The frigid Alaskan backcountry will echo with the yips and yowls of sled dogs for two weeks as 82 mushers race their teams across 1,800km of desolate tundra, jagged mountains and wind-swept sea ice.
Few will be there to hear them. And, unless it's a question of life or death, nobody can help them along the way.
Billed as the Last Great Race, the Iditarod covers about half the distance of the Tour de France with none of the amenities and few of the cheering crowds.
PHOTO: AP
Over about nine to 20 days, racers will pass through just 20 checkpoints, three of which are uninhabited the rest of the year, and most of which have less than a few dozen residents.
Winning teams will run about 220km a day, mushing well into the night by the light of the moon, stars and a head lamp.
They will race through blinding snow storms, thick forests and across frozen rivers where temperatures are routinely around 40 below and the wind can whip it down to a bone-chilling minus 90 degrees.
More people have climbed Mount Everest than finished the Iditarod. Just 617 teams have made it from Anchorage to Nome and many of those teams were led by Iditarod veterans.
About half the dogs will get sick or injured and will have to be flown to safety. Several of the mushers will end up giving up somewhere along the way as exhaustion sets in or the problems pile up.
Some teams have fallen through the ice into rushing rivers. Others have been attacked by moose. Frostbite is common, and hypothermia is a constant concern. (AFP)
當八十二名狗雪橇選手領著他們的隊伍穿越一千八百公里的荒蕪凍原、崎嶇山脈和寒風呼嘯的海冰，雪橇狗的叫聲將回盪在冰天凍地的阿拉斯加荒野長達兩週。
不過鮮少有人能聽到他們的聲音，且除非生死關頭，否則沿路不會有任何援助。
號稱「終極大賽」的伊迪塔羅德狗雪橇大賽，全程約為環法自由車賽的一半路程，沿途沒有任何補給供應，歡呼的民眾也寥寥無幾。
連續九到二十天左右賽程中，參賽選手
只會通過二十個休息站，其中三個地點在無賽事期間均無人居住，而多數休息站的居民不過幾十人。
優勝隊伍每天得行進約莫兩百二十公里
路，藉著月光、星光和頭燈在深夜趕路。
他們將冒著伸手不見五指的暴風雪，穿
過濃密的森林，跨越零下四十度左右的結凍河流。低溫伴隨風勢更是直逼刺骨的零下九十度。
征服過聖母峰的人比完成伊迪塔羅德的人還多，只有六百一十七個隊伍走完安哥拉治到諾姆的路程，而許多優勝隊伍是由伊迪塔羅德的老手領軍。
有近半數的狗可能生病或受傷，得被送到救護站。路程中當疲憊感油然而生，問題接踵而至，若干狗雪橇選手就會在中途放棄。
部分隊伍跌落冰面下的湍急河流，有些
被麋鹿攻擊。凍傷的情況屢見不鮮，低溫症更是揮之不去的問題。
（法新社╱翻譯︰鄭湘儀）
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