Connection to mushing history of region keeps participants coming back

The Kobuk 440 is set to begin on the ice in front of Kotzebue on Thursday. Thirteen mushers and their teams are signed up for the mid-distance race, which runs along the Kobuk River.

Returning this year are Kotzebue locals Jim Bourquin and Kevin Hansen, Paul Hansen’s son. Jessi Downey, a fan favorite from last year with family ties to the Northwest Arctic community of Noatak, will also be racing and competing against her boyfriend, Hunter Keefe.

“It's the true meaning of what the Iditarod stands for,” said Sue Evans, a descendant of a musher who was part of the historic effort.

Rookie musher Jessi Downey spent part of her childhood in the Northwest Arctic and was the only Iñupiaq woman in the race. In fact, she might be just the second Iñupiaq woman musher in the race’s more than 30-year history.

When most people think about Alaska, they think about hunting and fishing, wilderness and harsh conditions, subjects typically portrayed on the wide swath of TV shows depicting “reality” in Alaska. But a new spin on reality TV has come out of Kotzebue, with Aaron Phillips fresh back from filming “The Ultimate Fighter TUF29.”

As the only team to complete the original upper Kobuk loop trail through the storm, 38-year-old Ryan Redington took home the $16,000 first prize.

Many teams were pinned down by the weather for hours, unable to find each other and unsure if they were on the trail at all.

While Browning was first back in Kotzebue, a race champion has yet to be named: Race officials still must adjust teams’ times to account for different distances traveled during the weekend’s harrowing storm.

Braving heavy winds and below-zero temperatures, a dozen mushers embarked across the sea ice for their chance at claiming victory in this year’s Kobuk 440 Sled Dog Race.