The trio of Casey, Jill and Petr put forth a 19-hour, massive effort yesterday in their relentless journey towards Nome. The three athletes left Golovin around 8:30am and were met again with soft, wet trails and falling snow as they followed an overland route to White Mountain. They took the longer overland route, which was followed by the dog teams, to avoid open water in the lagoon between Golovin and White Mountain.

Pushing their bicycles for most of the trek to White Mountain, the trio arrived around 5:30pm in freezing fog and temperatures around 30F. They were met on the outskirts of the village by Jack Wassillie, who, along with Joanna and the rest of the Wassillie family, are long-time supporters of ITI athletes and who were profiled in a recent story. Jack did not have direct interaction with the athletes amid COVID-19 concerns but instead led the athletes by snowmachine to shelter at a public safety building, which was graciously provided by the White Mountain city council. Once inside the building, the athletes found that the Wassillie family had left a picnic of hearty moose burger chili and fresh-baked bread to warm their bodies and spirits.

The trio left White Mountain around 7:30pm and were able to ride their bikes for nearly three hours. At that point, they reached the Topcock Hills and their progress was slowed by a combination of soft, unbroken trails, wind and steep inclines. The three athletes spent the next five hours on and off their bikes, pushing up the inclines and attempting to ride the declines, arriving at the Topcock shelter cabin around 3am. Exhausted, they spent 9 hours at the cabin sleeping, eating and recovering before striking out at 12:10pm today.

Casey, Jill and Petr are currently about 20 miles from the next checkpoint at Safety and are working through a tough combination of falling snow and temperatures hovering around 30F, creating slow, wet trail conditions.

The youngest member of the Wassillie family preparing a moose burger chili for the athletes

Joanna knows how to warm ITI athletes’ spirits, as well as their bodies

The trio rolling out towards the Topcock Hills in freezing fog

Trail Update