Dusty VanMeter
Dusty VanMeter is a born-and-raised Alaskan who has dabbled in every iconic Alaska occupation and activity there is. A commercial fisherman and oilfield worker by profession and a dog musher and snowmachiner by passion, he has spent his 50 years on this Earth wringing adventure from the state. From the time he was a kid, first in the Eagle River and Peters Creek area then migrating to the Kenai Peninsula when he was a pre-teen, VanMeter has loved the outdoors. He hunts, fishes, bikes, hikes and flies. All those years spent exploring Kasilof and the surrounding area taught VanMeter to be self-sufficient and confident – two key ingredients in becoming a successful competitive racer.
It was dog mushing that first captured VanMeter’s heart, and he learned from fellow Kasilof dog musher Tim Osmar how to do it well. He raced competitively from 1986 to 1991, winning the Junior Iditarod in 1987, and several other mid-distance sled dog races over the years that would follow. Before VanMeter could turn his attention to Iditarod, however, he became intrigued by snowmachine racing. He’d always tinkered with sleds and could take one apart and put it back together, so he already felt comfortable on a snowmachine. With a young family to support, he decided he would shift from racing dogs to racing machines. He and buddy Mark Carr spent countless hours training and entered their first Iron Dog race together in 1994, finishing third and setting a trend for the next two-plus decades.
VanMeter would race the Iron Dog 20 more times, winning in 2000 and 2002 with partner Todd Palin, and again in 2004 with Carr (technically giving him back-to-back wins as the race was cancelled in 2003). In 2012 and 2013, he and partner Marc McKenna accomplished back-to-back championships, and also garnered the halfway award four years in a row. Between those years, he also teamed up with racers Jimmer Dick, Dan Zipay and Korey Cronquist, creating memories and pushing the limits every time, in true Alaska style. He even squeezed in a WSA snow-cross race season for the Yamaha factory race team in 1998.
VanMeter’s last Iron Dog was in 2017. He thanks his family for supporting him through his racing career. He remains tied for the most wins in the 2,000-mile Iron Dog route, sharing that honor with Scott Davis. Today, he continues commercial fishing and his oilfield work and spends downtime at home in Kasilof, where he enjoys flying his plane, and hunting. He has three grown children, Kaitlyn, Shaelyn and Brayden.