News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Golden sunshine and the dazzling sparkle of packed-powder snow greeted mushers at Hoodoo Ski Area on Tuesday, January 7, as they launched the 47-mile second stage of the AttaBoy 300 sled dog race.
The 34 mushers and their teams had spent the night in Sisters the night before, attending a banquet held in their honor at Sisters High School.
Sisters Rotary Club hosted the banquet, which was well-attended by local residents, many of whom were hosting mushers at their homes that night.
Race organizer Jerry Scidoris was full of praise for the help received from Rotary.
"They're wonderful," he said. "What a great group of people."
Scidoris said that one of the challenges of organizing a stage race like the AttaBoy 300 is gathering support in the local communities where each leg is set.
"We had to meet the right people in each of the communities and they had to buy into the triple mission," Scidoris said.
That triple mission is to create a world-class sled dog race in Central Oregon; to promote winter tourism and recreation; and to support programs for the vision impaired.
Scidoris's daughter Rachel has overcome severe vision impairment to become a successful musher, who raced in both this year's and last year's AttaBoy 300.
The race draws some of the top mushers in the sport. Bill Cotter, of Nenana, Alaska, has raced in the legendary Iditarod 17 times and was the 1987 winner of the grueling, 1,000-mile Yukon Quest race from Whitehorse, Yukon, to Fairbanks, Alaska.
This was Cotter's first time in Oregon and his first stage race.
"I was interested in some stage races and taking a break from the Iditarod," Cotter said.
Like the other mushers, Cotter noted that the unseasonably warm temperatures and higher elevations than they usually run in were challenging the dogs. However, the mushers liked the course and thought the snow conditions were "beautiful."
While Cotter has had some signal successes in racing, perhaps his proudest accomplishment is being honored four times with the Iditarod or Yukon Quest Humanitarian Award, given to the musher who takes the best care of his dogs while still racing with a competitive edge.
The care for the dogs is a central part of the sport and lifestyle, Scidoris said at the January 6 banquet.
"Mushers are to some extent misunderstood," Scidoris said. "We're not Jack London characters. Everyone in this room is in the sport for the love of the dogs."
Scidoris himself has been a musher for decades. He operates a sled dog tour business at Mt. Bachelor.
Staging a world-class sled dog event in Central Oregon has been a dream of his for many years.
"I've been working on this for a long time," he said. "Actually, the idea started when I lived on this side of the county. I used to train on all the trails we're racing."
The trails included the 47-mile leg racing out from Hoodoo and back again, then the January 8 run from Sisters to Mt. Bachelor. The start for that stage was moved from a spot just west of Sisters up to Three Creek Lake due to lack of snow at the lower elevations.
Scidoris' dream seems to be coming true. The race grew this year from 25 mushers to 34 and the stage race purse of $55,000 drew top competitors. Scidoris said the race is definitely on again for next year.
AttaBoy 300 race results
Melanie Shirilla of Lincoln, Montana, won first place overall in the AttaBoy 300 sled dog race.
The stage race ran January 6-12, culminating with a final run at Mt. Bachelor on Sunday.
Top-ten results are as follows:
1. Melanie Shirilla -- 23:29:54
2. Gwen Holdmann -- 23:37:21
3. Ken Anderson -- 23:39:43
4. Sam Perrino -- 23:41:41
5. Mike Salvisberg -- 24:12:14
6. Jacques Philip -- 24:18:58
7. Grant Beck -- 24:34:47
8. Jesse Royer -- 24:50:04
9. Doug Swingley -- 25:12:08
10. Warren Palfrey -- 25:45:23
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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