The Inspiring Sled Dogs and Stunning Views at Iditarod

Katie Orlinsky is willing to suffer to make her photos. For the past month she’s been covering sled dog races in Canada and Alaska in temperatures as low as negative 50 degrees.

“It can be totally nuts,” she says.

While gearing up for the Iditarod official start tomorrow in Fairbanks! I'll be posting some outtakes from the Yukon Quest on Instagram. Here's Musher Ray Redington Jr and team in Dawson.

A photo posted by Katie Orlinsky (@katieorlinsky) on Mar 8, 2015 at 8:10pm PDT

Most recently, Orlinsky was in Alaska for the 1,000-mile Iditarod race on assignment for The New York Times . A musher named Dallas Seavey won the race Wednesday morning, and his dad Mitch came in second. (Either Dallas or his dad have won the race for the past four years.) Approximately half the field is still out on the course, and the race is famously not over until the last team crosses the finish line.

"Hero" one of Dallas Seavey's champion lead dogs. Dallas and his team came in first to #Nome early this morning and won the 2015 #Iditarod!

A photo posted by Katie Orlinsky (@katieorlinsky) on Mar 18, 2015 at 9:13pm PDT

Before the Iditarod, Orlinsky covered the Yukon Quest, another 1,000-mile race from Whitehorse, Yukon to Fairbanks, Alaska, for National Geographic News. During both races she’s posted outtakes to her popular Instagram account to give people a sense of what the day-to-day experience of covering sled dog racing is like. (Though the races are over, Orlinsky will post more photos in the coming days as she sorts through her takes.)

Brent Sass @bwildfree and the Wild and Free team crosses American Summit and heads to the Eagle checkpoint. Yesterday was quite the day on the breathtakingly beautiful Alaska side of the Yukon Quest #YQ2015 trail. Alan Moore is now slightly in the lead and will be neck and neck with Brent Sass until the finish tonight. It's going to be a long, exciting day! #Alaska #yukonquest #dogsledding #mushing

A photo posted by Katie Orlinsky (@katieorlinsky) on Feb 16, 2015 at 8:29am PST

Orlinsky, 31, says she’s willing to brave the extreme cold because races like the Iditarod take her to some of the most remote, but stunning places on the planet.

The Yukon River, most of the #Iditarod race so far has been along this beautiful yet imposing body of water.

A photo posted by Katie Orlinsky (@katieorlinsky) on Mar 12, 2015 at 9:14pm PDT

She’s also been able to meet and build relationships with local people in these far-flung northern communities.

Anita Grant, 89, has been watching the #Iditarod from her #Unalakleet bedroom window since the race first started. "I'm a junkie," she said.

A photo posted by Katie Orlinsky (@katieorlinsky) on Mar 19, 2015 at 4:59pm PDT

She’s also fascinated with the intense relationship between the dogs and mushers. “These dogs won’t just go 1,000 miles for anyone,” she says. “They have to really love the person they are running for.”

The chilly start line of the Yukon Quest 1,000 Mile International Sled Dog Race in Whitehorse, Yukon. This year 26 mushers and their dog teams have set off to journey across the Yukon and Alaska in average temperatures of -30. I'll be sharing instagrams from the race here and @natgeo #onassignment #YQ2015

A photo posted by Katie Orlinsky (@katieorlinsky) on Feb 9, 2015 at 12:34pm PST

To keep her camera gear functioning in such extreme temperatures, Orlinsky has come up with a couple hacks. She has a gigantic batch of batteries that she rotates in between her two Canon 5D Mark IIIs. She stores all the batteries in her parka pocket and puts hand warmers in the pocket for an extra dose of heat (the temperatures are so cold that her iPhone won’t work at all if she pulls it out).

When she goes inside a structure with heat, she has to be careful because the cameras can warm up too fast and moisture will build inside the electronics. To avoid this, she’ll sometimes keep her cameras in a plastic bag, and she’s extra careful about slowly warming up a camera up.

Sled dog sack race! No, these canine athletes were dropped from Yukon Quest teams due to injury, fatigue or strategy at the Eagle checkpoint which is reachable only by plane, so they had to be flown out. The sacks keep them calm while in flight and are absurdly adorable to boot. #onassignment for National Geographic News #YQ2015 #Alaska #yukonquest

A photo posted by Katie Orlinsky (@katieorlinsky) on Feb 20, 2015 at 2:24pm PST

Sometimes it’s just too much. When temperatures drop to extremes like negative 50, there’s no way to know whether her cameras will function.

“Negative 20 and above is okay, but once you get negative 20, all bets are off,” she says.

Snow blanket on sled dog #Iditarod #Unalakleet #sleddogs

A photo posted by Katie Orlinsky (@katieorlinsky) on Mar 19, 2015 at 6:02pm PDT

Eventually, Orlinsky hopes to turn all her sled dog work into a book. She’s only been shooting the events for two years, but last summer, between winter races, she visited several racers at their homes in Alaska to see how they breed and train dogs in the off-season. There’s still one more race in Alaska that she hopes to cover next month (so look out for more Instagrams). And this summer she’s planning to go back to Alaska to keep documenting the racers. If all goes according to plan, she’ll also be back in Alaska next winter during the Iditarod, trying to stay warm while adding to her project.

“I’m still just scratching the surface,” she says.

And goodnight #Alaska

A photo posted by Katie Orlinsky (@katieorlinsky) on Mar 9, 2015 at 1:18am PDT