2012 Yukon Quest results and Iditarod preview

The 2012 Yukon Quest is in the books.

Veteran musher Hugh Neff won the 1000 mile race by a mere 26 seconds ahead of Allen Moore...how amazing is that!?

Our friend Brent Sass and his Wild & Free team finished in 5th place and the 2nd Wild & Free team with Kyla Durham finished 11th.

Another friend of ours, Mike Ellis and his team of Siberian Huskies unfortunately had to scratch, after Mike got injured on the trail. Here's to a quick recovery, Mike!

Another notable story is Russian musher Michael Telpin and his team of Chuckchi Huskies. While most, if not all, other teams started with 14 dogs, he started and finished the race with 9. Yes, he won the coveted "red lantern" award, but he and his team did an amazing job.

Congratulations to all mushers, dog teams, handlers and organizers! Great job!

Now we're just a few days away from the 2012 Iditarod in Alaska.

Our friend Brent Sass and his Wild & Free dogs are at the start for their first Iditarod ever!

An Iditarod veteran, and also a very good friend of ours, Karen Ramstead and her team of "Pretty Sled Dogs" is back for their 10th "last great race".

We'll be following the race closely on the computer right here in southern California, and wishing our friends and all other competitors good luck!

Ready for dryland season?

Well, for many mushers in the lower 48, the entire season seems to consist of dryland training and racing this year. With the exception of Alaska, there's just not that much snow around and many races have been canceled due to lack of the white stuff.

We've certainly noticed, that there's an increased demand in dryland equipment and it's been busy since the season began last fall.

Delivery estimates for current orders are early to mid March at this point, and we always have a few interested mushers "hovering", waiting to place their order.

In order to maybe give an incentive to one or another musher on the west coast, we're thinking about attending NWSDA's spring fling on April 28th & 29th in Cle Elum WA. As always, we can bring a cart or two along the way and drop it off at your door step (if you live somewhat close to or route) or deliver at the race site for free.

Keep in mind, that time and space will quickly run out, so you may want to take a minute and think about a new cart for the upcoming season.

For cart features and pricing, please click here.

If you have any questions regarding our carts and free delivery or are ready to place your order, contact us at info@arctis-carts.com

1 y.o. Siberian Husky available, Southern California

UPDATE: it looks like "Buddy" did find a home, but if you contact Animal Crackers (see below) or any of the other rescue organizations on the right hand side of this blog, there are always more Huskies in need of forever homes.

This handsome boy is "Buddy", a one-year-old, neutered, black & white Siberian Husky. Buddy is a very, very good natured and gentle boy, but just like all Huskies, needs a lot of exercise to keep him happy. He's a strong and energetic dog and requires long walks, hikes and runs. He ran for the first time in harness last weekend and took right to it.

His new forever home should be with experienced Husky owners where he won't be home alone for long periods of time.

For more information, please contact Gina at Animal Crackers Pet Rescue in Laguna Beach CA at acpetrescue@gmail.com

Happy New Year!

Wishing all our friends, customers and fellow mushers a happy,

healthy and prosperous new year and happy trails!

Wild & Free!

Finally a moment to update the blog after a long drought.
Yes, we're still here and have been spending pretty much all of our time on the trails and in the shop, so updates on our website, blog and facebook have been few and far between.

Someone else has also been very, very busy recently: our good friend Brent Sass of Wild & Free Mushing in Fairbanks, AK.
Brent is a 5-time Yukon Quest Veteran and in addition to signing up for his 6th time at the YQ, he also decided to run his first Iditarod this season, going for "the double"!

We met Brent in September of 2010 when he was visiting family in our area. By accident, he was at our mushing group's staging area when we returned from a weekend morning fun run. When he saw our carts he immediately said "I want one!".
Sure enough, after he finished his amazing 2010/11 season, he called and placed his order for one of our carts, the famed Bumble Bee.
Initially, the cart was supposed to be used for puppy training at his kennel, but Brent scrapped the idea as soon as he received the cart, and hooked up the first 6-dog team of his mainstring to the cart...the first of 4 teams to go out the first day. The next day he added two more dogs to the team and after about 2 weeks, he trained up to 10 of his race veterans on the cart every day.



During his fall training, he constantly kept us updated about how the cart performed and what updates/upgrades would have to be done to run a team of his caliber with the cart. Once his season comes to an end in April, we should have the "Brentified Arctis Cart" ready for him to test. That will be our first all new cart design since we started on the 3-wheel cart.

Since Brent has been such a great advocate of our carts, we decided to start sponsoring Team Wild & Free for the current season. In addition to being a general team supporter, we also sponsor "our boys" Scroggie & Braeburn and looking forward to seeing those boys cross the finish line in Whitehorse and Nome (albeit not in person, unfortunately).



Brent's enthusiasm for the dogs, the sport and life in general is absolutely amazing a definitely infectious. He is held in high regards by his peers and a great ambassador to the sport of dog sledding.

Feel free to check out his website Wild & Free Mushing, see the dogs and read up on any news regarding the races this season. There's also a link to Wild & Free gear and, last, not least, opportunities for sponsorships!

If you check out his facebook page, you'll see plenty of picture and video updates of the team's training regimen as well as the trials and tribulations of training sled dogs in Alaska.

Be wild and free!


As always, if you're looking for a cart for this season, please contact us for current wait times and delivery schedule. Our e-mail is info@arctis-carts.com and phone # is (949) 280-7019

Busy, busy times!

It's been awhile since we posted an update, but it appears that the season has arrived.

After we returned from our trip to the New Hampshire trade fair, orders started to come in from quite literally all over the continent and we're busy at work getting those carts built and shipped.

We're currently booked through the end of the year, and with our own busy schedule during the early months of the new year, you might want to check-in to see what the schedule looks like, if you're thinking about a new cart for the new year. We'll be in spring training in no time.

As always, we may go on a few road trips in 2012 and would be able to bring a cart along if you're in the general area of our route. Feel free to contact us to see where we might go to attend any races.

Thank you to all our customers for your continued support and trust in our products!

The Northern New England Sled Dog Trade Fair

Our starting point, Laguna Beach CA

We're back from our phenomenal trip to New Hampshire to attend the annual sled dog trade fair.
Wow, what an adventure! On September 26th, we loaded the van with three carts, three dogs and all our gear and supplies for a few weeks on the road and headed east.

Rest stop in the New Mexico desert

After 4 days and 3150 miles, we arrived at the Hopkinton fairgrounds and set up camp.
Some of the organizers, vendors and visitors had already arrived ahead of us and picked out their spots on the fairgrounds as well as inside the vendor building.

Our campsite

After the carts were unloaded and assembled, and the camp set up, it was time to socialize with the locals. It was wonderful to meet so many folks that we've know through online contact only.

Our display at the trade fair.

On Saturday, the trade fair officially started and a wide variety of vendors showed their products and services. From carts to sleds, harnesses to t-shirts, and so much more, anything related to running dogs was available to see, try and purchase.

Gregg Vitello of Northern Exposure Outfitters

Mountain Ridge display

Ken of Peacepups Dogsledding

All day long, various mushers were giving presentations, including Yukon Quest veteran Mike Ellis, Can-Am Crown 250 winner Rene Marchildon and New Hampshire musher Jaye Foucher.

Mike Ellis checking out one of our carts.

Saturday night, everyone got together for a potluck bbq and interesting games like the "harnessing & bootying contest", "dog & human egg race" & the "toilet paper caper".

On Sunday, the rig race was on at 8.30.
Races were held in a wide variety of classes from canicross to 6-dog rig and anything in between, and anyone from beginner to seasoned pro participated.

After the races, Loranne of Snow Star Farm had organized a little show & tell for all dryland equipment manufacturers and distributors. Several scooters and carts were introduced and could be tried and tested by fair visitors.

On Sunday afternoon, the fair closed and it was time to pack up and say good-bye to all our new friends.
Now we were ready for part 2 of the trip: a visit to our friends up north to drop off the last of the three carts we brought along, and then slowly make our way back to southern California, visiting friends and taking in the sights of Canada and the United States along the way.

Our first snow encounter of the season.

After 14 days and a total of more than 6900 miles, we arrived back in Orange County and went right back to work to make sure our orders are being filled in time for the new season.

Almost back home in California

Thanks to Amy & John at Mountain Ridge for organizing the fair and to everyone else who helped to make this a great event.
Also thanks to everyone who came out to see us and to our customers we met at the fair and in Canada!

As a famous cyborg once said: "I'll be back!"

Please check out the following sites, too:
Mountain Ridge Equipment
Northern Exposure Outfitters
Maine Made Dog Sleds
Arctic Star Dog Sleds
Snow Star Farm

Team Tsuga Siberians
Team Chocpaw
Sibersong Sleddogs

Peacepups Dogsledding
Boston Snow Dogs