pointafter_Local Iron Dog connection

Just the idea of duct taping my face in an effort to prevent frostbite makes me want to cozy up to a fireplace. For Nick Olstad - who has relatives in Modesto and Atwater - the practice is no big deal, a necessary part of saving his skin while racing nearly 2,000 miles across Alaska on a snowmobile.

Olstad still suffered some frostbite to his neck, despite layers of clothes and protective equipment - again, I shudder at the thought of an Alaskan deep freeze - but it was worth it. With partner Todd Minnick, Olstad won his second Iron Dog race and earned $25,000 in prize money for his efforts.

The Iron Dog follows part of the trail of the famous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race. Always held in mid-February, this year the race started near Anchorage in the southern part of the state, went up to Nome in the northwest, and followed the Yukon River east to Fairbanks, backtracking a portion of the 1,750-mile course.

Olstad said the path was smoother and a bit shorter that when he won in 2005. One that that hasn't changed is the state-wide support for the racers. Olstad said various families would meet drivers at checkpoints along the way and take them in for the night - some they had built relationships with over the years and some who just appreciate the effort and are genuinely nice people.

"They're waiting at the gas pumps on snow machines ready to bring you into their house and fee you," Olstad said. "They've got warm beds. Every stop we had villagers come out and pick us up."

Olstad is a superintendent for Udelhoven Oilfield System Services, Inc. That's where be met his wife Briann, a project coordinator with the company, whose mother Deanna Walters Scheu grew up in Atwater.

Olstad said the race is a lot more than loading up and riding a snowmobile across the state. Participants frequently check the weather online for storms, which will dictate where they stay and for how long.

You have to take 28 hours of layover on the way to Nome," Olstad said. "There's a lot of strategy that goes into it. If you think a storm is coming, you've got to boogie before it hits you. You have all this safety gear. You could camp out, we have the sleeping bags, but you're still on the clock until you get to a check point."

Plus, there's nothing like a wam bed.