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UNALAKLEET – Girdwood's musher, Nicolas Petit, left the Iditarod Trail dog sled race Monday evening after his dogs refused to continue on the track.
Petit and his team of 10 dogs led Iditarod this year when they stopped about 14 miles from Shaktoolik on Sunday night – more than three-quarters of the 1,000-mile race. While he was camping on the ice floe, Little told Iditarod Insider that two of his dogs had been fighting, and he screamed after one of them.
"I yelled at Joee and everyone heard dad screaming, which does not happen," said the 39-year-old musher, who had finished second in Iditarod last year. . and we'll see what happens. "
Little told the Insider that his dogs ate and presented no orthopedic problem.
"It's just a question of the head," he said.
For the second consecutive year, Petit's Iditarod has turned against the 50 km track that separates Shaktoolik and Koyuk. The Iditarod describes this stage of the race as "dull, flat and deadly monotonous".
With Petit's team stopped in front of Shaktoolik, Pete Kaiser of Bethel took the lead on Monday. Kaiser passed Petit on the track and was first at Koyuk, about 171 miles from the finish line at Nome.
Throughout the day Monday, team after team, he doubled Petit. According to the GPS plotter, Petit had already traveled about 3 km on a path to go to a hut. Around 5 pm Monday, the tracker showed to Petit that he was returning to Shaktoolik, at mile 777.
He officially called to leave at 19 hours. Monday, said a statement from the race officials.
"Petit scratched in the best interest of the mental well-being of his race team," the statement said. "Small and his racing team were brought back to Shaktoolik by a snow machine and a sled for transportation through Unalakleet, then to Anchorage."
Last year, Petit lost the track and his advantage in Shaktoolik in bad weather. Norwegian musician Joar Leifseth Ulsom passed Petit on the track and won the race. Petit came to Nome in second place.
In 2014, Petit also encountered problems at the end of the day with Iditarod. It was about 11 miles to join Unalakleet when he and his team stalled. Petit finally pressed his emergency location button to officially withdraw from the race.
Petit, originally from France, has an impressive record also at Iditarod.
In 2011, as a rookie, he took over veteran musher Jim Lanier's team and finished in 28th place – even after breaking a foot bone on the way to Unalakleet. He won the Rookie of the Year award. He has placed five top-10 finishes in the last eight years of competition in Iditarod.
Prior to last year's race, Petit had stated that his main goal, as well as his team, was "to win Iditarod with the best group of dogs that has ever existed."
Now this dream will have to wait at least 2020.
DNA, Beth Bragg, contributed to Anchorage reporting.
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