The Iditarod Trail Committee announced that poor snow conditions made the traditional southern route untenable, forcing organizers to move the start nearly 300 miles north, from Willow to Fairbanks. The novel 1,128-mile route passes through Interior Alaska with a loop on the Yukon River. “We are all rookies,” Big Lake musher Nicolas Petit joked.

Mushers shrugged off jackets and dogs sunbathed in the snow as temperatures hovered around 40 degrees — hot by Alaska winter standards.

Some mushers worried what the warm weather would mean for the trail ahead.