The words Alabama and Iditarod seem to go together as well as ranch dressing and ice cream.

Yet, there’s Jessie Holmes, an Odenville native, driving his sled dog team nearly a thousand miles over the unforgiving Alaska terrain.

Who is Jessie Holmes?

Holmes, a native of Odenville, Alabama, lives in Brushkana, Alaska. He makes a living as a carpenter. He, however, first broke out on the scene in 2015 when he debuted on “Life Below Zero,” a National Geographic documentary series. It chronicles various people who either camp out or live in harsh remote areas of Alaska. The subjects survive off the land and attempt to make a living in these unforgiving environments.

On Sunday, Holmes was the first musher to leave across a frozen lake about 70 miles north of Anchorage.

Holmes has been dueling with defending champion Brent Sass of Eureka in the front of the pack, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

Mushers encounter a multitude of variables in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across Alaska. This year that includes high heat. Mushers are contending with unseasonably warm temperatures because of a high-pressure system that is bringing warmer than normal temperatures. That has made for tough sledding on mucky trails and mushers changing their race plans on the fly to account for the conditions.

The good news for mushers and their dogs is that temperatures are expected to drop as they continue west across Alaska to the finish line in Nome. The winner is expected sometime early next week.

In “Life Below Zero,” he trained 44 dogs for marathons that require hundreds of miles through blizzard-like conditions and rough terrain. He has won various competitions, including the 2017 Kobuk 440 and the 2016 Yukon 300.

Holmes was severely injured in September of 2022 while he assisted in cleaning up the damage that remained following a storm in Western Alaska, per Anchorage Daily News. He was pulling water-logged plywood and insulation to help them dry out. He was standing underneath the plywood when Holmes pulled down a board, and the entire area collapsed on top of him. Holmes was trapped underneath the pile of plywood, insulation and other building materials. It was reported he had internal injuries, a broken wrist and broken ribs.

“Life Below Zero” is available to stream on Disney+.