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Nicole Forto: A Teen Mushing Down A Dream to the Junior Iditarod

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 11, 2015

Nicole Forto Junior Iditarod Media Release

(Willow, AK)—While most teenagers are thinking about what movie to catch at the mall or what outfit to wear out with their friends, 17-year-old Nicole Forto is thinking about insulated clothing, food rations, check points, and her beloved sled dogs—all 36 of them! Nicole, who is a senior at Houston High School in Alaska, and a junior musher is busy getting prepared to run her family’s team of Siberian and Alaskan Huskies under the Team Ineka banner in the Junior Iditarod that kicks off on Saturday, February 28 from her home town of Willow. This is Nicole’s second run in the popular race, and last year, she was the recipient of the Red Lantern award, which goes to the last team crossing the finish line. According to Gypsy at the Iditarod Education Portal (www.iditarod.com), the Red Lantern “is a symbol of perseverance and mushers feel a sense of pride and accomplishment when receiving it.”

Nicole says, “As the Junior Iditarod is just a few short weeks away, the ‘pre-game’ jitters are already forming. I’m both excited and nervous about the race. I ran the Junior Iditarod once before, but it still feels like the very first time. I want this year’s race to be the best racing experience for both my dogs and I since this is my last year in junior racing.

            The Junior Iditarod is a 150-mile dog race in South Central Alaska. It is a qualifier for the Iditarod for junior mushers ages 12 to 17 years old. And with the race right around the corner, Nicole admits that, “It feels like I have to be frantic and rushing to get everything picture perfect for the starting line! Then I remember to just take a deep breath and have as much fun as I possibly can.”

Nicole’s main sponsors for the race are the FiveSibes™, Alaska Spirit Crafts, The Upholstery Gallery, Alaska Dog Works, and the Willow Elementary First Grade Class.

The beautiful snowy Alaskan trails are where Nicole loves to be. She enjoys her time with the family Huskies that she helps train along with her parents, mushers and canine behaviorists, Robert and Michele. Nicole says she is truly looking forward to the race and to running her lead dogs, Frosty and TyTy, no matter if she comes in first, tenth, or last. And Nicole appreciates the valuable lessons one learns while out on the trail. “Mushing…has shown me that believing in yourself and pushing through the good and bad times is where you measure how successful you are,” states Nicole. “My dogs run thousands of miles never giving up on me and I will never give up on them. Mushing has shown me that the word ‘quit’ is no longer in my vocabulary.” Read more about Nicole’s thoughts on success and the journey of a Junior Iditarod musher in her article “Measurement of Success” posted on Tracy R. Williams’ AlaskaTracy.com blog.

Even though Nicole will be hanging up her junior sled after this year’s race and beginning life as a college freshman at the University of Alaska in Anchorage come fall, maybe one day her name will be among the great mushers of “The Last Great Race” itself—the Iditarod. But, in the meantime, Nicole is simply looking forward to this, her final Junior run.

“I hope to have a time-of-my-life experience out on the frozen trails of Alaska with my team,” she says with a smile.

To learn more about Nicole and the Forto mushing family, visit www.TeamIneka.com.

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Race Recap: Earl Norris Memorial Sled Dog Race

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The Willow Winter Carnival is like no other carnival I have ever been to. They have a Frostbite 5k, snow-shoe softball, dogs weight pulling, good food, bingo, bands and lots of handcrafts.

They also have the Earl Norris Memorial Sled Dog Race. It is named after one of the most iconic names in sled dog racing in Alaska, if not North America. Earl and Natalie Norris’ name can be traced far back into the Siberian Husky history in the United States and their kennel is still in operation right here in Willow with their son, John (JP) Norris running sprint races like the Fur Rondy and their granddaughter, Lisbet Norris running in the Iditarod.

The Earl Norris race has been ran as part of the Winter Carnival since the early 1960’s.

It was an honor to have the privilege to compete in this race this past weekend.

I have said it once and I will say it again, we are not sprint mushers but I thought it would be fun to get out on the trails and enjoy the new snow and the beautiful weather as we head into the middle of the winter here in Alaska.

Friday night we had sign ups during the carnival kick-off dinner at the Willow Community Center. I was the third musher to sign up for what eventually would be 14 entries. The fee was a hundred bucks with the top ten finishers in the money, so to speak.

Day 1

The morning was a chilly minus eight degrees at the start of the race. I drew bib 7 so I would be heading out at 10:14. The time started as soon as we launched from the truck. I rode the brake as we headed onto the lake. I had Frosty-TyTy in lead, Shock-Burton, Barrel-Gabby, Aussie-Lock, and the big boys Trapper and Valdez in wheel. Along the 31 mile race route we would have four road crossings, a plywood bridge over some glaciated ice, a loop on the swamp and several turns that you had to be on your toes for. The trail was marked simply with red plates on the side of the turns and the occasional blue plate to indicate you were on the right trail.

Throughout the run we passed and were passed. I passed several teams and wouldn’t see them again until after the end of the race.

The trail was beautifully groomed and the sun was bright. It was cold enough to pull up the hood on my parka and pull out my sunglasses on the bright snow. The race was broken up into roughly thirds. The first third was marked by two road crossings and a long down hill along a road as we neared the Willow Creek Campground and onward to the Willow Swamp. The Swamp loop was roughly eight miles and the last third was in reverse with the road being slightly uphill for a couple miles. It was just enough of a grade were I kicked with the dogs but not enough that required a whole lot of effort from man or beast.

We made it to the finish in just seconds over three hours. That means we were going a little faster than 10 miles per hour. This is above average speed for us but we wanted to keep it under 11 mph anyway.

I finished the day in ninth place. All teams but one would advance to day 2. There was a four hour cut-off.

We snacked the dogs with salmon snacks and were home by 3:00. It was a great day of mushing for Team Ineka!

Robert Forto | Team Ineka

Day 2

Sunday’s race started off much the same as the day before except I was going out fifth instead of seventh. In most sprint races you go out in reverse order than the day before with the slower teams heading out first. Bib 2 didn’t show up so we had to wait ten minutes before we could get started.

Before the race Nicole and I discussed if we should put Shock in lead and move TyTy back in swing (behind the leaders). I decided to keep the more veteran TyTy up front for the start.

We shot off down the hill and onto the lake in fine fashion, finishing our first mile in just over four minutes. That is blazing fast for our team. As I said previously, our goal was not to go super fast, just a nice steady 11 miles per hour. We made it over the first road crossing before we passed the first team, bib 1 and then hit the long wide road before we saw Peter Duncan’s Siberian team. We passed Peter (bib 4) and as soon as we did TyTy put on the brakes and did not want to run ahead of the team that we just passed.

I quickly changed out Shock and TyTy with the young patawan up front with Frosty. While I was changing out the leaders Peter passed us again. As we got close to the Willow Creek Campground at the bottom of the long down-hill road I passed Peter again before we headed into the woods.

 

Over the next few miles Nick Petit (Bib 8) passed me and a few other fast teams as well. We had a great run until we got into the Willow Swamp, at about 12 miles into the run. I could see smoke billowing in the distance and knew it was a team camped on the side of the trail. We were told that we would see teams on the Swamp from the Knik 200 race that was going on at the same time.

As we approached the camping team head on, Shock and Frosty thought they might head over to join them for a snack. This caused a major tangle with my team and several of the sprint teams passed me as I was getting the dogs lined out.

We lost about 4 minutes due to the tangle and my average speed quickly went down from 11.9 mph to 10.3 according to my Sunnto watch. No worries. We still had 2/3 of the race to go. James Wheeler passed me and then I passed bib 4, 3 and 1. I would stay out ahead of those three teams from the rest of the race ensuring a ninth place finish unless my dogs really slowed down.

As we were coming off the swamp bib 7 and Lisbet (bib 6) passed me and we passed a couple Knik 200 teams head on.

The rest of the race was beautiful and sunny and a bit warmer than the day before. My team finished strong with Peter’s team close behind me.

Valdez and Trapper | Team Ineka

Wrap Up

After all the teams were in we had a quick awards ceremony. I did finish in ninth place and “in the money”.  Maybe there is something to this sprint mushing thing after all. I have finished in the money in all the sprint races I have done up here in Alaska. It may not be much but its way more than we have one in distance races!

It was a great weekend of mushing I am glad we got to take the team out for a couple really nice runs. We made it home by 3:30 just in time to watch the Super Bowl!

 

Race Recap: Dryland Races

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Fall is in the air and the Alaskan mushing scene is doing something it has never done before. It brought dry land racing to the trails of the Chugiak Dog Mushing Association. Earlier this summer I saw a post of the CDMA Facebook page saying they were planning a dry land event in September and I immediately contacted them. I have been using a cart for training sled dogs for more than 15 years. Long before the days of being able to afford an ATV. At one point I was hooking up 12 Siberian Huskies to an old Risdon-style cart that I got from the late Frank Hall.

I met with Deb, the organizer of the event in late July and we talked about my experiences with cart training and racing and we went over ideas on how the club would put on the races.

Day 1 Races

The event was divided into classes. First the canicross guys and gals went out. These are guys that are running the two mile course with their dog leading out in front. Then the one dog bikejor, two dog bikejor, scooter and then ending the days races with the four dog cart.

I was participating in the two dog bikejor, and the cart races.

I left the house early, at about 7am and with the help of Nicole loaded up the dogs and was on the road toward Eagle River. I arrived at 8am and in time sign up for the days events and help out a little. The musher meeting and bib pickup was at 9:30 and we got our positions.

When I got back to the truck Michele and Nicole were there. They had to make a quick stop at Fred Meyers to pick up a helmet for me as I forgot mine at home. Helmets were required on the cart, bike, and scooter events. Also, our friends, Dale, Lacie and Vanessa were there. Lacie and Vanessa own a young Siberian Husky named Boomer. He came out to learn how to be a sled dog!

As the start time approached for the bikejor, Nicole hooked up my two dogs, Sidney and the young leader, Shock and we headed to the start line. We started off quick and made our way down the muddy trail with the occasional rough spot of deep pea gravel. We finished in what I thought was pretty quick time and I was only passed once by Iditarod veteran Nick Petit on his fat tire bike.

About an half hour later we were hooking up the dogs for the cart races. In this one I had Shock and Sidney again in lead, followed by Burton and Bodhi in wheel. We worked our way to the starting line with the same old cart that I had trained those twelve dogs on before. This time the steering mechanism was bent from hitting boulders and being flung off at high rates of speed from those early days gone by. My cart was by far the heaviest on the trails in this race but it didn’t matter. We rattled along and I occasionally got off the run beside the team with the mud was deep or the pea gravel weighed us down. I was again passed by Nick and finished pretty strong both the dogs and I smiling for the cameras as we came into the finish line.

We had a quick awards ceremony and all of us got something. I got a couple bags of dog treats for my two races.

All in all it was a great day of racing and a fabulous event. The next weekend we would be back at it again for round two.

Day 2 Races

Day two started much the same except I was bringing along a few more dogs. I was the first musher to arrive at the parking lot and sat for a few minutes before others started to arrive. It was indeed much colder than the week before and there was frost on the trucks and on the starting chutes. It was going to be a great day of racing!

Today we would be entering three teams in the 2 dog bikejor, as Dale and Lacie would also be racing under the Team Ineka banner. As you may recall, Dale mushed with us last year and he has one of our older dogs, Pearl. Lacie and her dog Boomer are new to this whole sled dog thing but they would quickly learn today just how fun it is!

We had our meetings and grabbed our bibs and waited for our race to start. Lacie was scheduled to go out 3rd, Dale 4th and me in 9th position. With only a minute between starts our handlers for the day, Michele, Nicole and Vanessa would have to boogie to get us all out on the trail. Lacie was running Denali and Boomer. Denali, one of our oldest leaders would teach a thing or two to the young pup, Boomer. They started down the trail quick and Lacie was pedaling hard as she rounded the corner and out of sight.

Dale was up next. He had the ever-excited duo of Cession and TyTy. Cession is an up-and-coming leader and TyTy runs in lead all the time with Nicole on her team. Dale admittedly was a little nervous with these two high energy pooches out front. His only practice run was a quick circle around the parking lot minutes before the race.

I rounded out the field of nine as I made my way to the starting line. I had Sidney and Shock again. Remember last week when I told you that we had to wear helmets? Well, we only had two bicycle helmets at home so I had to improvise.

As I headed to the starting line I put on my Viking helmet that sure was getting a lot of side glances, pictures, and comments. I even made the 10pm news on channel 2! I headed down the trail and had a great run. My two dogs knew by now we were there to race. The trail was firm as all the mud had dried up from the week before.

I ended up finishing in 5th place and Lacie and Dale in 8th and 9th respectively.

As it approached time to hook up the four dogs for the cart race I decided I would wear a bicycle helmet because I thought I heard I was disqualified from the biker for my outlandish viking helmet. I had Sid and Shock in lead followed by two big brutes, Ragnar (hence the viking theme) and Trapper. Ragnar is new to my team this year as he is a bit “wild” in harness. This year he will be on my main team. Trapper has been with me since the beginning when he came to us a couple summers ago as part of the Kasilof Crew. He has raced with me in races the last two seasons including the Tustumena and the Knik 200.

We scooted down the trail on the same heavy cart but we had much more power with the two big boys in the back. We ended up finishing 8th.

We had our awards ceremony and all three of us collected our winning dog treats. Lacie and Dale were all smiles and really enjoyed their time on the trails.

We were told that next year the club hopes to have a dry-land race series in September/October. We will surely be there!

This event, both weekends was an absolute blast! We had a great time. Met a lot of great people and introduced two new mushers to the sport of dry land racing. That’s what its all about for us.

I want to thank the volunteers and the Chugiak Dog Mushers Association for putting on an awesome event. It will be something that we will remember for a long time. I am glad someone had the courage to bring this to Alaska. Any mushing event that can bring people and dogs together is what this sport needs in order to continue to grown.

Thanks again from all of us at Team Ineka. We will see you next year!

Gear: Trans-Alaska III Pac Boot

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Pac Boot Team InekaI (Robert) have been using either Steger Mukluks or a combo-system with my Neos for years on the trails. My Neos have been worn for seven thousand miles over the last few winters and it is time for a change.

This year I plan on using the Trans-Alaska III Pac Boot.

Living in Willow, Alaska it can get pretty cold– usually we are in the mid-20s below zero in the middle of winter and out on the trails it will be much colder. I once measured -36 degrees on the Yentna River a couple years ago and I am sure I have been in much colder.

With these boots I plan to replace the liners with a beefier set that many mushers use. When I tried them on and walked around for a while yesterday they were light and comfortable. I typically wear a two sock set up–a moisture wicking material under a Smart-wool type. In my Neos my feet often got wet from sweat and made my feet very uncomfortable but the boot system was very light and I could get off the sled and run with no problems.

I will amend this review after I wear them for several runs.

From the Cabela’s website:

From the Iditarod trail to the treestand, these boots have proven they are true cold-weather performers. A 13mm Texel® removable liner reflects heat inward to minimize loss. Beneath that, the Moisture Trap footbed wicks away perspiration and condensation. A 1/2″ layer of EVA foam, coupled with the nylon-covered Phylon midsole, puts 3″ of cold-blocking material between your feet and the ground. The tough, flexible vamps are protected by a triple-layer, abrasion-resistant toe guard, and the rubber toe cap ensures longer wear. These boots have a reflective, lightweight waterproof shell with lightweight, reflective nylon shafts. Radiantex™ reflective coating. The 8″ liner allows for pants inside the boots, and the rip-stop nylon gaiter has a cord-locked drawcord to keep out snow. They’re easy to tighten, thanks to a one-pull ball bearing lacing system. Inside, a heat pack pocket allows you to insert toe warmer heat packs.
Height: 15″.
Average weight: 5.8 lbs./pair.
Men’s whole sizes: 7-13.
Color: Black/Tan.

Cost: $199.99 in-store or $219.00 on website

What types of boots do you wear on the trail?

Nicole signs up for the 2015 Junior Iditarod

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Nicole signed up for the 2015 Junior Iditarod this morning at the annual volunteer picnic and musher sign-up at the Iditarod Headquarters in Wasilla. She was the first musher to sign up for the race that takes place the last weekend of February.

The Junior Iditarod is a 150-mile race that runs along a portion of the original Iditarod trail, leaving from Knik Lake and finishing at the Willow Community Center.

Nicole ran the race last year as a rookie and was the red lantern winner. This year she will be racing for the last time as a junior and the last big race before she heads off to college at the University of Alaska-Southeast to study marine biology.

Nicole has a large pool of up-and-coming pups to choose from for this year’s race. She hopes to have last year’s leaders on her team, Aussie and Sidney.

Training starts for the dogs in late August.

If you would like to become part of the team, you can be our entry fee sponsor, you can sponsor a dog on the team, and if you are up in Alaska and would like to learn more about mushing and drive you own team, you can do that too!

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