Mushers ran their dog teams over Huckleberry Pass between Lincoln and Ovando. The pass was the main incline in the race. (Greg Lindstrom/Montana Kaimin)

Race to the sky

by Jessica Stugelmayer | February 17, 2010 | Montana Kaimin

The Montana Race to the Sky dogsled race has been an ordeal for old and young contestants alike, but the test of endurance is coming to an end after five days of competition.

Aiyana Ferraro took last place at the first Race to the Sky junior dogsled race early Feb. 15. The 12-year-old received much attention from local media prior to the race and was expected to finish high on the podium. Aiyana and her father, Doug, began preparing her dogs on the morning of Feb. 14, putting dog “booties” on all of her team’s 32 paws. She said the last thing she does is harness the dogs, because once they get strapped in, they’re ready to run.

Once harnessed and assembled, the team got in line with those of the other four competitors and started the race at 10 a.m.

Aiyana was leading the pack during the first leg of the race that led mushers around a loop of approximately 20 miles.

Then she made a crucial mistake. She missed a trail marker and took a 12-mile detour that led her team all the way back to the starting line.

“I kind of knew everyone was going to be way ahead of me, because it was an hour detour, and I wasn’t going to make up a whole hour in 40 miles,” Aiyana said. Nevertheless, Ferraro pressed on. She strayed from the path three times during the race, adding time and mileage.

Doug Ferraro said his biggest concern was that Aiyana would get disheartened and feel defeated if something bad happened.

“But she came in smiling,” Doug said. “She was cracking jokes about it. She was upset, but I was really happy to see her frame of mind.”

As she sped down the trail trying to make up lost time, Aiyana said she saw fellow racer Lacey Hart walking. Hart had fallen from her sled and her dogs had run off without her.

Aiyana stopped and offered her a ride. The two kept going but struggled. Ferraro said it was nearly impossible to keep her team on the trail carrying both girls because the path was extremely narrow. She said the sled would fall off the trail and the dogs would have to pull them back out before they could keep going.

“We almost lost my team once,” Aiyana said.

Aiyana said the girls met a snowmobiler on the track who told them another racer was holding Hart’s dogs up ahead. The two teams ran together for a while once they retrieved Hart’s dogs, said Ferraro.

Ferraro finished the race last of the five racers, with Justin Fink of Gladwin, Mich., taking first place, finishing just after 1 a.m. on Feb. 15.

Aiyana said she was disappointed with her performance at this year’s race, but she is looking forward to next year. Doug Ferraro said he could tell that Aiyana was physically exhausted near the end of the race and so were her dogs. He said she finished the race around 4 a.m. Monday morning.

Although she didn’t reach her goal in the standings, Aiyana was awarded the Sportsmanship Award by her fellow mushers for helping the stranded Hart.

The race wasn’t any easier for the adults. After four days, two men finished the 350-mile race in Lincoln.

At 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, a finisher for the 350-mile race was expected to cross the line at 11 a.m., according to the Race to the Sky’s Web site. Jarle Halsnes of Steamboat Springs, Colo., and Rick Larson of Sand Coulee, Mont., left the last checkpoint in Seeley Lake within 10 minutes of each other, with departure times of 4:13 a.m. and 4:19 a.m., respectively. However, Larson had an advantage of a 12-dog team over Halsnes’ 10-dog team.

According to the site’s race tracker, Larson checked in to the finish line at 1:09 p.m., followed by Halsnes at 2:11 p.m. They were the only two checked in when the site last updated on Tuesday, leaving 11 racers in the field.

An awards ceremony will be held at the Community Hall in Lincoln at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, to honor all competitors in the race.

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