Yukon Quest @ halftime & Race to the Sky

The first mushers competing in this year's Yukon Quest sled dog race have made it to Alaska and reached the halfway point of the race. Way in front of the pack is Hugh Neff and his team, who has carved out a 12 hour lead, ahead of Hans Gatt, Brent Sass (pick it up, Brent!) and Ken Anderson.

Hugh Neff is going to be hard to beat with a lead like this, but you never know.
Watch live updates on the Yukon Quest website.

In Montana, the 2011 Race to the Sky is underway. Keeping our fingers crossed for our friends Laura Daugereau (Night Runner Kennel) and Steve Madsen (Sirius Sled Dogs).

2011 Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race

The 2011 Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race starts this Saturday, February 5th in Whitehorse, YK.
25 mushers will make the 1000 mile trip to Fairbanks, AK through the wilderness of the Yukon and Alaska. Among the starters is our friend and Yukon Quest veteran Brent Sass of Wild & Free Mushing with 14 of his dogs, and his handler Kyla Durham, a Quest rookie, runs Wild & Free's 2nd team. We met Brent in person last year when he visited southern California and met up with our mushing group. According to his blog posts, his team is in excellent shape and spirits, and he just might be the one to watch at the finish line this year.
We wish Brent, Kyla and all other participants good luck on their run!

First snow run of the season

Finally, time had come to make the trek up to the Eastern Sierra and go sledding with a bunch of SoCal "Urban Mushers". As always, we mixed and matched dogs and ran teams of 3 to 6 dogs on nicely groomed trails in the Mammoth area.
Unfortunately, we had to cut the trip short and skipped our last scheduled run in order to make it off the mountain before a major snowstorm hit. That area is expecting up to 10ft of fresh snow this week alone, which, hopefully, will leave enough for us to go back there in a few weeks.

Since most of us don't have snow conditions like this for most of the year, remember to check our carts for your dryland training, exercise and racing.





For more pictures, click here

Let it snow!

It's that time of the year when our friends in the northern states and higher elevations are getting their first taste of snow. Come December, the first snow races are being held in Alaska, with more states to join in the weeks after. Pretty soon, we'll be off to snow country in the Sierra Nevada to get our own fix of snow sledding.

On the weekend of December 10-12, the West Yellowstone Sled Dog Races are being held in West Yellowstone, MT.
Our friends from Jaraw Siberians (CA), R&R Huskies (CA) and Wulik Siberians (WA) will compete in this year's races and we wish them all the best!

For more information about the race, please see their website here.



In the meantime, remember that dryland season is almost year round and if you're in search for a great dryland cart for training or racing, feel free to check us out and send us an e-mail with any questions you may have.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Orange County Pet Expo This Weekend!

America's Family Pet Expo is on this weekend (Friday - Sunday) at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa CA.
We'll be part of the "Working Dog" display on the lawn near the amphitheatre and will do dog sledding demonstrations at 2pm and 5pm.
Thanks to Southern California Alaskan Malamute Rescue for letting us share their booth.
For more information, please see the pet expo's website here
Pictures of all three days are here

Mushing Boot Camp Klamath Falls OR, April 30th

Unfortunately, Mushing Boot Camp in Klamath Falls OR has been canceled.
Your next chance to attend will be October 8th - 11th in Togo MN.
For details, please see their website here.

Happy New Year!

What a way to start the new year!
We just finished our three day stay at the Rose Parade Expo in Pasadena CA, doing our part to celebrate Alaska's 50th anniversary of statehood. Wow! What an exciting event!

Thanks to the great folks at the Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau, we got to show the southern California locals, as well as visitors from literally all over the world, a little bit of dog sledding. Along with the local Urban Mushing group, the good people from Three Dog Bakery in San Clemente, and a pack of puppies from Counts Cove Kennels, Team Arctis was out there promoting the state of Alaska and all it has to offer to visitors wanting to explore the last frontier.

The ACVB had entered a float in the 120th Rose Parade, featuring, among other things, a sled dog team made of flowers. Riding the float/sled was none other than 1st female Iditarod champion Libby Riddles, who took the time to stop by the booth after the parade to meet the local dogs and mushers. She was also able to catch a glimpse of Arctis' three wheel cart and sign autographs.

See more pictures of this great event here.

Once again, thanks to the Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau for inviting us to take part of this great event!