Iditarod 2015 from nome

[Snowtrac Nome]

I've been absent from the forums a bit. Iditarod kept me busy, along with about 3 times the filming of bering sea gold as in previous years. I had a cabin for passengers to finish up for Brutis, thank you to Alaska snow cat. and the rides started snow came at the last minute. there wasn't enough left to groom the trail but there was enough to run on. most of the long rides to safety was with little red I did make one run with the 2100 but the ride was harsh. for next year I plan on adding air suspension to the cabin and some additional ventilation as the large windows tend to generate a lot of heat when the sun is out. I did take some dandy pics for you all to enjoy.

 

[300 H and H]

I know you have posted pics of the dredge before... But that thing is huge!

What powered it? And, how old is it? Gold fever has been in your neck of the woods for a long time...

Regards, Kirk

 

[mtmudrunner]

WOW that dredge is huge, same questions as 300 H and H. Great pictures.

 

[300 H and H]

I just got off the phone with snow trac Nome...

The dredge is from the late 50's and is electrically powered. It ran untill some time in the 80's..

Power was from a generator station, that was run with diesel engines for a submarine..

It is big!

Regards, Kirk

 

[loggah]

Great pictures, love those old dredges,when my wife and i were in Alaska 5 years ago we went to the dredges in Fairbanks and Chicken,we got a guided tour of the one in Chicken by the owner,The Pedro dredge,but its just a little critter compared to the one you guys got !!! I been watching Bearing sea gold a bit,it has got to be scripted quite a bit !!!!! have fun. Don

 

[Snowtrac Nome]

there is 5 of them around nome 2 left standing the others have burned that oner is #5 and was built by Yuba dredge works they were run by their own power station. the larger ones like this one all sit idle now there is still one up north that is smaller and owned by the tweet family that is still running these ran till the early 90's and would have been profitable to run with gold prices down as low as 300 bucks an ounce had the help not been going to work with a thermos full of coffee and gone home with a thermos full of gold.

 

[MrLiberty]

The dredge looks like something out of a Mad Max movie....

Great Pictures.

 

[pirate_girl]

THANK YOU, Don!

 

[Snowtrac Nome]

some more pics a customer sent to me of a run to safety and a muskox viewing.

 

[300 H and H]

Safety Road House....

Is it open this time of the year up there? So is it a resturant, bar or something else? So whats the deal? Just wondering....

Regards, Kirk

 

[Snowtrac Nome]

open for Iditarod and summer just a pub

 

[Snowtrac Nome]

while all this was going on we were also filming for bering sea under the ice Brutis pulled 3 rigs on to the ice and the snow trac pulled Emily Rydell on to the ice. while pulling Emily on to the ice ,she went dancing out to her spot and Boss Dog tried to tackle her. she was waving her arms like Tim does when he plays grab ass with him.

 

[Woody_1]

some more pics a customer sent to me of a run to safety and a muskox viewing.

Is that John Binkley's Robbins sitting in the background Don? He's a neighbor on the Salcha.

 

[Snowtrac Nome]

no bering air has 2 of them they also just picked up 2 hughs 500 magnum pi chopers

 

[Woody_1]

no bering air has 2 of them they also just picked up 2 hughs 500 magnum pi chopers

Ahh, Copy that. thanks Don.....

 

[sleddogracer]

nice pictures - it's interesting to me to see pictures of the area from a different perspective than the ones I've been seeing - I'm a sleddog racer myself, so I've been following the Iditarod and have seen some of the same areas, but from a different set of eyes - it's also interesting when interests intersect, as in snowcats/sleddogs/Alaska

 

[Snowtrac Nome]

yes I've been trying to get the local kennel club to apply for some local grant money to have me groom their trails no luck yet.

 

[sleddogracer]

as dog sledding is a State Sport in Alaska, it's nice that there are grants for established trails - I was in Fairbanks in 2001 as a member of Team Canada for the IFSS World Championships and I was amazed at how little it cost to train at the track in Fairbanks - I spend more on gas in a week to keep my trail open, and have to do the grooming myself, than it costs to train on the groomed trails there for a year, thanks to the grants - if I don't groom a trail here, no one has a trail in our area - lol

 

[Snowtrac Nome]

the mushers up here are pretty accustomed to just sharing trails with snow machines and prefer it that way. we have an agency that wants to send money my way I just cant get any of the qualified individual's to do the paper work to get it. kind of a catch 22 thinking of having my wife do it for them than getting the signatures.

 

[sleddogracer]

do what ever it takes - in dog training, it's "use what ever is available to achieve your ends"