Catching up with a four-time Quest champion

Having never been in the Yukon wilderness before, I set out for my interview with Hans Gatt, the 2010 Yukon Quest champion, with horror stories of mosquitoes as large as a man’s fist in the back of my mind .

Having never been in the Yukon wilderness before, I set out for my interview with Hans Gatt, the 2010 Yukon Quest champion, with horror stories of mosquitoes as large as a man’s fist in the back of my mind .

I had never been to a musher’s house before. When I arrived, it was more idyllic than horror. Hans and Susie live in a spacious log cabin with Airstream travel trailers out front, and some very neatly organized kennels in the yard that sits in the middle of the forest overlooking the mountains.

One of the first things Hans cleared up was while there had been some talk about his retirement; there was not much truth to that.

“I wanted to retire a few years ago, but I realized I am too attached to the dogs and I could not bring myself to sell them,” he said. “We’ll all quit together once they get old. Shipping them off is not an option. It is very difficult to find yards where they will have as good a life as they have here.”

Hans and Susie already have 20 non-racing dogs, proving their dedication to seeing the dogs through. Susie said they had just completed dividing the race yard into sections to try to allow the dogs to be off their chains more often.

Just to clarify Hans’ position on his retirement, Lance Mackey challenged him at last year’s finish banquet to return in 2011 and break their tie of four wins each in the Yukon Quest, to which Hans replied: “Be careful what you wish for.”

When I asked him what he believed to be the hardest part of mushing, I got an unexpected answer: he said that the toughest part of the race lies in the preparation.

“It takes a lot of training, and once it is November you don’t want to go out there every day, the race itself is the easy part.”

The training being the most work is understandable, as Hans exercises his dogs with free running throughout the entire summer. Hans specifies that dogs need off the chain time.

“Sled dogs are the greatest athletes in the world. They should be allowed free time every day.”

Other parts of the preparation that take time and effort are the paperwork and financing. Most people vastly underestimate the cost of training, keeping dogs and running races. This is one of the things Hans mentioned as a difference between the Iditarod and the Quest.

The Iditarod is, for one thing, more expensive to run. After Willow, there is no road access at all. The trail runs through backcountry villages, and all food drops have to be flown in and out of them. The mushers are personally responsible for flight transport costs (musher, dogs, sleds, etc) that you just do not have in the Yukon Quest.

On the other hand, the Yukon Quest relies on handlers to pick up and care for dropped dogs as per veterinary instructions, and to clean up after the mushers at each checkpoint. Actually, this traveling along the trail becomes expensive as well!

A good handler is important for the Yukon Quest, because in Dawson he or she is critical in putting the team back together for the second half of the race.

Another difference between the two races,  Hans mentioned, is the trophies.

“Each year, the Yukon Quest goes out to find a unique set of awards trophies,” he said as he held his 2010 handmade painted drum, created by local artist De De Nippising.

“This year was quite a race so the drum is a memento of that, but on its own this drum is a fascinating piece of art. I happen to like to see what the Quest has in store each year at the awards banquet.”

During the race, Hans said, the hardest challenges are the weather and sleep deprivation. The weather can change from rain to very cold in a short period of time. He gave the example of when he ran the Iditarod two years ago.

“I forgot to pack some of the protective gear for the dogs, and when that storm came in it cost me a few spots. Once the weather is that bad and you don’t have the right gear you stop. I just waited it out. You don’t risk your dogs. You never risk your dogs.”

He said he used to not mind the cold, but now he could notice he was getting a little bit older.

“I have to use hand warmers now.”

This year’s dog team was outstanding, he said, adding it was a very small group to begin with.

“I trained only 24 dogs from the beginning, going down to 19 dogs to choose from by race time.”

The dogs had surprisingly few injuries (sore shoulders and wrists, or swollen tendons), were eating great and were always happy.

“They have to be in perfect condition for a top performance, so training or racing a dog with even the slightest problem does not pay.”

The topic of dog care got Hans and Susie exited. Hans said he’s trying hard to influence how mushers keep their dogs, especially in the summer.

“The better you take care of your dogs in the summer the better they do in the winter.”

For Susie, the weak spot is the lack of exercise and freedom in many yards.

“You cannot leave a dog on a chain all summer and expect that they will be as far ahead as the teams that have been regularly exercised and allowed to stretch out, run and just be dogs on a daily basis.”

When asked what he thought of the negative views some people have of mushing, Hans said; “People with views against mushing, however, should do some serious research. I call them racists. If they want to shut down mushing, they will have a problem with me.”

Susie then supplemented Hans by saying, “we are dog rights people ourselves, and we can be right in peoples’ face about how they run their yards. There are bad dog owners in the mushing world, and bad owners in the pet world.

Neither is acceptable.

“Running dogs with sleds is a fantastic way for them to get out and work as a team, to be exercised and intensely cared for. The shape Hans’ team was in after the

Quest also shows that the race is not hard on a well-trained team.

“We welcome standards that anyone would like to come up with that would improve the welfare of dogs training to run the Yukon Quest. There was some talk last year of voluntary yard inspections and ratings, and we wrote in to support that.”

On a lighter note, Susie reminded Hans that he should apologize for his grumpiness getting into Dawson City this year.

“When I entered Dawson this year, I was pissed because the trail wasn’t marked properly,” he explained with a smile.

“The people of Dawson must have been expecting a happy musher and I came in fuming and went straight to the yard.

“That was unprofessional, but I was tired and I don’t fake things. I would like to say I was, and I am, very grateful for the First into Dawson prize. I apologize for not being cheerful when I came in. So that’s my explanation anyway.”

We later went outside and spent some time in his kennel. This is where Hans seemed most in his element. Most of the dogs were constantly following him around, oblivious of the fact that Susie and I were in the kennel as well.

All in all, I survived a very pleasant morning with just a few scratches on my arms.

Further, I had come to understand that mushing is a lifestyle that takes much more than a layman would think.

I’m still curious about those fist size mosquitoes though…would make for great protein.

Max Winkelman is a summer student working for the Yukon Quest.

Opening day of registration for the 2011 Yukon Quest is August 7.

By Max Winkelman
Special to the Star