For champion musher Thomas Waerner, 2020 has brought with it some good news and some bad news. The good news is that, in March, he won the 2020 Itirarod — another high mark in a distinguished career. The bad news? He hasn’t been able to return to his home in Norway since his victory earlier this year. Also stuck in Alaska with him? His dogs — all 16 of them.
A new article at The Guardian details Waerner’s plight. He is eager to see his wife Guro, who — in his absence — has been taking care of their 5 children and 35 dogs while also working as a veterinarian.
Waerner knows a number of people around Alaska, and he spent a few extra days visiting them — which is how he ended up stuck there as travel restrictions were enacted.
Waerner said he has friends in the Alaska towns of Ester and Salcha and often spends a few days around Fairbanks after the Iditarod. This year, a few days turned into more than a few weeks and Waerner is ready to resume his normal life.
His method of getting home is unconventional: via a DC-6 plane that’s being sold to the Air History Museum in the Norwegian municipality of Sola. Waerner described it as “hitchhiking.”
Waerner’s Iditarod victory was a significant one: he’s one of only 4 non-Americans to win the race. It was his second time competing there; in 2015, he also took part, finishing 17th overall. And next month, a very different sort of voyage awaits him, assuming all goes well with sale of the plane.
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