One of the rescued was a muster who had an unfortunate encounter with a moose just before the race began.
Both rescues occurred Friday morning, as the mushers made the final push to Nome.
Gerhardt Thiart was just 22 miles (35 km) from Nome when he activated his emergency beacon due to the storm.
Edward Stang, a local villager, was on his snowmobile in the area and found Thiart with his dog team. Thiart had sustained a leg injury.
Stang, unaware Thiart had activated an emergency beacon and transported him to White Mountain. Thiart was taken to Nome by a helicopter. He was being evaluated Friday night.
Bridgett Watkins (another musher) called Nome to ask for help. Scotty Watkin, Watkin’s husband, located her. He was joined by four others on snowmobiles who left Nome to assist mushers in the storm.
Watkins was then taken to White Mountain where she was examined at a local clinic. Watkins was then flown to Nome with her family.
Watkins was training near Fairbanks in February when a bullmoose started to stomp on her dogs. It didn’t stop after Watkins had emptied her gun into it. After the moose had severely injured her four dogs, Watkins was able call for help. A friend arrived and killed the bull moose using a high-powered rifle.
White Mountain’s search and rescue team, along with Iditarod’s snowmobile crew, took the two teams to Nome. Race veterinarians will then evaluate them, Iditarod officials stated.
Rescues meant that both mushers would have to leave the race.
The Iditarod, which covered nearly 1,000 miles (1,609 km) in length, began March 6 at Willow. It was followed by mushers through the harsh Alaska wilderness. The race was won by Brent Sass on Tuesday.
Eight of the 49 race mushers have scratched.
There are still nine mushers on the trail. They have all been gathered at White Mountain, which is 77 miles (124 km) from Nome.
