CB 300: Brent Sass Wins. Eleven Others Have Finished. Two More On The Way To Finish Line.

COPPER BASIN 300  Brent Sass Finishes In First Place And Wins The 2022 Copper Basin 300 Glennallen, Tolsona, Lake Louise, Sourdough, Meiers ...

COPPER BASIN 300 

Brent Sass Finishes In First Place And Wins The 2022 Copper Basin 300

Glennallen, Tolsona, Lake Louise, Sourdough, Meiers Lake, Chistochina and Then Back To Glennallen

Local children watch a 2018 CB300 racer come down the trail at Gakona. (Photo, Country Journal) 
 Tuesday Morning UPDATE
Eleven mushers have finished the race. 
The final two, Misha Wiljes and Giordano Tarara, are well on their way.

10 pm Monday Evening UPDATE
Eight mushers have crossed the finish line.
Five more on their way.

2:16 pm Monday Afternoon UPDATE
Brent Sass has crossed finish line in Glennallen.
Joar Ulsom, Matt Hall, and Paige Drobny are coming down the home stretch along Richardson Highway.
Eight teams have left Chistochina
Track The Racers Using This Link: http://trackleaders.com/copper22

Monday Morning UPDATE
Brent Sass Has Crossed Gulkana River Headed Down Home Stretch Along Richardson Highway
8 Teams Have Reached Chistochina. 
Brent Sass leads. Joar Ulsom right behind Sass. Matt Hall right behind Ulsom. Finish expected Monday afternoon.
Track The Racers Using This Link: http://trackleaders.com/copper22

11 pm Sunday UPDATE
Brent Sass Left Meier's Lake At 6:30
13 Teams Have Reached Meiers
Track The Racers Using This Link: http://trackleaders.com/copper22

11 am Sunday UPDATE
Brent Sass About To Reach Meiers Lake 
15 Teams Have Reached Sourdough
6 Teams Still On Their Way To Sourdough
Track The Racers Using This Link: http://trackleaders.com/copper22

UPDATE
Race Start Temperatures Expected To Be Around 30 Below 

The Copper Basin 300 Sled Dog Race is due to start Saturday morning, January 8th, at 10 am. 

According to Jason Severs, Race Marshal Greg Parvin (who, he noted, has served in that position for the past 9 years) will be making all decisions on the event. 

Severs said that as far as he can see it's a go for the race, and that he doesn't anticipate "anything that's predicted to cancel it" weatherwise. 

Currently, there are weather warnings in the Mat-Su Valley. But, Severs said, "Everything I'm seeing on the weather is they're calling for a warmup."  

RACE IS 288 MILES 
Originally known as "The Roadhouse Race," the 2022 CB300 will be 288 miles long this year. 

Checkpoints will be between 40 and 68 miles apart. The race will start and end in Glennallen. 

As usual, "Race Central" will be in the American Legion Hall in Glennallen, across from the IGA. Race Central will move to Old Paths Baptist Church on the final Monday morning of the race for the finish. 

A number of well-known mushers will participate in the race this year, including Martin Buser and Nicolas Petit as well as famous musher Susan Butcher's daughter, Tekla Butcher-Monson. Susan Butcher won the the second and third CB 300 races.

Premier Race
The Copper Basin 300 is one of the most difficult qualifying races for the famous Iditarod. The terrain of the Copper Valley gives mushers all the challenges that they'll hit on the Iditarod. The timing of the race, early in the season in a cold part of Alaska, makes it colder than what most will endure on the Iditarod. But the Copper Valley's extensive road system, and the checkpoint locations along the road, offer a degree of safety.

Since the first race was held in 1990, Martin Buser has been in it many times, along with other well-known names such as Susan Butcher, Tim Osmar, Rick Swenson, Jeff King,  Mitch Seevey, DeeDee Jonrowe, Allen Moore, Lance Mackey, Ray Redington, Jr. and Joe Redington.  

In late December, the Valdez Snowmachine Club came to the Copper Valley and helped break the trail from Chistochina, over to Meiers Lake. 


MUSHERS

2022 Musher List (listed alphabetically by first name)

  1. Ann Dargan
  2. Brent Sass
  3. Dane Baker
  4. Dylan Robins
  5. Elliot Hubbard
  6. Giordano Tarara
  7. Jacob Witkop
  8. Jeffrey Deeter
  9. Jesse Salyer
  10. Jessie Holmes
  11. Joar Ulsom
  12. Joe Taylor
  13. Lauro Eklund
  14. Lindsay Llanes
  15. Martin Buser
  16. Matt Hall
  17. Matt Paveglio
  18. Michael Baker
  19. Misha Wiljes
  20. Nicolas Petit
  21. Paige Drobny
  22. Robert Cooke
  23. Shantel Wiley
  24. Shaynee Traska
  25. Tekla Butcher-Monson

History of the Race 

Roadhouses Of The Valley 
Over the years, the race has changed. Originally, the start moved every year, from roadhouse to roadhouse. The "Glennallen" checkpoint was at Brown Bear. 

There were more checkpoints than there are today. 

For example, in 1996, checkpoints were: 
Wolverine Lodge, Tolsona Lake Resort, Brown Bear Rhodehouse, Gakona Lodge, Chistochina Lodge, Water's Edge B&B, Meiers Lake Roadhouse and Sourdough Roadhouse.

The idea was to duplicate the experience of mushing between the actual roadhouses along the Valdez-To-Fairbanks and Valdez-To-Eagle Trails.  

Some of the old historic roadhouses on those trails – Chistochina Lodge, Sourdough Roadhouse and Summit Lake Lodge – still existed when the race was begun. Since then the three mentioned have all burned down.

Gakona Lodge, which was on the original race route, is not open in the winter anymore, so it's not part of the CB300 event. 

The Early Race 
In its original configuration, the race started every year at a different roadhouse along the route. This was so a musher couldn't "learn" the race. 

The shifting starting line also offered each of the participating lodge owners an opportunity to take turns hosting the race on a rotating schedule. This added to their bottom line by bringing in local, statewide and even national customers in the dead of winter. 

1996 
One of the most harrowing years for the Copper Basin 300 Race was 1996, when weeks of dangerous 50 below zero weather coincided with the event, causing it to close down at Chistochina due to severe safety concerns for dogs, mushers, volunteers and spectators. 

Picking Up Speed
Over the years, mushers have gotten considerably faster. In 1990, John Schandelmeier won the first race at 66 hours, 35 minutes. The next year, the great Susan Butcher shaved his time down by 11 hours – to 55 hours, 30 minutes. By 2018, Nicolas Petit had gotten the winning time down to 37 hours, 51 minutes. 



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