When the race officials awoke this morning to check the weather and decide whether or not the dog teams should get going, they didn’t have to look twice outside. The blizzard warning in effect yesterday had become a reality. Everything was completely white, making for a very poor visibility. When the wind picked up in the afternoon, it got even worse. By then, the mushers and their partners had abandoned the idea of heading out on the trail, and, instead, passed the time playing floor hockey, testing their skills at golf using a virtual driving range, skating at the local arena or playing cards. In the evening, the wind was blowing at over 60 km/h, gusting to as high as 90 km/h. Had they left yesterday, they would now be in the same situation that they were in last week, stuck in the storm. Hopefully, by tomorrow, the wind will have calmed down so that the dog teams can finally hit the road again. But only tomorrow will tell…

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Note: After discussions of the race officials, Johnny Arnatuk of Quaqtaq was given a time reward of half an hour on his time for helping George Nunga settle his camp in the storm that the dog teams had to wait out last week.