57 pages • 1 hour read
Gary PaulsenWinterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod
Nonfiction | Book | YA | Published in 1994A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 11-13Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 11 Summary: “Rainy Pass”
Paulsen and the dog team run off the edge of a near-vertical cliff and tumble down 500 feet to a frozen river—all part of the Iditarod trail. Paulsen manages to use his body as “a living sled drag, which kept the sled from running over the dogs” (176), but he says it was “all accidental” and he and the team were just lucky.
He thinks he has survived the worst of Rainy Pass and is feeling more confident, but a woman at the next checkpoint informs him that the up part of the pass is the easiest. He soon encounters the hellish down part.
Chapter 12 Summary: “Dalzell Gorge and the Burn”
Paulsen considers quitting after his attempt to navigate the treacherous Dalzell Gorge knocks him out cold. He awakens with a splitting headache. Another musher has come to his aid and is standing over him asking him if he can stand up.
The dogs inspire him to abandon his serious thoughts of quitting. He notices Cookie standing and “looking down the trail” (187): “It was their race as much as it was mine […] I didn’t have a right to quit” (187).
Chapter 13 Summary: “McGrath”
In Nikolai, Paulsen sunbathes for a while in the “positively warm” zero-degree weather. He is encouraged to learn he is not running last in the race. In fact, he is running in “the high thirties out of seventy teams” (196).
Intense hunger grabs hold of him in McGrath. In a cafe, he orders five servings of ham, eggs, and hash browns. He tries to pay the bill, but the cook comes out and insists the meal is free because Paulsen is a musher.
Chapters 11-13 Analysis
A lot of things fall in these chapters, including Paulsen, the dogs, and Paulsen’s confidence level. However, he also learns that he is not totally alone out on the trail, as he experiences the helpful camaraderie of another musher and the generosity of a cafe cook.
With all the dangerous mishaps and Paulsen’s considering quitting, these chapters are the low point of the race for him, certainly from a self-confidence standpoint. However, by the end, his faith in himself seems fully restored, encouraged by Cookie’s steadfastness and the cafe cook’s recognizing him as a musher. In addition, if Paulsen has ever questioned himself about why he is running the race, the end of Chapter 12 removes any doubt. He is doing it to be with the dogs.
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