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Dog sledding is excellent exercise
Here’s how to get going 
Every weekend enthusiasts all over the world get out with their dogs – and if you are like 50% of my readers and live in Britain, here is info about getting started here.
But Beware! This article should come with a stark WARNING!
Once you have tried it – you will be hooked!
All the photos with dogs here were taken by Alan Bowering, a stalwart of the dog sledding scene in Britain, and show the wheeled rigs that are generally used in UK because of lack of snow.
His partner is Penny Evans (another stalwart), and it is thanks to her and her ex-partner, John Evans, that Europe’s biggest dog sled rally, Aviemore Dog Sled Rally – takes place with over 200 entrants every year, making it Europe’s biggest.
I have asked Alan and Penny, who are certainly hooked, to help with low-down. They are keen supporters of dog sledding in Britain, have visited Alaska to see the big races, and are off there again shortly.
Photo shows Penny’s Veteran Crufts Champion Siberian Husky, Penkhala’s Nikarah – Nik for short.
Where can you do this?
Go to www.siberianhuskyclub.com for a list of rallies taking place all over Britain. If you live near East Anglia see below; or ask the local Forestry Commission office, as they lend land for the rallies at most of their properties.
In summer, contact the club to find out if enthusiasts are running – if weather is cold enough they will gather, but dogs don’t like too hot temperatures. During the summer there are shows, and whilst most of these dogs would curl a lip if asked to ‘show’, some, like Penny, do occasionally enter – then make others jealous by producing dogs like Nik who walk away with the prize. And asking around at a show will always produce dog sled enthusiasts who can tell you where to find the sport.
Alan’s photos show dogs pulling wheeled rigs on British forest trails. Teams are smaller in UK, as they don’t have to run so far as they do in the Iditarod. The object of events in Britain is to give enthusiasts a fun day out – not trek for a thousand miles!
The rigs are very much like tricycles, and don’t take long to master. However, the dogs are just as eager to run as Iditarod veterans, so no need to worry about how fast they go – just how to hang on for dearlife as they get going.
Sledding in East Anglia
Apart from the Siberian Husky Club, I asked another very keen friend if she could tell me where one could go to learn to ‘mush’. She wrote back to say, “the people I wanted to check with are Forstal Huskies – Sally Leich and Ali Koops – and they are happy for you to put their details up. Their website is www.huskyrides.co.uk – which seems to say it all really!
Where else?
British Siberian Husky Racing Association www.huskyracing.org.uk They organise a championship series of races every season, all over the country, so there should be one or more within easy reach of most parts of UK
And if you are really keen to see what goes on, take a trip to Aviemore in Scotland for last-but-one weekend every January, when the town hosts Europe’s largest dog sled rally: well over 200 teams compete every year.
British Airways flies to Inverness (for Aviemore). As you fly north take a look out of plane windows and you very often see a procession of ‘white vans’ carrying dogs, heading north. They’ll have wheeled rigs – and for the optimists a pulka (snow sled) – on the roof. If you are going for the tourist experience, don’t forget Aviemore is very near Speyside, where the river is lined with whisky distilleries of every kind; most welcome visitors.
During the rally one of the major distilleries hosts a Malt Whisky tasting at Aviemore. This is definitely not a booze up, but a serious and enjoyable learning experience. Dog sledders know their malts, and many of them are partial to Lagavulin – so much so that the town had run out of it during one rally; but I understand this has been rectified!
Tip – if you like eating well, book restaurant reservations EARLY. Dog sledders may look like the scruffiest people you have ever seen when racing, but they know their food and fine dining, so come evening they are off into the town to eat the gourmet-ish food they can find.
Hotels – once, when Aviemore was booked out, we stayed at Craigellachie Hotel (about an hour away). And landed in clover. Any hotel that can provide smiling, helpful staff, a bar with 700 Malts (has anyone ever drunk even half?), gourmet food with a local twist, luxurious bedrooms and yellow ducks to float in your bath (no, you haven’t had too much to drink – they really are there as the Manager considers every bath MUST have a duck floating in it) has got my vote as one of my favourites. And the prices are reasonable – unlike the over-glitzed tourist traps further south. info@craigellachie.com
What to wear
Very warm boots. Lots of thermal layers plus old cashmere sweaters (as one does). Warm trousers – not jeans. And warm gloves. If you are going to be helping/working, wear inner silk glove linings (buy them in sports shops £8); they are excellent to wear when you need your hands, but want some protection when you have to take off thick gloves.
Then, some tricks of the trade that will give your skin an extra layer of protection.
Use plenty of skin moisturiser, both on your body, as winds can cut through and give you wind burn even through layers, and on your face. And keep a spare jar of cream in your pocket, plus plenty of lip balm. The sun may be shining, but our skins are extremely vulnerable in cold conditions – trust me!
Currently I am using Living Nature products, and they have coped brilliantly with this incredible cold, snowy winter we have had, plus the cold winds that do more damage to skin than anything. Their Living Nature Lip Balm is a godsend; a deeply nourish balm, I keep it in my pocket whenever I go outdoors, especially watching sledding, and use it every hour at least.
Before going out I will put on their leave-on Ultra Nourishing Mask. My tip is to leave this on – don’t bother to wipe off – after your shower, then before you go out slap on their Rich Day Cream over the top; together the two layers will give you added protection, and deeply nourish parched dry skin. Finally, at night put on their Radiance Night Oil underneath your night cream, which gives an extra boost whilst you are sleeping. This is a delicate blend of rosehips and herbs to help retain and restore a skin’s vitality.
Incidentally their eco-friendly packaging has flat backs so it doesn’t take up much room in the suitcase.
Currently I am using Flexitol on my feet – they provide creams for Rachel Scidoris (the incredible blind musher) AND her dogs ( sled dogs are really spoilt) – so what helps Rachel win races is good enough for me.
So you want to go abroad
All over the Alps and in Scandinavia there are dog sledding kennels that offer rides – either training you to mush or run behind the dogs in charge of a team, or you can sit in a sled (pulka) and be towed behind a team with someone else doing the mushing.
Ask the local tourist board of any ski resort to give you a list of local kennels offering this
Look on www.healthspanews.com and I have written up a few health spa resorts where you can take part.
The big one – going to Alaska
Have already had enquiries from readers – “how do we get there? and when is best time to go?”
Answer is almost any time. There is a big tourism trade in the summer, with outdoor enthusiasts going to see the wildlife, go kayaking, etc.
And of course if you want to go dog sledding, the season is right throughout the winter, and you could even take out dogs from kennels that will be competing in the Iditarod.
Throughout the winter there are various dog sled races most weeks, and being a spectator is the friendliest way of meeting the ‘natives’, and as Penny and Alan found, as visitors from Britain you are warmly welcomed, and often get to be introduced to the champion mushers. As Penny said, they were introduced to Lance Mackey as “your biggests fans from Europe”, which she says wasn’t too difficult as they were the only ones.
But she treasures a boot from one of Lance’s champion sled dogs. As she says, it may be old and worn out – but one of Lance’s – that was something else.
Alaskans are very hospitable, but being stuck out on the furthest peninsula away from UK, the journey needs planning.
Hotels: There is a huge variety in Anchorage, quite a lot in Nome – but they can be sparse on the trail in between.
Away from these cities, it might be best to go look for the Iditarod recommended B & Bs. Advantage is that the owners know the trail, they are involved in the running of the race, so have lots of stories to tell, and can advise you on the best way to get somewhere – by tiny plane, by sea or by 4 x 4.
Friends who have booked in to B & Bs are delighted that most owners also have something to do with the Iditarod – so have become firm friends talking it over.
British Airways offer daily connections from Heathrow to Anchorage, Alaska via Seattle (onwards on Alaska Airlines) and also in the summer via Dallas Fort Worth (from 01May, onwards on American Airlines) and via Chicago (from 09 Jun, onwards on American Airlines).
Each of these options has a connection from Manchester to Heathrow.
In addition, for the Chicago option it would be possible to use the AA-operated codeshare flight direct from Manchester to Chicago to connect onto the onward flight.
BA say there are a number of options for lead-in fares, and to give a couple of examples:
Return (including taxes/fees/charges) fares in June from Manchester via Chicago start from £891.20;
Return from Heathrow via Seattle or Dallas in May starts from £881.53.
To book visit www.ba.com or call 0844 4930787
If you have become hooked – don’t forget this sport is excellent exercise post cancer; you can take it at your own pace, just walking around and helping at the start, or running behind a dog team to give you fantastic fun. Either way you are in the open air, it is fun (even in pouring rain!) as the dogs spread their enthusiasm around, and mushers are very nice people!
And if you love the sport as much as I do, please click through with a small donation to Breakthrough:
Supporting http://breakthrough.org.uk/donate/index.htmlnd
And Finally –
If you have any ideas of getting a husky puppy and starting racing, take a look on the Siberian Husky Club website under ‘Damage’. These are genuuine photos of what these dogs can do to the inside of a home. As pack animals, they get bored very easily if they don’t get enough exercise, and much prefer to live outdoors than inside centrally-heated homes.
After Cancer 