HUMAN

Name: Jordan Caskey

Age: 39
Residence: Spokane, Washington
Occupation: Videographer, editor

Years involved with Iditarod: 5

Iditarod Role: Shoot and edit content for Iditarod Insider over the span of the Iditarod race through the banquet.
Current Location: Takotna, Alaska

Date of Photo: March 12, 2020
Temperature: 5F/Outdoors

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

I got involved with the Iditarod, because basically I was asked if I wanted to shoot something extreme like this in Alaska with Greg Heister who I’m very good friends with. And he was the producer of the Iditarod Insider and the documentaries.

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

I’m here today and involved with Iditarod because, basically, I fell in love with it. I never thought in my wildest dreams I’d get attached to a dog sled race, something I knew nothing about. And I just like to shoot pretty pictures; but the race itself, the drama of it, the back-of-the-pack stories, the overcoming adversity is something that is so passionate with these mushers that you can’t turn your eyes off of it and I just love to hear their stories.

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

One of my most memorable Iditarod experiences was actually here in Takotna. The only other time I’ve been there, and I couldn’t remember the year, but I remember the musher… Tom Thurston. He was kind of in the back of the pack and I got to know him quite well. Just the emotions I saw from him, whether he wanted to continue or whether he didn’t and he didn’t know what to do. And he came to me crying saying, “Can you call my wife to tell her I’m going to continue on?” And just to see the emotion, the raw emotion and just the drama that was unfolding was … I mean, something that I put the camera down and said, “Well, what can I do for this guy?” And from that day forward I have a new profound respect for these mushers and what they go through.

What do you know for sure?:

What I know for sure in life is family is everything, and it takes time for me. It’s when I come up here to Alaska and I’m so remote or I’m sitting in a plane for flying over the Yukon River, and you realize that how much you miss your loved ones or how much your loved ones mean to you because you just see how beautiful life is, beautiful this world is. And all I want to do is bring them with me and be together with them.