HUMAN

Name: Kevin Kurka

Age: 62

Residence: Anchorage, Alaska

Occupation: Camera Media Person

Years involved with the Iditarod: I started doing the Iditarod around, well, the first year locally in Anchorage, ’93, but the first year totally out on the trail was ’94.

Iditarod Role: Always involved in media, primarily camera. Done snow machine the entire trail five times, I think, maybe four times. I’ve done sections, not entire sections of the whole trail, but I’ve done at least four times the whole trail.

Current Location: Nome, Alaska

Date of Photo: March 15, 2022

Temperature: 3F Outdoors & 68F Indoors at Iditarod Headquarters

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

So I first became in with the Iditarod cause I worked with local TV stations in Anchorage, and at the time the official TV station that I worked for was the official station of Iditarod, before they took over the media production. And, so I was one of the camera guys that went out on the trail and jumped hopscotch from checkpoint to checkpoint and just videotaped the dogs as they went by and interviewed the mushers as they were working their way up the trail. And I’ve always loved being out on the trail, it’s just a great adventure, having either flown the entire trail or gone on snow machine the entire trail, it’s just been a blast. I’ve always loved to be out here. Haven’t always got to get out here just due to circumstances, but when I get out here, I’ve always enjoyed it.

What is your Why? Why are you here TODAY and involved with the Iditarod?

I’m here today working with the Insider crew, primarily Terry Burge, I’ve worked with for years and he’s one of the main people that’s been involved with Iditarod. He’s been out here 30-something years. And, so been working with him and coming out and working on things. So, this trip I was doing the gaffing, which was lighting the shoot and then also wrangling some of the other video and audio media and also we were bringing the camera guy that was shooting the dog teams as they came down front street. So, was involved in that with this particular trip, but I’ve always been involved in the media video production aspect in some way or another.

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

One of my memorable experiences was early on. I like to jokingly say, I let Martin Buser win. We were in Kaltag and there was a lot of people resting there and everybody went to bed and I was wandering around without my camera, big mistake. And I saw Martin starting to sneakily getting ready to go and so I go, “Oh, you’re leaving. I got to get to my camera and get you leaving.” He goes, “No, no, no people will see you, you can’t let them see you grab your camera and run out here. They’ll all come out here.” So, I had to go into the main lodge where everybody was passed out and, just fortunately my camera’s by the door, and just pretend like I was going to rest like everybody else was. So, I went in there and I just sat there and I had my one eye half open and it was surprising how many mushers were keeping their eye on me ’cause they knew I was part of the media and I had to watch them as they all drifted off to sleep before I gently grabbed my camera and snuck out the door and I got Martin’s tail end leaving town out of Kaltag to Unalakleet. And that’s where he made his big break and he won in that year. So, that was a memorable and fun experience.

What in life do you know for sure?

What in life I know is for sure, well nothing’s guaranteed. I love being out here, but I don’t always get to come, but when I do, I love it. I enjoy every minute of it, even if I’m freezing my patooties off. So, I’ve been out when we pulled into Cripple, it was 68 below and we know it was at least 10 degrees colder and some spots before we got there. I’d be wearing every piece of clothing I had on and had the heat on the handles of the snow machine and didn’t think they were on until I turned them off and realized yeah, they were on. So you just learn that, life’s what it is, it’s short, it’s fun, it’s what you make of it.