Lance Mackey: Life or Death at -70°F | Trending Now

In this week’s fan-favorite podcast, Lance Mackey recalls fearing for his life in -70 degree temperatures during the Yukon Quest and how he had to put on a front so his dogs didn’t see the struggle.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey guys, Graham here. It's Friday, which means we get
to share with you another one ofour most popular clips from a
past interview. This week.
Lance Mackie, The clip you're about to hear is trending on our
Instagram right now. Hope you enjoy.
How about the coldest weather you've ever been in when you've
been out racing the dogs? I was in the Yukon Quest in it

(00:25):
was it was 2008 or 9. It was 70 below 0 on this place
called Birch Creek that was without the wind. 70 below 70.
Below zero I I have AI mean despite everybody on the race
only has a thermometer on their sled because of different
reasons the the plastics that weuse slide different on different

(00:49):
temperatures of snow. The plastics that you use on the
sledge. The the foods that we feed, when
it's that cold, you want more fat, when it's warm, you want
more liquids, things of that nature.
I can honestly say I've never been so miserable on a dog sled.
I got to a certain, I got to a certain spot and I was going to

(01:11):
take a break for six hours. I took my took my sleeping bag
where your feet going and drapedit over my head and I sat on the
front of my sled. It's like a park or a tent now,
and it's rocked back and forth. Oh, yeah.
And I'm like, oh, I'm going to die out here.
I'm just going to freeze to death.
I got to keep moving. So I'd get up and I'd walk up
and down and dogs got, you know,they're curl up in a little ball

(01:31):
like this. They got their nose and their
tail and they're sound asleep. The dogs.
Are fine, dogs are fine. Absolutely.
They got dog coats on them and bed of straw and whatnot.
And in about four hours I'm like, I can't sit here any
longer. I'm, I'm, I'm literally, I'm not
going to make it, you know, that's how I.
Feel you. You really?
Felt that I'm going to if I sit still, if I go to sleep, I won't
wake up. I'm that cold.

(01:53):
There's no, there's nothing else.
I can't get a fire going. You know, I'm like, OK, guys,
I'm sorry. And I talk to my dogs like I do
anybody. You know, I tell them what we're
going to do. I tell them if they're having a
good day or bad day, whatever. And I'm like, because I'm
miserable. I know you deserve longer.
I I'm going to ask you just dig deep.
You know, we got to get to, we got to get to somewhere where we

(02:15):
can all warm up, get a good meal.
You guys into it. Mother looks up, you know, and
he's like, whatever you want, Dad, you know?
What is 70 below feel like? Like you're having your skin
ripped off, you know, without any numbness.
It's, it's, you don't expose anyskin for more than about 5

(02:41):
seconds and it it blisters, it turns white.
I'm in my cheeks, my into my nose, my fingers.
All of these things are pretty well shot because of this sport
and that one race. And what's the longest you've
gone for without sleep? On race I think about 3 days but

(03:02):
not. Three days with no sleep.
No, but a lot of people don't understand how you do that.
How do you do that? It's easy.
Most people get tired. They don't want to drink
anything, they don't want to eatanything.
They just want to go to sleep. You constantly eat a little bit
and keep your energy up, keep your hallucinate because they

(03:23):
can't. They don't have enough liquid
or, or or food at 40 below, it'sreally hard to take your glove
off and open up a candy wrap or whatever.
You know me, I don't have to worry about that kind of stuff.
I make all my stuff in in advance to where I don't have to
take my gloves off. How does your body feel as
you're staying awake longer and longer?
You're just a walking zombie basically.

(03:44):
You don't even have to think anymore at this point.
You're everything you do is a routine.
You're just making emotions. How much of a mental toll does
it take on your body? I, I spent better part 1213
years in the Bering Sea as a king crab fisherman long line
and that set me up mentally for anything that ever comes my way.

(04:06):
You spend, you spend a month or even a week on a, on a small
boat with six guys, you know, these rough seas.
And it didn't just come naturally.
I had to, I had to build it basically.
But it was what I feel was one of the main strengths that I got
out of fishing, went to my racing mentality.

(04:28):
I chose to be out in this race. I know it's going to be dark.
I know it's going to be cold. I know I'm going to be hungry.
I know I'm not going to get any sleep if I'm having a bad day.
I still got a smile on my face and I'm pretending.
So now I'm an actor as well. You know, I don't want them to
think that this is something that they should be bummed
about. You know, it is not all

(04:49):
glamorous. There is going to be downs and
you'll have the highest of highsand the lowest of lows.
I don't want to see those lowestof lows.
So that's part of my training. We put them through everything
in training that I expect to seeon the race and then I what ifs,
the unexpected. So I always expect the worst and

(05:09):
hope for the best. And that's this week's fan
favorite. To see more popular videos, go
to [e-mail]/graham
Bensinger.