CLIFF'S IDITAROD INTERNET WEB LINKS - Mostly edited for 2012

Here's a list of links to some great Iditarod Sled Dog Race Web Sites. If you know of any good web sites or favorite links that you'd like included let me know. See web site statistics and my address at the bottom of the page. The site was mostly updated for 2011. I've added an asterisk "*" or "**" to indicate changes since the last update.

When you click on any of the following links (underlined blue or red text) you should go directly to that site. Hit the "Back Button and you'll eventually come back to this file. Previously I found that one often needs to try a second time to get some of the www.iditarod.com pages to open. If you get a "this page does not exist" error message, hit the Refresh Button (Mine has green up and down arrows) or just hit F5. In some cases the "server is down", so you need to try again later. If a link doesn't work after a couple of tries, please let me know. Another hint is that many graphics files (the address usually ends with .jpg) can be enlarged by clicking on the image.

Sometimes you want to see more of the screen and fewer toolbars. To do this just hit F11. This will only show one condensed toolbar. Hit F11 again to display the extra toolbars. F11 is a shortcut to selecting View > Full Screen.

I often prefer to do a "right click" and "Open in New Window", especially when opening a photo or map. One can continue to read the current page while the new page is loading and one can compare two pages when necessary. Some links such as "JavaScript's" that don't start with "html://" will not work this way. Only the standard left click works with them. In previous years my browser window didn't appear normally on many of the Iditarod pages. There was usually an alternative. Sometimes I noticed that if Back Button was not displayed I could select "View" and "Go To" and select "Back".

* At one time my intent was to show all possible Iditarod links. I'm changing the page to only show some of my favorite links. Those wanting a list of most Iditarod links should go to the: 2013 IDITAROD LINKS - Websites, Blogs, Webcams, FB & Twitter link by Mira & Heidi at the Bering Straight School District site. At the end of the list of the links etc. there's a link to the actual chat pages.

If for some reason the previous link doesn't work you can go to the next link. Apparently Heidi copied all or most of the links to the SIMILAR LINK at the Iditarod Race Talk Forum on the official Iditarod site. Caution however about 3/4of the way down the 1/st page you reach 2008 info and it appears that all the pages after this are old information. I saw no new info.

 The OFFICIAL IDITAROD WEB SITE at http://www.iditarod.com/ is still one of the best starting points. * Other possible starting pages include the: IDITAROD SITE MAP (However this is probably confusing because it has both 2012 & 2013 information so I suggest you start from the main page}
Another link is the Iditarod Race Coverage Page..
I've listed a few of the better "sub-pages" on the next few lines: (Note however that many of the sites are repetitive.):

* If you are new to the Iditarod you should check out the Race History Page.

Check out the Eye on the Trail Iditarod Blogs Page. This has historical data (2012 and earlier) Added data may also be found at the Eye On The Trail 2012 Archive Page there are links on the left to 2011 and earlier years Eyes on the trail pages. However I couldn't find one for 2013.

Although designed for kids, the Zuma's Paw Prints page sometimes has unique information.

* I'm not sure how useful this will be, but check out the Iditarod Trail Committee Facebook Page

Previously the following were two of the best "non Iditarod.com" sites: 1. Anchorage Daily News and 2. Josh Rogers' Iditablog Site
Some of my previous favorites (Public Radio and Cabelas) are no more. I may find more.

* You will need to decide if you want to become an Iditarod Insider. There are four Options: 1. Register for free and get access to a few videos (and possibly a few more items?), 2. Register for $20 to get access to GPS (See comments below), 3. Register for $20 to get all Videos, or 4. Register for $33 to get both GPS and Videos. Click Here for a video explanation.

The GPS Tracking Site WAS a fantastic site. It probably still is but you need to pay $20 to use it. I may do this. In 2010 it was available for several days before you had to pay for it. Also that year the $20 included access to numerous Videos as an "Iditarod Insider" But last year and this year the Videos also cost about $20. (You can get a combined Insider package for $34.) . In 2010, other than a few malfunctioning units, all mushers had one. The units apparently sent a location every 15 minutes. However sometimes the GPS signal didn't work due to trees, terrain features or other obstructions. I expect that it's about the same this year or maybe improved. Last year's Iditarod Talk Forum GPS thread had some interesting information. Check to see if there are updates for 2012. See below for my impressions from 2010.

The initial display on the left side was a list of mushers with Bib #, Racer Name, Current Speed, Race Miles, and "Age". Age was apparently the time since the GPS signal was refreshed. I think you needed to refresh your web browser to reset this time. The initial listing was by race order. Those that have covered the most miles are first. However sometimes the GPS wouldn't record so the order wasn't always exact. You could click on one of the columns to change the order. For example a click on the top of the Racer Column resulted in an alphabetical sort.

On the right was a MS Bing Map (similar to Google Maps) showing the racers locations. One could zoom in and switch to the "aerial" (photo) view occasionally. Once away from the populated area (near Anchorage) the resolution of the map didn't allow you (in "aerial" mode) to zoom in as much as you'd like, but it's still useful. Clicking on the Checkpoints Tab gave a list of the checkpoint mileage from Willow. However when I compared this mileage with other pages I got over 100 miles total distance difference. For the last two years I thought the GPS "Checkpoint Miles" were a "little off", but they may be closer to the actual miles than the traditional miles. I think the data in the race results logs is from the traditional mileage.

Another good page is the Discussion Forum Page. One of the best "Threads in this forum is the 2012 Iditarod Links - Websites, Forums, Webcams, Etc. page. After checking out all the great links you will then scroll down to old (2008) comments. To see new comments you need to go towards the end of the list (Page 12 or beyond for 2012 comments). Also check out the 2012 IDITAROD LINKS - Websites, Blogs, Webcams, FB & Twitter on the BSSD site, in case there are differences. These links duplicate ones listed further up in the introduction section.

 Here are the LATEST RACE RESULTS: OR "CURRENT STANDINGS" There may be links to other displays at the top of the page. The Checkpoint Summary page will probably be a very informative page. Once the race starts, I recommend that you use the "Open in New Window" option for the current standings page. Then leave it open and periodically click on it and hit the Refresh Button (or press F5) to see if the standings have been updated. However you may want to review some or all of the "Previous Race Results" 1^st. Note that the Current Standings Page may provide a link to the previous 2012 race results log-files. Sometimes it's good to have an alternative. * Here's the link to the Anchorage Daily News Iditarod Page. Eventually they will have a standings page and I'll add that link.

 The Race results archives page does not show the archived 2012 race logs. It shows past year's race information and is a good site. ** The "Archived" 2011 Race Logs are now listed HERE. It took awhile but as of Monday, March 05, 2012 they were set up. Here's how I Used the Archives of the "Current Standings": If I hadn't checked the standings for awhile, I went to My 2011 Log-Files Archive Page first and found where I left off. I then checked each log-file until there were no more left or until the links in my archive page didn't work, and only then did I look at the actual current standings. When I checked these I looked for the ORANGE HIGHLIGHTING which indicated that something in that record had changed since the last update. That way I was able to "watch the race unfold" just as I would if I'd been checking the current standings all along. If they get the race archive set up similarly and I'm able to get them entered into my on-line spreadsheet, you also may want to use this technique. You should be able to access any of the log files from this online spreadsheet. In addition to the date and time and a link to the actual log-file page, I added comments as to the status of the leaders. Generally I limited comments to those in the top 10, those that had scratched, or the last to leave a given checkpoint. Note that sometimes they miss a person leaving a given checkpoint, so that person is shown as way behind, only to suddenly appear at the next checkpoint. When I check out the archive files before checking current standings I call it a Virtual Tour. Click on CLIFF'S HOW TO TAKE AN IDITAROD VIRTUAL TOUR for more information. I'm not yet sure if I will set up my 2012 Log-Files Archive Page or not.

For both current standings and archived standings there's usually a means of indicating if a line has been changed with the last update. For example this year they've been using an Orange background. Some years they use a plus symbol. Be sure to click on the "REFRESH" Button (or hit F5) on your browser to get the latest version of these (or any other page).

In 2010 I had one more step in my process. Once, I'd checked all the archived log files, and checked the Current Standings, I checked the GPS page. This was especially useful for long runs. If I decide to sign up for GPS I may do this again.

ANOTHER GREAT WAY TO FOLLOW THE RACE IS THROUGH THE IDITAROD.COM "TALK FORUM". The best option for up to date info is to go to the RACE TALK Forum and then to the 2012 GPS Updates Topic. Once the race starts this is a very active topic. However the main theme of the "topic" is the latest GPS location of the leading mushers. Periodically someone will post a list of at least the top ten or more mushers with data such as their milepost and speed. Their GPS milepost will probably be different than that from the standard maps. Usually someone will post the mileages of some of the checkpoints so that you can then determine where they are in relation to nearby checkpoints. This data will usually be even more timely than that from the "log files". This site is especially helpful when mushers are at the final miles from White Mountain to Safety and Nome. Keep track of the last "Page" that you went to so that you can resume following the race after a break. For example the winning musher for 2012 came in on "Page 840".

MULTIMEDIA: Previously Iditarod.Com had a page with links to a variety of "Multimedia (Audio, Video, and Photos), including one to the LIVE FINISH VIDEO. Going to their VIDEO PAGE, you will note that only a couple of videos are available unless you pay the $20 membership fee. Otherwise, your best bet to see a finish is to open one of the Nome Web Cams at http://www.guilliam.com/alaska.htm (with a slightly larger view of the top cam at: http://home.gci.net/~cityofnome/nomecam.jpg), another at: http://nomecvb.com/nomecam/ and click refresh (or F5) periodically. If you are lucky you might catch a musher at the finish line. If you plan to print an image, I'm quite sure you have to do it before the images refreshes, even though it hasn't yet refreshed on your screen. Other Web Cams: http://www.akmining.com/webcams.htm,
McGrath Web Cam - Click on the image to get a larger picture, and http://akweathercams.faa.gov/sitelist.php

The following "Wolf Dog" site has a long list of webcams and looks like it will have commentary on the race once it starts.

I've found that some multimedia sites use a variety of programs and that it varies by year. Some of the Media Programs include: The Adobe Flash add-in, the "Real Player", the "Windows Media Player", Apple QuickTime, and iTunes. I used iTunes for some "Podcasts". It may also depend on what multimedia defaults you have set on your computer. Here's a link that may test your Adobe Flash. Windows Media Player is the required program for some sites and is another must. A few sites require QuickTime Video. CLICK HERE for an MP3 stream that currently plays in iTunes but previously played with Real Player. Some podcasts can be found at http://kska.org/
If your already have these media players installed I recommend that you open each program and select the "Help" option and the "Check for Updates" (or similar) option. Note that you want to do an "UPDATE" and NOT an UPGRADE. An upgrade is almost always a new program and is usually not free.

TIME: Note that most of the above sites use Alaska Standard Time which is -9 from Universal Coordinated Time and -2 hour from my time zone, Mountain Standard Time. The following is a link to current Alaska Time: http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Alaska/d/-9 (Hit F5 to update the time.)

* MAPS: To best interpret these sites, a map is essential. There are several web sites with maps. Note that the route splits in the middle and for even years i.e. 2012 the "Northern Route" is used and for odd years i.e. 2011, the "Southern Route is used. Sometimes there are two separate maps, but currently the "official maps" show both routes. Here are two links that appear to have the same map: Link to Official Map 1 and Link to Official Map 2. Note that in 2003 there was a completely different, starting point - at Fairbanks joining the Northern Route at Ruby.
Here's a Link to Checkpoint Mileages and maps for both Northern & Southern Routes. Note that this year in 2012 the Northern Route Mileages have been corrected, but are not yet corrected for the Southern Route.

Previously the official re-start was supposed to be in Wasilla, but had to be in Willow (or Fairbanks in 2003) for most of the recent races due to low snow. Changes from the old official route have the trail going directly to Yentna, and by-passing Knik. Note that the miles from Anchorage to Willow (or Anchorage to Wasilla in previous "normal years) are only "ceremonial miles". The actual race previously started at Wasilla; or Willow. Some descriptions will still give the old mileage from Wasilla. Mileages from Willow to Yentna have varied from 39 - 66. The current list shows 42 miles but the previous 2010 GPS site listed completely different mileages for most of the checkpoints, so caution is still advised. I'll see what they use in the race archives.
More maps:
IDITAROD TRAIL MAPS & DESCRIPTIONS:
Anchorage Daily News Iditarod Map. This is for 2010 which is the same route as 2012. I expect they will get more updates for 2012 soon.
Click Here for what 2012 info they have so far. Previously when you clicked on a checkpoint you got a brief description of the checkpoint and a list of the mushers that had made it to that point. I did have trouble getting this feature to display properly. Click back on the map to see the rest of the map or additional checkpoints.
Anchorage Daily News 2008 Iditarod Map. I left this one in because it has a somewhat less cluttered display. Most info should be applicable.

Weather Underground Interactive Map with links to the current weather at many of the checkpoints. It still shows the start at Wasilla then going through Knik before reaching Yentna otherwise apparently accurate. Has a clear display and the weather is a nice feature.

 TRAIL DESCRIPTIONS: Its fun to read up on the description of the trail. Be sure to have the map in front of you.
 Here are the Trail Checkpoint Mileage's & Descriptions. Notice that a map and checkpoint list for the Northern Route (even numbered years) and another for the Southern Route (odd numbered years) are shown. In these tables, click on the desired checkpoint for Don Bower's trail description. Note that the route has been changed from Wasilla to Knik to Yentna. The trail starts at Willow and goes to Yentna, by-passing Knik. See additional comments in the map section, above.

* The Sheldon Air Service Iditarod Site has a good description of some of the trail changes for 2012.

 Additional Maps and Trail Descriptions:
Check out the Scolastic.Com Even Number Year Iditarod Map it say's it's accurate for 2010. Click a couple of times to activate the 1^st map section. Here's their Odd Number Year Map (1st section) (for 2009). These maps are ultimately in 3 sections. Click on a checkpoint for a brief description and mileage and continue to middle and last sections of the trail. These have been adjusted for the Willow re-start. (See comments above Re. mileages.)

* CLICK HERE for current RACE RULES. This is the link to a PDF file that often settles arguments about the race.
* There used to be a list of past awards and record holders. There are links to many of the record holders, but nothing for any other awards that I can find. I'm not impressed with the changes they made to the site. It's hard to find items that used to be easy to locate.

 To see WEATHER at some of the checkpoints go to the WEATHER CENTER page or see the map with weather (above).
* The following small scale map will give approximate Alaska SNOW DEPTHS if you know the trail locations you may get a rough idea of snow depth. Also note the Weather Underground Interactive Map. Here's another Snow Depth Map - note that it lists actual depths at a few places of interest including McGrath, Galena, and Nome.

OTHER SITES:
** Here's the Thoughts by Tonichelle Blog that seems to have good coverage for 2012. Check some of the other related topics too.

** The Alaska Dispatch has some good 2012 articles.

Click Here for an Alaska Public Radio site that has some good current Iditarod articles.

CLICK HERE for a link to listen to KSKA Anchorage Public Radio On-line. Click on one of the "Listen On-line" links to the right of center, or select the "Learn More" link just below for information on and links to several media players. On 09Mar10 I was unable to get this to work.

 The Dogsled Dot Com Site has a little 2011 info and a list of past Iditarod winners. I'll leave the link in for awhile.

Here are some other sites that look promising:
Josh Rogers' Iditablog Site - Looks good. Has some good links. Check out the Podcasts and the links to trail webcams. Previously he had a good summery of up to date info.
The Crow Village Iditarod Blog. Has good 2011 info. Nothing for 2012 yet.
The Northern Lights Iditarod Page - Has some 2012 Yukon Quest info. Check back for Iditarod info..

IDITAROD TALK FORUMS (or Bulletin Boards) allow you to ask or answer questions (type written):
Cabela's used to have the best talk forum. I found that the forum was a good source of extra or more current information in some cases than from the "regular" sites. Most of the folks that were on Cabelas forum have moved to the following two forums:
Bering Strait School District (BSSD) Iditarod Talk Forum. Especially check the:  2012 IDITAROD LINKS - Websites, Blogs, Webcams, FB & Twitter topic.
Iditarod.Com Talk Forum. Check this site's  2012 Iditarod Links - Websites, Blogs, Webcams, FB, Twitter topic to see if there is any difference.

The Sleddog Central Racing Talk Forum: has a few topics related to the Iditarod. Go to the Iditarod Coverage Topic.
You can read messages in all of these, but to send your own message or to reply to a message, you must first "register" with a user name and password.

 BIOGRAPHY OR "MUSHER" SITES: (Also see "Individual Musher Web Sites" section, below.)
Depending on what you're after, one may be better than another:
Iditarod.Com has at least one site that lists the mushers with links to biographies. One site is the IDITAROD MUSHERS SITE with a list which includes: Bib #, Last Name, First Name, Sex, City, State, Country, Status (Rookie/Veteran). You can sort by any column by clicking on the column heading. Click a second time to sort in the opposite order.
 Here's the Anchorage Daily News (Picture) list of mushers - Click on a picture to get more data for a given musher. Once the race starts their race position will be shown.

NEWS MEDIA IDITAROD LINKS:
http://www.adn.com/iditarod/ - The Anchorage Daily News (ADN) Iditarod site is an Excellent Site - a must view site with good articles and GOOD PHOTOS. Now you must register with your name, address and email. I felt it was worth it.

CLICK HERE for a Yahoo Sports search of the 100 most recent articles or CLICK HERE for Yahoo Iditarod News.
USE THIS YAHOO LINK FOR PHOTOS:
A site similar to the above Yahoo site is the following Google Site: CLICK HERE for a list of the 100 most recent.

Alaska Public Radio Network (APRN). (See comments in a previous paragraph.).
Another site is the KTUU TV Iditarod Site.
Also the Alaska Superstation TV Site.
CLICK HERE for the Alaska Superstation ABC "Webcast". It's fairly short, and a good way to check out your Windows Media Player.

 ?? CLICK HERE for a list of Iditarod articles at the KTVA TV web site. (Sorted by date).

 Check this needs adjustment. Click Here for KMBQ Wasilla, AK Radio. The best coverage might be at the start of the race. Otherwise listen to the music.

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Iditarod section. Lots of 2011 info. So there should be more for 2012 soon.

Other Misc. Iditarod Links:
This site really appealed to me (Has neat photos) - The Rohn Roadhouse Web Page. Link no longer works. I'll see if I can find it later.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iditarod Wikipedia detailed history of the Iditarod race.
Nome Alaska Visitor Center - Iditarod Page.

PBS Iditarod Programs & Links: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/sleddogs/ - Has some good general information and history.

INDIVIDUAL MUSHER WEB SITES: (Primarily top ten contenders that have current reports.):
Martin Buser's Page seems to be up to date.
http://www.deedeejonrowe.com/ - Dee Dee Jonrowe is a very popular musher, a cancer survivor. Here's her site.

Cliff's Iditarod Spreadsheets & Other Data:
Last year (2011) I made a summary of the race standings. I'll provide a link in case someone is interested and/or to make it easier to edit in case I decide to do the same this year. The pages are as follows:
CLIFF'S HOW TO TAKE A 2011 IDITAROD VIRTUAL TOUR - Gives instructions and links to Iditarod Standings Summaries or go directly to them with the next link. Not updated for 2012, but will still provide instruction.
CLIFF'S 2011 IDITAROD - ARCHIVED STANDINGS SUMMARIES This is now usable .

Printing and Editing Instructions:
If you are using this file from the Internet, it will work as stated in the introduction, but you may want to save it on your hard drive. To save this file, make sure that it's saved as an HTML file with an ".htm" or ".html" extension (suffix). You can then double click on the file name and your web browser will launch. You can also launch your browser and then open this file (Using File, Open, Browse, etc.). Click on any of the following links as described above.

Note: If you print this out and try to type in any of the above URLs you should not include the period that's at the end of most lines. Periods are added to make the "spell checker" work better.

The 2010 updates were done on MS Office 2003 MS Word. It would probably not be easy to edit this file without that program, or later versions. If you have that program, then within MS Internet Explorer Version 5 or later, you can select "File" and "Edit with Microsoft Word". Other Browsers and other word processors will vary as to commands. Note that you cannot line up or space words with the space bar or with tabs in an Internet document. You can insert a "Nonbreaking Space" as was done here, or you can use Tables to accomplish this. In most MS programs you can make a Nonbreaking Space by pressing the ALT Key and with the Number Pad, type 0160. In MS Word you can also just type CTRL-SHIFT-SPACEBAR. Save the document periodically, then go back to the Browser version, and hit the Refresh Button to see your changes.

Web Site Statistics:
This file was created in March 2000, updated in March 2001-2010. Please email or call me if you have some good sites not listed here.

Web Location	http://home.custertel.net/~ckeene41/iditarodlinks.html
Last revised on web: 2/	03/02/2012   22:15 PM
Previously revised on web:	03/10/2010   00:03 PM
Home Page Location	http://home.custertel.net/~ckeene41/
Contact:	Email is: ckeene41-b4 followed by an @ and then yahoo.com (Cliff Keene, 1405 Tendoy Ave, Salmon, ID 83467)

2/ Normally items added since the previous revision are marked with an "*", but it was not done this time. Corrections to existing links are not considered new.