The skies of Nome, Alaska were very cloudy today. It was expected that a snowstorm would hit soon and a bad one a that. The sled dog race would still go on today with or without harsh winds. In fact it was a better test to see which sled team was more worthy of taking the gold.
Solaris wasn't deterred from this. He was ready for anything that came his way. As much as the others on the team thought he was crazy, they had to agree. When they agreed to be part of the team they knew the risks. This was one of them.
"Is everyone ready to go?" Balto asked his teammates as they were hitched up. "Anyone who doesn't feel up to it can back out now. I'll understand."
"No way Balto!" Kallisto chimed in. "Not a single one of us will back down! We've worked hard to get here. There's no way anyone on this team would just jump ship."
Solaris chuckled. He was actually going to say Kallisto should stay. He wasn't going to lie, he felt this race was going to be very arduous and he'd have a piece of mind if his best bro would stay. After that little speech though there was no way Kallisto would stay put. He was ready, willing, and able, so there was no point in trying to stop him.
"It's settled then." He smiled. "Let's go out there and give em hell!"
A moment or two passed and as they were gearing up a random interviewer in town approached the team and Solaris took the interview as he was the best guy on the team at them
"I got this guys" Solaris said to his team taking the interview for them, Their questions weren't anything particularly hard to answer and he did the best he could for everyone.
"So how will you approach the next week?" they asked
"We'll take it as we would any other race, it's 1,150 miles between here and the finish line, we have to play it patient and not beat ourselves out there, its a long race and anything can and will happen on the trail" Solaris answered
"Any concerns about the possible storm halfway through the race?"
"No not really, This wont be the first time we've raced through one, There's always the possibility of it starting in the mountains and being a problem but I'm not too concerned about it. It shouldn't be too much of a problem for us" He added
"What are your plans if you win this week?"
"I don't know, maybe retire early perhaps, No way of knowing yet" Solaris said humorously.
"2 minute warning until the race is to start, All teams report to the starting point" was announced over the PA.
"Got to go now, Thanks for the interview" He added quickly as he joined his team at the starting point
"Thank you for your time" the interviewer said back
The race about to begin. Only about a minute and the gun would go off. Solaris was more edited than anything he could feel the rush of wind, The cold sting, and his fast beating heart. This was it his face his time to shine even brighter than before.
BANG!
And they were off. The musher said his line long after the dogs had started to run. He was surprised by their eagerness but also full of pride. He'd trained them very well indeed.
The wind was harsh and the tail was narrow. Solaris and his team passed sled team after sled team with ease. If not for the intense training this feat wouldn't have been possible. They'd trained for months under almost the same conditions to be sure. There was no way they'd lose this.
All was going quite well for the first 50 miles or so. but as luck would have it, the expected snowstorm came earlier in the week than expected and by sundown visibility was terrible and the quality of terrain had degraded to less than ideal. it was extremely powdery and traction was getting very difficult to maintain for them all and hitting their marks with such distracting terrain conditions was proving to be really frustrating for them all
Tomorrow's stage was in the mountains. this was very concerning for many team members. This was going to be a rough, white knuckles type of race to the finish. and there was still over 1,000 miles to go. This was only day one of eight too.
'I really don't like the looks of this' Solaris thought to himself while running. The last time they raced in weather like this there were four serious crashes involving other teams. This was quite possibly the worst weather to run in, Especially up in the mountains like this because of the infamous white ice, which was a potential death trap for any unsuspecting victim it caught off guard in the night. Now with no visibilty they could not see where it was on the trail if there was any. which most certainly there was.
"Guys I really dont like the looks of this next stage for us, The visibility out here is absolutely terrible right now, On top of that this terrain is the worst we've run into all season long so far. Who knows how icy it is up there in the mountains right now" Solaris voiced his concerns out quite loud.
"We should probably stop for the night and try and let this weather calm a little bit. We have a huge enough lead we can afford to so at the next checkpoint, We can't afford to have a major accident in the mountains this late in the evening in these terrible conditions, I don't want to risk it" he added
It was about night fall when the team arrived at the checkpoint. The other teams haven't arrived yet which made them the first to be at the checkpoint. The team was tried and exhausted from all the tubing they had done today and now being night they hoped to get some rest before morning. Johan checked his team before undoing their harnesses and as he did so he found that the guideline somehow got frayed during the run. this could prove to be a big problem later if that was to snap
"Guys we've got a small problem here, it looks like something has cut the guideline a little bit and its barely holding together by a thread right now. We'll have to replace this as soon as we get back to Nome. Just dont make any sudden jerks or pulls on it and we should be ok for the rest of the race from here" Johan instructed to his team 'Just my luck' he thought in frustration.
Johan made a small repair. It would hold well until they got back to Nome hopefully. When they started up again the wind got even more intense. Soon snow and ice clouded the their vision. Solaris felt the sting of the cold against his face. The whole team was struggling but stayed ahead. There was no way they were gonna lose this.
"Slow down Solaris!" Kallisto warned. "We can't see where we're going in this we need to be careful! If we're going too fast then we'll lose control!"
"Kallisto be quiet!" Solaris snapped. "We don't have time to be slow! The other teams will catch up soon if we don't get a move on! If we lose this race it'll be your head!"
Determined to win Solaris practically dragged his team along. As the storm got rougher and rougher everyone was practically blinded. Solaris knew I he just pushed through it then victory would be at hand.
No one was able to see the white Ice. As soon as their paws hit it...all hell was unleashed. The guideline snapped and hit a husky, snapping their neck. Johan bailed out as the traces broke and sent every canine in the team rolling downhill.
The sled crashed into a rock sending splintered wood everywhere. "Everybody brace yourself!" Balto called out as he saw trees ahead. He slammed into one and felt something in his leg snap making him cry out.
Solaris was in shock as he rolled in the snow . 'My god...' He thought as he cracked his ribs on the hard on the hard ice. 'I've killed us all.'
When he landed Solaris felt his back legs snap. The pain didn't even register while he laid there in anguish. He'd failed everyone. Canine after canine eventually caught up hitting trees and frozen ice. Blood stained the snow bright red.
"Is...is everyone alright?" Balto shakily stood up. He looked upon his battered team who were covered in cuts and scratches. His eyes fell on one team mate in particular and practically howled. "No...nooooo!"
Solaris painfully raised his head and felt his heart skip a bear. "K-Kallisto!"