Unlike Other Cities, Anchorage Actually Dumps Snow Onto The Streets

Snow on track of race.
Downtown Anchorage on 4th Avenue is covered with
 mounds of snow to provide a dog racing track.
The Iditarod Sled Dog Race and the Anchorage Fur Rondy Race both begin on 4th Avenue in downtown Anchorage. In spring, when the races are held, the sun is coming back, reflecting off the snow that has been hauled by dump trucks to the center of town, and carefully spread on city streets, following the racetrack. Both races also travel on trails throughout the city.

There are literally hundreds of mile of trail, cutting through dense woods. The city's trails don't have to have snow put on them; they're used by snow bicyclists, walkers and crosscountry skiers throughout the winter. People line the intersections of the trails to watch the dogs go by, in this rite of spring. The Fur Rondy trail doesn't leave town. But, for the Iditarod, the Anchorage starting line is purely ceremonial. The real starting line of the Iditarod is in Willow, up the Parks Highway. Dogs are trucked up to Willow, where the race starts again the next day. At Willow, the dogs and their mushers are eagerly watched by enthusiastic crowds of Alaskans and out-of-towners, here in Alaska to see the greatest race on earth.