The leaders are out of Winterlake Lodge this morning. Neil Beltchenko from Colorado is in the lead this morning, while Clinton Hodges III, Jay Petervary and Jussi Karjalainen from Finland are still resting at Winterlake Lodge this morning. It is snowing this morning in Southcentral Alaska. 

The forecast:

Rest Of Today

Snow likely in the morning, then scattered snow showers in the afternoon. Snow accumulation up to 5 inches. Highs 15 to 25. Light winds.

Tonight

Mostly cloudy with isolated snow showers in the evening, then partly cloudy after midnight. Lows zero to 5 below. West wind 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph.

The leaders are in and out of Yentna Station tonight. Jay was in and out first followed by Neil B., Clinton H. and Casey F. 

Images at Knik Lake today by Andy Romang:

http://www.andyromang.com/Sports/2018/ITI-2018-Iditarod-Trail-Invitational/

Good progress today.

At 7pm, race leaders Neil Beltchenko and Jay Petervary are already 44 miles up the trail and following the Yentna River. 

Soft, punchy conditions are reported on Flathorn Lake. 

Bike racers are doing a lot of pushing.

Follow the race live here: http://www.iditarodtrailinvitational.com/tracking

Find more updates here: https://www.facebook.com/iditarodtrailinvitational/

The racers are off from Knik Lake today at 2 PM Alaska Time under sunny skies! Coloradan Neil Beltchenko in the lead at mile 35 at the Susitna River with Jay Petervary right behind him at 5:42 PM.

The 2018 ITI starts today at 2 PM. Follow the race live here on our tracking page. 

We will have daily updates on face book, twitter and on our latest news page here on our website.

https://www.facebook.com/iditarodtrailinvitational/

https://twitter.com/Iditarodultra18

http://www.iditarodtrailinvitational.com/tracking/

Congratulations to Asymetriq Productions on releasing the trailer for their new film about the 2017 ITI, Safety to Nome, to be released this summer.

The Rainy Pass area was in great shape last night when the ITI crew passed through during the final supply flight. As often happens in Alaska, though, a system moved in shortly afterwards and dropped several inches of snow.

Blue skies over Squentna. #iti2018

A post shared by Iditarod Trail Invitational (@iditarod_trail_invitational) on Feb 20, 2018 at 4:47pm PST