Charmayne Morrison (Bozeman) and Clayton Perry (Power) compete in the 200-mile race, while Nicole Lombardi (Lincoln) and Redman Glisson (Power) compete in the 100-mile event, with Lombardi leading two teams. Perry is also leading his squad in the 52-mile Warm Lake Stage Race.
Cascade, Idaho (December 17, 2024) — Several improvements are planned to the Idaho Sled Dog Challenge in late January and early February, when the Iditarod qualifier celebrates its seventh year in 2025.
The most major alteration is that the 300-mile race has been reduced to a 200-mile event due to the destruction of a portion of the path needed to reach the Smiths Ferry checkpoint following the Boulder and Lava Fires that destroyed a bridge this summer.
The race organizers are expanding the event to include Sled Dog Week Jan. 27-31, which will feature sled dog movies at the Ponderosa Center in McCall, a bingo night at Foresters in McCall, a trivia night at Broken Horn Brewing Co. in McCall, and similar events in New Meadows and Tamarack Resort to be announced soon.
In addition, Hotel NoBo in Cascade has called its wine bar Checkpoint in honor of the annual race and intends to participate in Sled Dog Week.
Meet the Mushers on February 1 is expanding into a larger event held simultaneously at Hotel Nobo and Tamarack Resort.
This year’s version will feature multiple local mushers and their teams, as opposed to the previous year’s, which had only one. Race organizers are creating posters for $5 that mushers will sign for spectators for free at the event.
Additionally, a new race marshal has joined the team. Race marshal Mark Cox, a veteran Alaska resident and skilled musher and trapper known for his bush talents, has served as an Iditarod judge for over two decades and is in charge of operations at the McGrath checkpoint.
Cox worked as a fireman and in logistics for the State of Alaska Division of Forestry before retiring, and he also ran the Third Fork checkpoint for the Idaho Sled Dog Challenge. Former ISDC race marshal Rick Katucki will marshal the Warm Lake Stage Race.
Meanwhile, Dr. Kari Reina, owner of Eagle Veterinary Hospital, has stepped in as the race’s head veterinarian after working the Idaho Sled Dog Challenge for the last three years.
The 52-mile Warm Lake Stage Race, geared for mushers new to the sport or operating new sled dog teams, begins and ends at North Shore Lodge & Resort Jan. 29-30.
The Ceremonial Start, hosted by Brundage Mountain Resort at the McCall Activity Barn, is scheduled for February 2. The vet checks are also slated on February 2, with the 200-mile teams checking in at Ridley’s parking lot in McCall around 10 a.m.
and the 100-mile teams at the McCall Activity Barn after the Ceremonial Start. The 200-mile and 100-mile races begin February 3 at the Lake Cascade State Park boat ramp.
The 100-mile race is expected to culminate on February 4 at the Wye Trailhead & Campground checkpoint along US Route 95, roughly 6 miles west of New Meadows. Mushers and their teams are expected to cross the 200-mile race finish line at the Wye checkpoint on February 5.
Returning mushers in the 200-mile competition include Charmayne Morrison (Bozeman, MT), Clayton Perry (Power, MT), and Wade Donaldson (Coalville, UT).
Returning mushers competing in the 100-mile event include Dallin Donaldson (Wade’s brother, also from Coalville, UT), Elizabeth Nevills (Middleton, ID), Jane Devlin (Bend, OR), Jesika Reimer (Emigrant Gap, CA), and Nicole Lombardi (Lincoln, MT), who is running two teams.
Returning mushers for the Warm Lake Stage Race include daughter Caroline Nevills and mother Elizabeth Nevills (Middleton, ID), 2024 winner Clayton Perry (Power, MT), and 2024 runner-up Craig Anderson (Enterprise, OR).
Kevin Mathis (Monona, IA) in the 200-mile race; Kelly Barton (Bend, OR), Michael Tarver (Driggs, ID), Natalie Donaldson Wilson (Wade’s and Dallin’s sister, also from Coalville, UT), Redman Glisson (Power, MT), and Victor Lazo (Dubois, WY) in the 100-mile race; and April Cox (Adin, CA), Hugo Antonucci (Adin, CA), Kelly Barton (Bend, OR), Linda Pierce (Okan
The Idaho Sled Dog Challenge, one of the most difficult mushing championships on the planet because to its topography, attracts world-class mushers.
It is one of just three lower-48 qualifying for the Iditarod. The Iditarod is regarded as the longest and most difficult sled dog race in the world.
Five Idaho Sled Dog Challenge finishers raced in the 2024 Iditarod, with one of them, Josi Thyr (Olney, MT), who won ISDC’s 300-mile race in 2022 and finished second in 2023 and 2020, being the Iditarod’s 2024 Rookie of the Year.
The Idaho Sled Dog Challenge is part of the Rocky Mountain Triple Crown, which also includes the Eagle Cap Extreme (January 22-25 in Joseph, Oregon) and the Race to the Sky (February 7-11 near Helena, Montana).
IDITAROD TRIP RAFFLE
Idaho Sled Dog Challenge organizers are giving away one VIP package for two to the 2025 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. There are just 300 seats available, and each costs $100.
The five-day guided package costs $20,000. The winning ticket holder and one visitor of their choice will embark on what ISDC creator and organizer Jerry Wortley, an Iditarod Air Force Pilot, describes as “the adventure of a lifetime” from February 26 to March 4, 2025.
Wortley stated that they will fly out on the Iditarod Trail, visit checkpoints, observe the canine athletes in their element, appreciate Alaska’s beauty and culture, and explore the wide untamed wilderness of the last frontier.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
The race is looking for volunteers to assist with everything from dog handling to parking management, checkpoint setup and staffing, food distribution, ham radio operation, fencing installation, straw bale movement, and start and finish line support. Remote volunteer options include event planning and promotion, as well as behind-the-scenes logistics.
Volunteers who wish to get engaged before the race and help make events happen are required for Sled Dog Week and Meet the Mushers. Race organizers also want assistance with merchandising.
“The race could not happen without the generous support, time, and enthusiastic spirit of over 200 volunteers,” Wortley informed the crowd. “This race belongs to them.”
TITLE SPONSOR SOUGHT
Race organizers are looking for a headline sponsor. The package costs $15,000 and includes the sponsor’s name in the official race name, its emblem on musher bibs, professional banners at the start and finish lines, public recognition at all events, and a variety of other benefits.
Organizations can sponsor the seven checkpoints for $3,000 each. Other monetary sponsorship packages include trail breaker, sled banner, and lead dog sponsors, priced at $1,500, $500, and $200, respectively.
According to Wortley, the race would not be feasible without the generous contributions of its cash and in-kind sponsors. He stated that the logistics of running all of its events simultaneously through the wilderness and over mountain ranges, with several checkpoints, is challenging.
MCCALL TO HOST 2025 IDITAROD SUMMER CONFERENCE
The Idaho Sled Dog Challenge will also host the 2025 Iditarod Summer Conference on June 24-26 in McCall.
The seminar, organized by the Iditarod Education Department, immerses educators in the world of sled dog racing and its Teacher on the Trail(tm) program, and registrants can earn continuing education units. Registration opens in mid- to late February.