His beard has grown thick, warm as fur. The eyes of some of his dogs are as blue as his.
Ever since Randy Chappel quit his job and moved to Alaska in November to live and train for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, it's as if the investment analyst from Texas, and his canine companions have undergone a change, a transformation.
The man and his dogs are becoming like one.
PHOTO: AP
"Gee!" he cried from the back of the sled. It was 11?C below zero. Teeth-chattering, word-stuttering c-c-cold, but perfect mushing weather.
Sixty-four dog teams, including Chappel, pushed off on Monday along the frozen Chena River, launching the 31st Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race along a new route drawn up because of Alaska's unusually warm winter.
Mushers and dogs lining up for the ``restart'' were enjoying snow, something they didn't have for Saturday's ceremonial start in Anchorage. Amid the din of barking dogs, several thousand fans turned out to witness the Iditarod's first appearance in Fairbanks.
PHOTO: AP
The first Texan to compete in the Super Bowl of sled dog racing, Chappel is a relative newcomer to Alaska's official sport.
"I hope we're ready," he said. "I'm sure [the dogs] are." Alluding to his inexperience, Chappel said, "My job is to keep them from finding out that I'm the weak spot, the only question mark on the team."
Wearing cloth booties to protect their paws, the dogs settled into a rhythm. They trotted in companionable silence, between 19km and 24km, along the narrow frozen trail, and trails are everywhere in these mountains, narrow paths cut among the pale, leafless birch trees and stands of snow-laden spruce.
An unusually warm season and lack of snow has created the oddest Iditarod since the 1,770km race to Nome began in 1973. It's the first time the race has started so far north and with a revised route that extends the trail by 113km and leaves a lot of unknowns, even for veteran mushers.
``I don't know what to expect, and that's the neat -- and intimidating thing -- about this year,'' musher Jon Little said before setting out on the trail. ``I don't know what's around the next corner.''
Even Fairbanks, 418km north of Anchorage, has had warmer temperatures and less snow than usual. But compared with Anchorage, Fairbanks is a winter wonderland.
Musher Aliy Zirkle, who lives in nearby Two Rivers, said her dogs have had plenty of training this year. Many of her peers have been forced to train on ice, with four-wheelers or far from home.
``I'm just happy I haven't fallen in the river yet,'' Zirkle laughed. ``I think we're going to have this year experiencing something new.''
Some mushers were worried about the potential to get lost on the new route, with tight corners and a maze of swamps along once section. Tim Osmar, who is running his 16th Iditarod, wasn't sweating it.
``I'm just real happy they figured out a way to get to Nome,'' he said. ``The trick is to keep your attitude up.''
Mushers are vying for a US$600,000 purse. The winner will take home US$68,571 and a new truck.
Chappel knows his dogs' lives will be in his hands. His welfare, likewise, will be in theirs.
During the fall and winter they have lived and worked together, on and off the trails. The musher and his dogs have come to gauge and rely upon each other and forge a bond of trust.
He trains them, feeds them, tends to their needs. Some evenings when the musher and his dogs are alone at the kennel and the sky glows green with the northern lights, the dogs, their stomachs full, lift their throats to the starry heavens and howl like wolves.
Chappel delights in those magical moments and will remember them always.
A Stanford grad with a master's degree in business, the 35-year-old rookie sledder quickly realized that the total price tag for this adventure will well exceed the US$50,000 he had budgeted.
He knows he won't win, but he doesn't care.
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