Camaraderie, teamwork and community unite Expedition Class of 2022
Ambassador Team 77 celebrates the end of their 2022 Expedition Class adventure in Kotzebue, Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 23, 2022. Courtesy Roger Brown
Wednesday marked the end of the trail for the final of 12 Expedition Class teams entered in the 2022 Iron Dog. Ambassador Team 77 extended its run from Nome to Kotzebue, arriving just before sunset to complete a 1,500-mile goodwill tour of some of Alaska’s finest country.
“Everybody was happy and in a good mood, very celebratory coming into Nome,” said Roger Brown, Iron Dog’s board president and the leader of the Team 77 ambassador team. “For many of them, this is the adventure of their lifetime.”
Nome is the traditional end to the Expedition Class route, where riders can rest and recoup before flying back to their respective communities. Of the 12 teams entered in this year’s Expedition Class, nine finished – eight of them making it into Nome by Monday, Feb. 21, and Brown’s team pushing on toward Kotzebue.
“There has been a lot more snow than normal, and the conditions for us have really been good,” said Brown, a Pro Class veteran himself who is no stranger to the trail. He stressed that the Expedition Class, as the first riders through, benefitted from freshly groomed trails. The Pro Class, who started their race two days after the Expedition Class, have had it a littler rougher. Flat light, high winds and blizzard-like conditions plagued the racers early on, but as of Thursday morning, the front-runners – Teams 7, 6 and 10 – were out of Unalakleet, or preparing to leave.
“To have nine of 12 expedition teams finish is impressive,” Brown added. “This isn’t a race, but the challenges are the same.”
This year’s Expedition Class upped the game for the non-competitive division of Iron Dog. Teams entered in this division travel at a more leisurely pace, in team sizes of their choosing. This year’s pairings ranged from two-person teams to the nine-member Ambassador Team, which as a large group stopped in each of the communities along the trail to meet and greet with local fans. In total, 39 riders entered this year’s class, and 29 made it to the finish.
Expedition Team 71, Paul and Mary Sindorf, and their son Kristofer, had to scratch after losing A-arms on two of their sleds. That didn’t stop them from having fun until the end, Mary Sindorf said. Courtesy Paul Sindorf
Team Sindorf at the start of the Expedition Class start on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. Courtesy Paul Sindorf
Mary Sindorf and her husband, Paul, and son Kristofer were among the 10 whose trip ended early. They scratched in Galena after both she and her son damaged the A-arms on their sleds in the same spot on the trail.
“It was going pretty well, actually,” said Mary Sindorf. “The deep snow was certainly challenging, but ultimately what did us in is we hit something on the ice on the south fork of the Kuskokwim outside of Rohn.”
The Sindorfs, of Palmer, are no stranger to Iron Dog – both Kristofer and Paul have raced Pro Class before, and Mary has learned alongside them. But as any snowmachine enthusiast knows, accidents can happen at any time.
“Both Kristofer and I hit whatever it was, a rock or piece of wood that was in the ice, and within 50 feet we both pulled over,” Mary said. “Paul was behind me and he caught up and realized we had a little problem. Then when he stopped and looked at it closer, he realized we had a big problem”
Both upper and lower A-arms were broken, Mary said, so the family MacGyvered a solution.
“The damage was on the left side of the machine, so we took the right-side upper A-arm off Kristofer’s sled, turned it upside down, and put it on the left side of my sled, and it worked,” she said. Both she and Paul were able to limp into McGrath where they scratched, and Kristofer got towed into Rohn. On Wednesday, the Sindorfs had just gotten home and settled.
While Mary said she was disappointed the family did not make it to Nome, she wouldn’t have changed the experience for the world.
“It was a wonderful opportunity to ride with Kristofer – he is an amazing rider,” she said. “The goal was to get me to Nome, and even though we didn’t make it we had a wonderful time and have lots to laugh about. … As a family event, it definitely met the mark.”
Teams 50 and 51 celebrate their Expedition Class finish into Nome on Monday, Feb. 21, 2022. From left, Jean Pierre Bernier, Team 51; Randy Bedard, Team 50; Glenn Britton, Team 51; and Kim Bergeron, Team 50. Courtesy Kim Bergeron
The first Expedition team to make it to Nome checked in at 5:18 p.m. Monday, Feb. 21. Team 50 Randy Bedard and Kim Bergeron wanted to first and foremost thank all of the volunteers and fans along the trail.
Expedition Team 50’s Randy Bedard warms up at Covenant Bible Camp, Unalakleet. Team 50 was the first expedition team into Nome. Courtesy Kim Bergeron
“This is my fifth time riding Expedition Class and this was the most challenging trail conditions, more due to visibility and light, than any other race I’ve entered,” said Bergeron, from Dublin, N.H. “Still, I can’t get over the effort that all the locals and volunteers put in. The trails were great. Every tree was clear. Every track was groomed. I know what it takes, and that’s in a nonrural environment, so way out here is something else.”
Bergeron said one of the reasons he continues to return as an Expedition Class rider year after year is to experience the hospitality of the Alaskans along the trail. That, combined with the scenic beauty of Alaska’s backcountry, makes Iron Dog his most-anticipated event of each year.
From the meticulously groomed trails outside of Skwentna to the beautiful sunrise coming out of Rainy Pass; the open trail between Galena and Kaltag, and even the whiteout conditions on the way to Unalakleet; Bergeron said he was once again thrilled with his Iron Dog experience.
The large field of riders in this year’s class made the experience even more memorable, he added.
Camaraderie was the name of the game. Team 77 helps fish Team 52’s sleds out of the water after they ran into trouble on Day 2. The teams then traveled closely together for the next three days. Courtesy Roger Brown
Team 77 and Team 52 traveling together between Rohn and Nikolai. Courtesy Roger Brown
“The individuals who participated in the Exhibition Class this year were just wonderful, giving people,” he said. “The amount of teamwork that went into getting everyone down the trail was excellent.”
Sindorf said she felt the same.
“I can tell you that it definitely felt much more collaborative than in past years,” she said. “In 2020, we entered and there was only like 12 riders, and frankly I don’t think we saw anyone.
“This year was different; there were people in front and behind and you knew you had support.
That’s one of the benefits of (expedition) class: it’s much more of a collective.”
Brown’s ambassador team, at nine members, was able to spread out on the trail as needed to offer just such support. On Day 2, along the South Fork, they came upon Team 52, Diana and Jim Blakley and Steve Pechota, whose sleds were stranded after they didn’t make the water crossing.
“We helped pull them out, and they had such an awesome attitude,” Brown said. “This was a bucket list thing for all three of them. They followed us the rest of that day to McGrath, then to Galena and then to Unalakleet.”
Showing the spirit of Iron Dog, local volunteers and Expedition Class team members improvise to help rescue sleds that went into the water at Golovin Bay. Courtesy Harriett Fenerty
Media Contact: Bob Menne, Executive Director, Iron Dog Inc., (907) 854-0097 or (907) 563-4414, director@irondog.org
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