<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/gettyimages-73490955.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/gettyimages-73490955.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/gettyimages-73490955.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > The 2016 Iditarod Sled race has critically low levels of snow. (JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images) (JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

Organizers of Alaska's famous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race are scrambling to save the ceremonial start of the event, as an unusually mild winter has thrown the competition into disarray.

Warm temperatures in Anchorage have threatened to hinder Saturday's start and are forcing officials to explore their options, including reaching out to other Alaskan cities for help. According to the Alaska Dispatch News , seven rail cars loaded with 300 cubic yards of snow from Fairbanks were delivered into Anchorage on Wednesday, March 2, in advance of the race's kickoff.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that the Alaska Railroad is donating its "time, labor and equipment" to lug in the emergency snow.

"It's an important thing for Anchorage, it's an important thing for the state, to make sure the Iditarod is able to go off like it should," a spokesperson told the newspaper.

In addition to the additional snow delivery, organizers are also shortening the traditional beginning route from 11 miles down to 3 miles. In total, the race spans more than 1,000 miles of Alaskan wilderness.

( MORE: Arctic Sea Ice Is in Record Low Territory)

Karl Heidelbach, the Iditarod race start coordinator, told the Alaska Dispatch News that organizers have tried their hardest to keep the event on track, despite the poor snow conditions.

"We've done what we can,” Heidelbach said . "We have been evaluating this and stalling this decision as long as we possibly can to make the best with what we’ve got."

Mushers were also hopeful that the race could still be salvaged.

"We've been experiencing record high temperatures, which in Fairbanks translates from the normal -20F to -40F to a balmy 15F to -15F," an Iditarod musher told the Huffington Post in an email. "Down in south central Alaska, the warmer temperatures have been too warm, meaning the normal snow has turned to ice and rain ... my fingers are crossed that the only issue is the Ceremonial Start and the first portion of the race."

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Dogs of the Iditarod