Lately, life in the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta has required a few extra layers — it’s been cold. And okay, it’s January in Alaska. But it’s a lot different than 2025, which was among the warmest on record for the region.
In December 2024 and January 2025, the inconsistent snow and warm weather meant that both the Kuskokwim 300 (K300) and the Bogus Creek 150 sled dog events had to be rescheduled, among others.
On Jan. 8, the Bogus Creek 150 was postponed again, but this time the K300 Race Committee is citing the extreme cold snap.
The scheduled race weekend had forecasted windchills that could drop temperatures close to 40 degrees below zero. That kind of cold can be dangerous for dogs and mushers, and the unrelenting low temperatures leading up to the race made it difficult for volunteers to mark trails.
This year, K300 Race Manager Paul Basile said that the first two races of the K300 season have occurred as scheduled.
“I’m not sure that it's ever happened in the years I've been managing,” Basile said.
Basile said that the recent weather has brought its own obstacles. Mushers have reported a challenging stretch of pre-season training — navigating ice storms, freezing winds, and sub-zero temperatures.
“There's snow, and so when the weather is reasonable enough mushers are getting out. And certainly some, I think, are feeling like they're in an okay place,” Basile said. “But it's been a challenging stretch for sure. Just a different kind of challenging than they're used to.”
In the warm temperatures, some teams left the Y-K Delta to seek the snowpack of the Interior to train. Musher Raymond Alexie of Kwethluk told KYUK in 2025 that he traveled with his dogs to the Denali area to run on snow-covered trails. But this year is different.
“Folks in the [Matanuska-Susitna] Valley, until this week, had virtually no snow. It's usually the other way around,” Basile explained. “All those dog mushers that live in Willow, and Knik, and Big Lake, they're all training on beautiful trails, and then they come out here and have to face the ice. This year it's, so far, been the other way around.”
The race has not yet been rescheduled, but the race committee said that the K300, slated to begin Jan. 23, remains on track at this time.
