There is a buzz in Valley County over a first-ever event that just might be the start of something big.
This year, the McCall Winter Carnival is shedding some light on Idaho’s early history of winter travel with the McCall Ultra Challenge Sled Dog Race. A 237-mile race through the backcountry of Valley County.
The town of Cascade served as a checkpoint for the race on Tuesday. The 10 racers took a six-hour break before embarking on the remaining 90 miles in the race.
It started as just an idea for Jerry Wortley at last year’s McCall Winter Carnival.
“I watched the dog pull last year and I thought maybe it would be a good idea to make it a little longer. So that's what we're doing,” Wortley said.
Wortley spent about the last six months gathering permits and volunteers to help turn this idea into a reality. It was hard work that eventually paid off, as the McCall Ultra Challenge has now become one of only about a dozen Iditarod qualifiers.
“This is the only one in Idaho,” race marshall Andy Angstman said.
In order for a rookie to qualify for the Iditarod, they must run both a 200-mile race and a 300-mile race.
“Once you've qualified, you are qualified for the rest of your life basically and you can run the Iditarod over and over again,” Angstman said.
Jessie Royer is one of those racers.
“I've run it 15 times,” Royer said.
Royer is using the Ultra Challenge to prepare her dogs for this year’s Iditarod, which takes place on the first weekend of March.
“I like to come to the 200- and 300-mile races to help put some miles on the dogs and get them ready for the Iditarod,” Royer said.
Each dog will run anywhere from 2,000 to 3,000 miles before they even try their luck on the thousand-mile race up in Alaska.
“Some of them this is their first race,” Royer said.
It was a challenging one at that with temperatures in the upper 30s.
“They're cold weather dogs, that's what their bred for, it’s like running a marathon with your parka on,” Royer said.
It’s a marathon that has a lot of those in Cascade excited; and an idea that may have just become a tradition.
“I came down from Alaska to be a part of this and I want to come back next year, and the year after that, and after that,” Angstman said.
The McCall Ultra Challenge is expected to wrap up in the early morning hours on Wednesday.