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The veteran from Carcross, Yukon Territory, fell on a patch of ice. He scratched when he reached Mile 101.

"Basically, I broke the good part of my bad leg," Kleedehn told race officials Sunday afternoon from his hospital room, referring to the break just above a prosthesis he wears on his left leg.

Two-time champion Hans Gatt of Atlin, British Columbia, was running in second place. Gatt arrived in Central at 5:13 p.m. with 13 dogs and was followed more than an hour later by Dan Kaduce of Chatanika at 6:30 p.m. and Mark May of North Pole at 6:40 p.m. Kaduce and May both had 14 dogs.

Also in Central were Peter Ledwidge of Dawson City, Yukon Territory; David Dalton of Healy; two-time winner John Schandelmeier of Paxson; former champion Frank Turner of Whitehorse and Sebastian Schnuelle of Whitehorse. Other than Steer, none of the mushers had left the Central checkpoint as of 10 p.m.

Thomas Tetz of Tagish, Yukon Territory, who is driving a team of dogs owned by Juneau's Deborah Bicknell, was running in 15th place after leaving the Mile 101 checkpoint at 5:45 p.m. with a group of six mushers who all left the checkpoint within a little more than an hour of each other.

The run from Angel Creek, the first checkpoint, to Mile 101 includes the notorious climb up Rosebud Summit.

About 20 miles out, mushers see what appears to be a vertical wall, according to the trail guide. The steep climb to the top of Rosebud Summit is about a mile long.

From Mile 101, it's about five miles to another stern test, Eagle Summit. The race trail guide says the climb up from this side is relatively easy, but mushers must prepare for a steep drop on the other side on the run to Central.

Besides Kleedehn, the only other musher to scratch was Jack Berry of Salcha, who dropped from the race at Mile 101. Berry had been running with the leaders, but the Yukon Quest's Web site did not give a reason why he scratched.

For current race updates, go to http://www.yukonquest.com.