1992 Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic

In reviewing my archives, I came across some information about the 1992 race. It's a great piece of history with lots of detailed information, most of which came from several Anchorage Daily News articles drafted by none other than Craig Medred. Craig is an outdoor columnist extraordinaire and Classic veteran himself who still writes prolifically.  https://craigmedred.news/

 Here's is a brief summary of the race. 

The 11th annual race was held in the Brooks Range, beginning at Oolah Pass on the Dalton Highway and ending at Wiseman approximately 130 miles away. There were several recent grizzly encounters in the area of the race not long before the race started so several racers carried bear spray. Even Brant McGee, three-time winner of the race considered taking bear spray and carrying the extra 8 ounces. 

There had been four days of heavy rain and every river and waterway was at flood stage, giving those with packrafts an advantage. McGee, a lawyer from Anchorage, teamed up with Dave Dixon, to finish in first place. Dixon is a graduate of the University of Fairbanks and currently lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. McGee and Dixon started the race and quickly ran into blowing snow on a knife-edge ridge as they ascended into the clouds. They dropped into an unnamed drainage toward Ernie Creek for better visibility and hiked until darkness, huddling under a large rock for the night. Dixon got two 10 minute naps attempting to fight off hypothermia while Brant was snoring. Dixon just lay there and tried to get his feet above his head so they wouldn't swell up and massaged his legs the rest of the night. The two were back on the trail at 4am. 

Claire Holland, a state park ranger from Kodiak, finished in second place about 12 hours behind McGee and Dixon. If she had not stopped to help another racer who lost his raft and gear in the river she may very well have won. 

Clark Saunders finished in third place with John Lapkass. Lapkass ended up with a leak in his packraft and had to battle four foot waves to beach the boat every thirty minutes and keep pumping it up. 

In fourth place, Dick Griffith finished with several others. Dick was 65 years old and completed the race in worn-out Saucony running shoes. In the group that finished with Dick, Kathy Sarns endured blowing snow and also a swim in the Glacier River being chased by sweepers. She and Connie Hubbard encountered a blizzard going over the pass near Barrenland Creek in 32 degree temperatures. As they were wading the Koyukuk River arm in arm they were swept off their feet. They tumbled down the river submerged until finally working their way to the shore. In the swim, Connie lost the safety guard to her bear spray and had to permanently wedge it open with a rock. This fix worked fine until she was down-climbing a cliff and the spray went off in her face. 

Kathy and Connie took the lead in the race after about 100 miles but Connie's knees gave out and she ended up walking backwards down the road with ski poles. This is when Dick and other caught up with them. They eventually finished together in a group and celebrated with a case of beer and Yukon Jack until the early hours of the morning. 

 Eric Cramer was the youngest competitor at 17 years old and he finished with his father, David. Kathy Lambert ran out of energy close to the finish so Brant McGee rode up the trail and brought her beer to help her finish. When she didn't arrive a while later, others went to check on her and found her asleep in the bushes. 

Dan Whittemore from new Hampshire was one of the few from out of state to finish. 

John Gartiez was the last person of 27 to start the race. Long overdue, a search party began looking and a plane began conducting search patterns. Everyone was concerned because he had started the race without a sleeping bag and had trouble reading a map. Even though he was a veteran of the Iditarod and Mount McKinley, he had no waterproof gear and only a space blanket and a rainfly. He lost his compass in a river and had been gone for six days in constant rain, flooded rivers and nights below freezing. Having no raft, he hiked to the headwaters of the North fork Koyukuk, moved west into the Hammond river drainage and followed it to Wiseman. He ate blueberries to supplement his dwindling food for a while and then luckily ran into a group of Outward Board hikers who gave him food, energy bars and hot tea. He eventually made it to the finish as the last person to arrive, having survived severe hypothermia by making a fire several times and walking an average of 16 hours a day. When all the finishers arrived, they partied with a barbecue of caribou donated by a local miner.

There were several entrants who did not finish, seven of them dropping out within the first 48 hours. Howard markham of Anaheim, CA and Tim Gillis of San Diego decided to quit when they were on top of a ridge about 15 miles from the start. They couldn't tell if they were above Alignment Creek or Blarney Creek and wisely determined that they were in over their head. Michael Martin of Seattle got as far as Barrenland Creek and then had to drop out due to a stress fracture in his right foot. 

Final Results: 

1. Brant McGee of Anchorage and Dave Dixon of New Mexico. 
2. Claire Holland of Kodiak. 
3. John Lapkass of Anchorage and Clark Saunders of Girdwood. 
4. Dick Griffith, Barney Griffith, Kathy Sarns, Connie Hubbard and Tom Aho, all of Anchorage; Mike Sirofchuk of Kodiak and Jenny Magee of Girdwood. 
5. Steffan Offerson of Anchorage. 
6. Rourke Williams of Fairbanks and Gordy Vernon of Homer. 
7. Eric and David Cramer of Mentasta. 
8. Kathy Lambert of Anchorage. 
9. David Poppe of North Pole. 
10. Dan Whittemore of New Hampshire. 
11. John Gartiez.

Did not finish: Michael Martin of Seattle; Jeff Mailloux of Boise, Idaho; Tim Gillis of San Diego; Howard Markham of Anaheim, Calif.; and James Benham and Dorothy Lash of Phoenix.