Kurt Steiner, 46, of Bismarck, has frostbite on a wrist and got into a wreck his first day, but is still continuing to compete in this week's 2,000-mile Irondog snowmobile race in Alaska.

"He told me it's the hardest thing he's ever done in his life,"related his wife, Judy Steiner, Tuesday.

Eleven of the 42 teams that started have already scratched. For various reasons, including mechanical failure, weather, frostbite.

Steiner and teammate Darrick Johnson are one of 42 teams that took off from the starting line near Wasilla, close to Anchorage, mid-day Sunday in what is reputed to be the world's longest and toughest snowmobile race.

The weeklong event - which has racers heading for Nome and then to Fairbanks, should end Saturday mid-day when it's expected the racers will start to cross the starting line in Fairbanks.

In a past interview Kurt Steiner, owner of Midwest Doors Inc., said that last year 29 teams attempted the race and 12 finished. Some teams experienced mechanical problems and had to drop out. But most teams' races ended because of crashes, he said.

Judy Steiner said temperatures have been so cold, minus 30 to minus 50, that the steering is extremely difficult because the grease is freezing to the spindles.

And most of the racing is done in the dark. Alaska's days get about five hours of sun this time of year.

Kurt Steiner's plan had been to go 350 miles the first day, an 11-hour day, and then stop at the McGrath checkpoint.

It took them 17 hours.

They got to McGrath, eventually, but the first race day when a wreck happened early in the race. Steiner was trying to defrost his goggles, and hit an obstacle, a mogul, Judy Steiner thinks, which damaged his windshield and hood. The team limped into the first checkpoint, Skwentna, where they were able to repair the windshield. Duct tape was used to keep the hood closed, and the team continued on to McGrath.

At McGrath, where they took a required layover, the hood was replaced, and Steiner got about three hours sleep.

Judy Steiner, who has had two phone conversations with her husband at checkpoints, said he intended to cut up a sock to put around his wrist to protect his frost-bitten area. Johnson possibly has some frostbite, too. Both haven't been treated for it.

"They're guys,"was her explanation for that.

She said she was told another team had a member with frostbite so bad one of his eyes was swollen shut and they had to drop out of the race.

The second day of racing, Monday, they did 286 miles.

They took off at 4:01 p.m. Bismarck time Monday and arrived at 1:45 a.m. Tuesday morning.

The third racing day, Tuesday, they left Galena at about 12:45 p.m. Bismarck time. The wind was calm and the temperature at about minus 32. They were going to try to put in about 385 miles to get to White Mountain.

Judy Steiner said she thinks the team is about at mid-pack. But rankings on the Web site are wrong. So no one can be sure.

Judy Steiner said the first day was the toughest for her. Now, she doesn't know whether to keep monitoring the race site or not. GPS technology is allowing Web site visitors to actually watch a team's progress by watching a small moving balloon on an interactive map of Alaska.

But when Team 9, the Steiner-Johnson team, slows down, or doesn't move, she worries about what that means.

She and the couple's two daughters, Kristyn Steiner, 20, and Brianna Steiner, 17, are flying out of Bismarck Friday to be there for the finish.

She said she hasn't been tempted in conversations to tell him to come home.

"I want him to finish,"she said. "It's definitely an accomplishment if they can finish."

And she knows he'll do just about anything to see that that happens.

For more information, visit www.irondog.org

(Reach reporter Virginia Grantier at 250-8254 or at virginia.grantier@;bismarcktribune.com.)