Balto Direct

Anchorage, over 600 miles away. With the harbor frozen and planes grounded by sub-zero blizzards, officials organized a relay of 20 mushers and about 150 dogs to transport the medicine. Balto’s Heroic Final Leg

In January 1925, children in the remote town of Nome began dying from diphtheria. The only supply of life-saving antitoxin was in Anchorage, over 600 miles away

The story of Balto is a legendary tale of endurance and survival from the 1925 "Great Race of Mercy," where a relay of sled dog teams raced across the Alaskan wilderness to save the town of Nome from a deadly diphtheria outbreak. The Race Against Death The only supply of life-saving antitoxin was in

While the dog and musher Leonhard Seppala ran the longest and most dangerous leg (about 260 miles), Balto was the lead dog for the final 53-mile stretch into Nome. Kaasen had to dig it out with his

At one point, the sled flipped in the gale, burying the medicine in the snow. Kaasen had to dig it out with his bare hands before continuing.

Musher Gunnar Kaasen faced whiteout conditions so severe he could not see his own hands. He "gave Balto his head," trusting the dog's instincts to find the trail through the storm.