The Iditasport
March 2-3, 2002

In late February, a friend rented a couple of our snowmachines to guide an Italian film crew along the Iditarod Trail for the Iditasport, a 1000-mile winter wilderness race from Anchorage to Nome for runners, bikers, and cross-country skiers. We saw the racers and film crew off on February 24. Six days later we got a call. They needed parts. Two of the machines had run into trees.

We ran all over town to get parts, then got a late start to Farewell in the plane, where we landed and dropped off the parts. It was too late to go back to Anchorage before dark so we flew on to McGrath, 350 miles into the race. There we met Roberto, the subject of the film. He's an extraordinary man, 6'5" tall, 56 years old, with one eye. He's a goat farmer in Italy and he's won this race every year he's entered. He averages 22 hours and 50 miles of walking a day on foot, pulling a small sled. He's not fast out of the gate, but he has tenacity!

Read more about Roberto's Iditasport adventure at Alaska.com.