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ALASKAN DOGSLEDDING |
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ALASKAN DOGSLEDDING |
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Dog sledding, a sport that Alaska is famous for. But I think the amazing thing is that the sport of dog mushing hasn't changed over the last 4,000 years.
The first to use harnessed dogs where the Samoyed, Koryak, and Tchoukche cultures of Siberia.
But over the years the commands of dog mushing where brought over to America, where the leaders of the military thought that a strong command of "MUSH!" sounded snappy, that is why the drivers are now called Mushers.
For the Alaskan Natives dog sledding was just the main way of transportation. It wasn't until the late 1890's that dog sledding became a sport. the miners bet on dog teams, then held races to find out which dog was the best dog on the Yukon Trail. In 1908 the first organized dog race, the "All Alaska Sweepstakes", was run. It was a 400 mile course that started in Nome After that race the sport spread from Alaska to Canada, then south to Idaho, California, and finally new England. From that point on some Mushers split into two groups: some who preferred sprints (shorter, one day races, like Fur Rondy) or distance races (like the Yukon Quest, and the Iditarod).
DOGS: The dogs are bred and trained to run as fast as they can for short periods of time. And they are more hyper and active then their cousins that run longer races. Also they're leaner.
RACES: The sprint races are an all out speed race. They're shorter than the distance races like the Iditarod and the Copper Basin 500, but just as much fun to watch.
DOGS: The dogs of this kind are bred and trained to trot for days on end with only a few hours rest and lots of snacks instead of larger meals.
RACES: The races are usually held for more than a day and are completed in about a week to 20 days depending on the race. The Yukon Quest and the Copper Basin Mushers are usually all inside a week to 2 weeks. The regulations are different for distance racing than for sprints. You must have enough food and water for you and the dogs until you can get to the next checkpoint and renew your supplies. Also you must have bedding for you and the dogs, and medicationin case something happens on the trail, like if a dog got a cut paw. You must have medication to treat it until you reach the next checkpoint. You may have only as many as 18 dogs on a team.
The grueling 1,049 mile long race from Anchorage to Nome
is held on the first Sunday of March every year, and is not usually a pleasure ride,
but in 1985 a 28 year old women braved a blizzard to become the first woman to win the Iditarod Race. Her name is Libby Riddles. The first woman to run the Iditarod was Mary Shields.
The competition is very tough between the men too. The closest finish was won by Dick Mackey who crossed the finish line just one second ahead of Rick Swenson. That has been the closest time in the history of the race, up til now.
The Iditarod is not free. To run it costs about $1,300 to enter the race, and then supplies cost about $35,000. but if you win it is well worth it . The first prize is $50,000. Then the next 19 Mushers split $150,000.
If you get a chance to look around on the trail you will see that you'll cross 2 mountain ranges (the Alaska and the Kuskokwim) but you will also see the Farewell Burn, 350,000 acres of chared forest, that's the result of a two month forest fire.
As you can see the Iditarod by itself is a complicated race with millions of rules. But it can also be an experience that you will never forget.
The race starts In Anchorage on a 2 minute interval. You must make a 24 layover in White Mountain and an 8 hour layover somewhere else in the race. These are just a few of the regulations you must follow if you want to be in the "Last Great Race.'
You need a good trusty dog out there in the wilderness. The two most popular kinds of dogs that you will find when you watch a dogsled race are the Siberian Husky and the Malamute.
But some people think that the Siberian Husky is too slow, and the more sturdy Malamute is too hard to deal with. So the quest to finding the perfect breed of dog is still on. Breeders have tried for years to cross breed dogs for the qualities they want. Like the Huskies endurance and the Greyhounds speed. But they haven't been able to succeed.
