Google lets you peek inside the world's most famous dog sled competition

Each year in early March, more than 50 competitors and hundreds of dogs convene in Anchorage, Alaska, for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Over the course of about 15 days, the competitors — or mushers, as they’re called — traverse slushy terrain and whiteout blizzards with a team of pups, traveling more than 1,000 miles to reach the finish line at the west coast city of Nome.

Few have the ability to bear witness to the grand competition, which is the largest sporting event in the state.

Until now, that is.

Google Street View has unveiled a stream of photographs from last year's mush, letting audiences outside Alaska look inside the wintry race using its Trekker gear (a portable backpack fitted with a camera, letting its Street View technology squeeze into hard-to-reach places). Last year, the backpack was worn by a Google employee towed in a sled by 1984 Iditarod champ Dean Osmar. Read more...