Jeff King - Musher Profile - Winningest Musher in the World
Jeff King - One of Alaska's Greats
Name: Jeff King Birth Date: February 6, 1956 Birth Place: North Fork, CA Residence: Denali Park, Alaska
Photo Credit: Julien Schroder By the numbers Number of Iditarod Finishes: 24 finishes out of 26 attempts Best Finish: 1st (4 times) 1993, 1996, 1998, 2006 Best Time: 9d 0h 0m 46s Total Iditarod Earnings: $921,244.78 Impressive Statistic: Jeff has placed in the top three of the Iditarod 13 times 
Photo Credit: Kevin Michaud Known as the “Winningest Musher in the World” Jeff has won the 1,000+ mile Iditarod Sled Dog Race four times and has placed first in over a dozen other Alaska sled dog races, including the Copper Basin 300, Kuskokwim 300, Tustumena 200, and the Yukon Quest. According to Jeff King’s website, huskyhomestead.com, in his mushing career, Jeff has logged over 150,000 miles on the trail. To put that distance in perspective, Jeff has been around the earth six times on a dogsled. 
Jeff King and George Attla “Where’s Jeff and Aliy?” These were the first words out of Dallas Seavey’s mouth as he crossed the finish line in the 2014 Iditarod race. Jeff was on pace to set a new course record and had a comfortable lead with only 75 miles to go. Then a storm blew in and the man who was soon to become the oldest winner of the Iditarod, was pushed into a pile of driftwood and needed help. Aliy Zirkle took the lead, but soon sought shelter from the storm in the checkpoint of Safety. Dallas gained the lead unaware of the situation for the two mushers ahead of him, and won by 2 minutes. 
Jeff and Zig! Had the storm not blown in during the 2014 race, Jeff would have become the second musher ever to win 5 Iditarod races. As it stands, Rick Swenson is the only musher who can claim that title. Jeff authored the book “Cold Hands, Warm Heart: Alaskan Adventures of an Iditarod Champion” Jeff is considered an innovator on the trail because of the many improvements he has made to his sled. For example, he built in hand warmers that heat up to 200 F, and made a seat belt—a feature added after the experience of dozing on the trail and falling off his sled. 
Jeff Mushing Near His Husky Homestead Jeff was inducted to the Iditarod Hall of Fame in 1999 and has been featured on race coverage by many of the world’s top media outlets including CNN, Discovery Channel, ESPN and more. Check out The Alaska Life's other musher profiles. Dallas Seavey | Martin Buser | Mitch Seavey 
Jeff and Handler Sean After the Kuskokwim 300 
Jeff Giving an Interview at His Homestead
6 comments
I was at the Homestead in September 2017. Absolutely loved it.
from Melbourne Australia
Hello Nancy!
While we don’t adopt out our puppies, we are sometimes looking for homes for our retired sled dogs – although there is a pretty long waiting list as our staff are often anxious to bring one of them home “furever”. Our puppies stay here until they are close to two years of age, at which time they are evaluated by Jeff with input from his handler crew. If it is thought that those pups are not of the caliber to make and/or improve Jeff’s race team, then we look for a less competitive home for them. That could mean one of Jeff’s competitors, a recreational musher looking to build their team, or a home where they can maintain a very active lifestyle.
Thank you for asking!
Do you ever adopt the husky puppies that you don’t use? My friend from Alaska suggested to try you for a puppy.
Again a great ten days following the Iditarod and especially you. Thanks for the memories we had visiting Homestead
Continued good health for you and your dogs
Visited Huskey Homestead last September … just amazing … first class ?…
My last visit with Jeff was at the Liard Hot Springs in theYukon ( on the Alcan south ofwatson Lake). Had a great visit , and shared many memories. As we have many mutual friends also.