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Yukon Quest: Drama and Boredom in the Middle of the Pack

February 7, 2013
Editor and/or Contributors

The Yukon Quest stages the Dawson city checkpoint in the old Alaska Trading Company building. It’s now the visitor center. People trickled in and out of the building all day Wednesday as dog teams from the middle of the pack pulled in. KUAC’s Emily Schwing caught up with some of those mushers to find out what’s happening on the trail, midway through the race.Normand Casavant pulled into the Dawson City Checkpoint with a broad smile on his face. “You’re gonna have a nice story!” he laughed. The boisterous and almost always smiling French Canadian had had trouble with his dog team since he arrived in Carmacks. Then, when he left Pelly Crossing, he had to turn around to drop a limping dog. Shortly after he got back on the trail, another dog developed a limp. “You know, sometimes the mushers, we have some problems with our emotions, so I didn’t control my emotions. I just thought ‘Oh, the race is over, the race is kaputt for me, so I better scratch.’” Casavant sent word with a photographer that he was turning around a second time. He was planning to scratch. As he drove his team alongside a road near the checkpoint, a truck pulled up and fellow musher from Whitehorse jumped out. It was Didier Moggia. Moggia has attempted the Quest three times and never finished. Casavant says it’s no secret in his social circle the two don’t get along. “He came beside me and he said , you know Normand, you’re not my favorite, but you can’t scratch, don’t scratch, Normand. And he really helped me to change my mind and believe me was the water and the fire and I think after that, life is beautiful. I did a hug and I win! I win something today!” explained Casavant.Read more here: http://fm.kuac.org/post/drama-and-boredom-middle-pack