JUNIOR MUSHERS – A COACH SEES HIS SKI TEAM GO TO THE DOGS
Featured in the July/August 2006 Issue:I know that Sheryl Crow was not singing about dog sports when she recorded the classic, “the First Cut is the Deepest,” but ironically, it fits my circumstances. You see, although I thoroughly enjoy the peacefulness of long runs mushing on the open tundra, my…
JUNIOR MUSHERS: SPORTSMANSHIP PREVAILS AT THE ARCTIC WINTER GAMES
Featured in the May/June 2006 Issue: Rex Jones walked up and down his line of hounds whispering words of encouragement on the first day of the Arctic Winter Games dog mushing competition. “C’mon, Guido, you can do it,” he called over to a young black two-year-old at the end of…
2006 LIMITED NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Reprinted from Sled Dog Sports Magazine, April 2006It is not supposed to be this cold in the middle of March in Fairbanks. The thermometer was stuck at 30 below zero the morning of the first race, so we turned to the scientific method of determining temperature by throwing a cup…
2006 EAGLE RIVER CLASSIC: HOW I GOT RUN OVER BY A DOG TEAM!
On January 21st and 22nd the 2006 Eagle River Classic Sled Dog Race in Chugiak, Alaska was held and I was really looking forward to this event. We hadn’t had very good training conditions in Seward this winter and leading up to the race we were still using the ATV…
FINISHING STRONG: THE COASTAL STRATEGY OF THE SMYTH BROTHERS
©2006 Sled Dog Sports Magazine, originally published in the April 2006 issue.For those that run the Iditarod we all know that the last stretch from Unalakleet to Nome is gut check time. There’s strong winds, the wide-open monotony of Norton Sound and Golovin Bay, the steep climb up and over…
EGIL VS. BUDDY: THE BATTLE FOR THE 2006 OPEN CLASS CROWN
Attla 8 wins…Ellis 7 wins…Lombard 5 wins… History is Happening all the Time. Anticipation, expectations and excitement were high for the start of the 2006 GCI Open North American Championships. There is something about this race that brings out the best in our sport year after year. Is it the…
A FAN’S GUIDE TO THE IDITAROD
Reprinted from Mushing Magazine, March/April 2006 issue.The dogs. You’ll hear the dogs first.Then, as you make your way toward 4th Avenue to watch the start of Iditarod 2006, you’ll gradually become immersed in a cacophony of sounds and sights unique to the Iditarod. As you approach, take a moment to…
JUNIOR MUSHER: MICAH DEGERLUND
Featured in the March/April 2006 Issue:In 2001, I received word that Ray Redington, an Iditarod musher, was looking for someone to help in his dog yard. Without knowing what lay ahead, I spent the summer feeding and scooping the dogs in Two Rivers, Alaska. As fall turned cold, Ray pulled…
THE WILDERNESS TRAVELER: FINDING THE PERFECT CAMPSITE
From the March/April 2006 Issue of Mushing MagazineJulie awoke to the sound of Jesse, one of our wheel dogs, lapping up water, and she kicked me awake. “Get up!” she said. “Camp’s flooding.”We’d parked for an afternoon nap on a glaciered creek, tall spruce sheltering us from both the burning…
SLED DOG HEALTH: PANCREATITIS
Featured in the March/Aril 2006 issue of Mushing Magazine.©2006 Mushing MagazineTo understand pancreatitis, it helps to know a few things about this gland whose proper functioning is so essential to life. The pancreas is one of the largest glands in the body. It lies behind the stomach and the duodenum,…