Four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King has added his name to the Yukon Quest start list for 2015.

The 59-year-old musher from Denali Park, Alaska, has competed in seven previous Yukon Quest races, winning the race in 1989.

Aside from scratching from the 1,600-kilometre marathon in 1988, King never finished outside the top five. Twice he finished in second place.

“It’s been 25 years since I’ve seen the trail, and I’d like to see it again,” King’s Yukon Quest bio states as his reason for registering.

The musher who got started in the sport by reading famed Dawson City author Jack London’s works has run dogs for nearly four decades.

King won the Iditarod in 1993, 1996, 1998 and 2006. Last year, he nearly won his fifth until blizzard conditions wreaked havoc on his race near the final checkpoint.

He is expected to challenge two-time champion Allen Moore for the 2015 Yukon Quest title.

One year after a historically low number of 18 mushers hit the start line in Fairbanks, a total of 25 – including nine Canadians – have registered for the 32nd annual race.

“I think there’s probably a lot of different reasons,” Laurie Parris, the race’s executive director for the Yukon, explained regarding the uptick in participants.

An increased race purse of $127,000 US and changes to mandatory stops are intriguing for mushers.

“It’s bringing people out to try it ... both rookies and veterans want to try it now with the different stops,” Parris said.

“And it’s cyclical as well. Now we’re coming up on an upswing.”

The 2015 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race will begin in Whitehorse Feb. 7. Mushers will then travel 1,600 km to Fairbanks.