HUMAN

Name: Ken Fankhauser
Age: 44
Residence: Corvallis, Oregon.
Occupation: A freelance photo journalist.
Years involved with Iditarod: Probably 20-ish years 

Iditarod Role: A freelance with Insider.

Current Location: Puntilla Lake, Rainy Pass Checkpoint

Date of Photo: March 9, 2020
Temperature: 12F/Outdoors

What, who or how and when did you first get involved with the Iditarod?

I got involved with Iditarod way back in my early news years, probably in the late nineties. I was a young sports reporter, actually, at a TV station in Anchorage and the head sports reporter thought that I should go out and try it out and I got to do the start and after the start I just fell in love with Iditarod like day one.

What is your Why?..Why are you here today and involved in Iditarod?

I’m here today and involved with Iditarod because I’m part of The Insider Crew. It’s a real honor to be part of that, and to experience it. And that’s probably what keeps me coming back, mostly, is the group of guys that I work with. And the people on the trail. The dogs and the mushers are awesome and exciting, but it’s those guys that keep coming back, keep volunteering, the ones that want to show how awesome this race is, that’s what keeps me coming back.

Tell me about just one of your most memorable Iditarod experiences?

.One of my most memorable Iditarod experiences was when I was stuck in the small, small, small village of Iditarod. We had a really big storm and it was probably, I think it was a year ago, two years ago, and there’s a small little cabin there with only four bunks, but everyone had pretty much left but just a few of us. So I got a bunk. I went and go to sleep and while I was sitting there in came two of my favorite Jeffs that I know. This guy standing next to me, Jeff Schultz, and Jeff King, the musher. And they started telling stories. And I woke up and heard these stories and started laughing. I think Jeff King even told me, you better not have your camera on because the stories they were telling were pretty funny and I said, “No, I don’t have my camera on.” And he said, “Well I’ll share my ice cream if you don’t put your camera on.” So I sat down and had some ice cream and heard some really good stories.

What do you know for sure?:

What I know for sure in life is that love is love. A lot of times we say that we love someone or that we love our family, or that we love friends or that, “Oh, I love everybody”, but until you really show true love to people, then you really will experience them and know who they are. I’ve had that happen to me and I’ve been able to do that with other people, and that’s one thing that I know for sure.