As the weeks tick by before the start of the 2022 Iron Dog, pro racers are dialing in their training, prepping their race sleds and, in some cases, initiating new racers into the Iron Dog fold. Here at Iron Dog headquarters, we know race fans are excited too. Take a peek here, into a few of the teams of 2022. 

Veteran Iron Dogger Chris Collins is racing with his childhood friend Doug Wicken to promote suicide awareness; former Iron Dog champion Todd Palin and Idaho farmer Russell Frisby are aiming for a steady, self-sufficient and safe race; perennial front-of-the-packer Zack Weisz is pairing up with once-high-school-hockey-rival Thomas Davis; and Minnesota racer Jacob Dahle, who debuted in the 2021 Iron Dog, is partnering with Wisconsin pro rider Leah Bauer, the only female racer in the 2022 Pro Class division.    

 “I met (Frisby) through some racing in Nevada a few years ago, and Iron Dog was always on his dream list,” said Palin, 57, a four-time champion who’s been racing Iron Dog since 1993. The two will be racing as Team 17. “He may be new to this, but I don’t doubt his being able to run around the clock – he’s a farmer, and it’s what he does. He just finished his harvest for potatoes and onions and he knows how to keep his cool.”

In fact, while on paper these four new partners may be labeled rookies, they are far from it. Team 2’s Bauer, for instance, has been racing in the Lower 48 cross-country circuit for years, which is where she and Dahle met. Not only does she have multiple Lower 48 snowmachine race wins under her belt, but she also races cars in the summer. 

“I’m not joking when I’m saying the hardest thing I’ll have to do is to keep her behind me” during Iron Dog, Dahle, 33, said. “She’s a tough competitor. We’ve raced together and she’s beat me, and I’ve beaten her. She’s grown up around sports her whole life, so we share these hobbies.” 

Chris Collins, 40, of Team 12 said he has no worries about pairing up with Wicken, who he’s known for more than 30 years. Growing up in Kotzebue, the two had more miles on their snowmachines when they were teenagers than many racers are able to accumulate in a year. Having a friend like that at his side takes on even more meaning this year. 

“At the beginning of the season, I wasn’t planning on running Iron Dog; I didn’t have anything left to prove to myself,” Collins said. “But after having my youngest brother committing suicide, and reading about how common it is, I thought, ‘I have to find a better way to get the word out’ about suicide prevention.”

This was not Collins’ first experience with suicide. He lost another brother to suicide five years ago, and after grieving that loss, he thought his family had survived the worst. Then in August, his youngest brother took his life, sending the family reeling again. 

That led him to read up on the causes behind suicide, and he had lots of questions. 

“Why is this happening? With Alaska Natives, and males in particular, there is a higher rate (of suicide),” he said. “Is it a location thing? It is a culture thing?

“The only way that I could put some meaning toward my brothers’ suicides, and my way of coping what was going on with my family, is to get the word out to try and stop the trauma.”

When Collins presented Wicken with the idea of running the race with suicide prevention as a platform, it was an easy sell. Wicken knows the Collins siblings well; he wanted to help. 

“He was even more excited after that,” Collins said. 

Team 5 powerhouse Zack Weisz and Brett Lapham, who led much of the 2021 Iron Dog are parting ways – but not friendships. 

“We had three pretty successful years,” Weisz, 28, said of their 2019, 2020 and 2021 races during which they placed fourth, third and fifth, respectively. “But Brett wanted to give it another shot with his brother-in-law (Cody Barber). We are still good friends, and we hang out all summer, so it’s all good. I’m racing with Tom Davis, and he’s a capable rider.”

Davis and Weisz go back to their high school hockey-playing days when Weisz played for Houston High School and Davis for Dimond. As rivals, they met head-to-head on the ice. Now that competitive spirit is bringing them together.

“Tom’s dad raced Iron Dog, and he’s always wanted to race too,” Weisz said. “So we started talking and the stars sort of aligned.”

While all four of this year’s veteran racers agree that their new partners are more than Iron Dog worthy, they also know that no matter the skill level, there is no substitute for on-the-trail experience. All of them are putting on the training miles, waking up on frigid mornings to ride in negative-degree temperatures to accustom their bodies to the rigors of riding. Those experiences will help them weather the stress of racing ahead. They echoed the same terms – “patience,” “safety” and “running their own races.”

Weisz, who with Lapham, led much of the 2021 race, also endured several crashes during last year’s race, ultimately costing the team a victory. So this time around he said he is balancing a drive for redemption with the common sense of racing within their means.  

“His talent probably exceeds mine, but my (Iron Dog) knowledge exceeds his,” Weisz said of Davis. “The expected goal of where we should be is Top 5, with this being Tom’s first year, but he’s done some racing, so we hope to be on the podium. We will need to be patient, but we’re not going to back down if we see the opportunity to be on the podium.”

Dahle, too, saw his Iron Dog dreams foiled by injury last year, after he wrecked on an ice ridge between Elim and Koyuk, and his team had to scratch. He jokes that he went into last year’s Iron Dog race – his rookie showing – thinking he was about 50 percent prepared. 

 “I actually realized I knew about 25 percent of what I needed to know,” he said. This year, his plan is straightforward:

“We can’t get caught up in anybody else’s race, we have to do our own race,” he said. “You can’t do that many miles at 110 percent or you’re going to have a mistake. Sticking to our own race will keep us focused.”

Collins, too, said he will have to pace himself. 

“When you’re with a rookie, you can’t push too hard,” he said. “The mission in general is to finish the race, try to be the quiet team. But I’ve been racing for over 20 years. When the helmet’s on, it’s a different story.” 

Palin, the most experienced of the racers, perhaps summed it up best: 

“It’s 2,500 miles and you gotta get to the finish line; you can’t make mistakes,” he said. “If you feel something is off, you stop and fix it. Those simple decisions – and only relying on yourself – can make the difference. …  It’s a race of survival; you are not going to win it on the first day but you sure as heck can lose it.” 

Melissa DeVaughn is an Eagle River freelance writer and designer, and longtime contributor to Iron Dog.