Capturing the Iditarod: North Shore photographer Ryan Rumpca’s journey to Alaska

Kalli Hawkins | April 9, 2024

A single phone call can lead to life-changing adventures in a world of unexpected opportunities.

For Ryan Rumpca, a phone call with a friend led to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to photograph and document Alaska’s 52nd annual Iditarod sled dog race as a member of the Iditarod Insider crew.

“It’s an opportunity that I definitely couldn’t pass up,” Rumpca said.

In recent years, Rumpca, a Duluth-based landscape and outdoor lifestyle photographer, has become a well-known name along the North Shore. He has worked with numerous northern Minnesota companies, including Duluth Pack, Up North Trading Company, Visit Cook County, Castle Danger Brewery, and Explore Minnesota. Numerous times throughout the year, he can often be found along Lake Superior’s shores, capturing the great lake’s immense power. He has photographed and documented numerous events, including the John Beargrease Sled Dog Race and the Gunflint Mail Run.

With his experience photographing sled dog races, knowledge of the northern Minnesota lifestyle, and knowledge of outdoor skills, Rumpca was the ideal choice for the phone call. “I was able to get the call, and before I knew it, I was on a plane up to Alaska,” he said.

As a member of the Iditarod Insider crew, Rumpca was tasked with capturing behind-the-scenes photo and video content for the subscription-based Iditarod Insider service. He followed behind the Iditarod teams on a snowmobile as they departed for the nearly 1,000-mile race across the remote landscape of Alaska. He said he was responsible for conducting trail interviews with mushers and gathering stills and video footage of the terrain.

“It was quite the adventure,” Rumpca said.

Rumpca said that temperatures ranged from 5 degrees Fahrenheit to -60 degrees Fahrenheit throughout various stretches of the 1,000-mile race. The cold temperatures proved to be challenging for the camera equipment and batteries at times.

“It’s a challenge that I enjoy,” he said. “Winter is my favorite season to be out in the elements,” Rumpca said that to adapt to the cold, the camera crews stored extra batteries inside their jacket pockets, close to their body, to retain battery life.

Another challenge Rumpca encountered was the lack of sleep. “The thing that I was most nervous about was the sleep deprivation,” he said. The Iditarod Insider crews have to keep up with the sled dog teams, and when teams take off from a checkpoint, so do Rumpca and his co-workers.

During the race, Rumpca said he was tasked with staying with the front-runner teams, such as Dallas Seavey, Matt Hill, Jessie Holmes, and others. As a fellow Minnesotan, even though he wasn’t able to follow along with Grand Marais musher Erin Altemus or Anna Hennessy, he said he felt proud knowing there was a strong showing of Minnesotans on the trail.

However, Rumpca did have a chance to see Hennessy cross the finish line in Nome, Alaska. “Which was kind of a cool, monumental thing for her and, honestly, for me. Just because, you know, seeing a fellow Minnesotan finish the Iditarod. That was pretty cool,” he said.

WTIP’s Kalli Hawkins spoke with Ryan Rumpca, a Duluth-based photographer who traveled to Alaska to document the 52nd annual Iditarod sled dog race as part of the Iditarod Insider crew. The audio from the interview is below.

Photos from Ryan Rumpca of his Iditarod experience below: