And so far, it sounds like the trail has been."

Schandelmeier was put in charge of the trail on the Alaska side of the race, following criticism from mushers last year about trail maintenance in the area.