It is freezing, with temperatures near zero Fahrenheit and a biting wind. But that’s not what’s causing the commotion. It’s the excited yapping of 100 sled dogs that are in a hurry to get moving.
We’re in the village of Breivekeidt, about 45 miles west of Tromso, the major Norwegian city above the Arctic Circle, with about 75,000 people happily living here, though in the heart of winter there is no sunrise or sunset and it’s completely dark before 3 p.m. On our dogsledding expedition, the light is winter polar gloaming—kind of blue and beautiful.
Tromso is known for its views of the northern lights. Dreamstime/TCA
The city is a popular hub for viewing the northern lights and in summer for cycling, camping, and hiking. We are sailing on Hurtigruten’s MS Trollfjord (yes, we did see plenty of northern lights) and are taking the opportunity to try out some other popular winter sports.
The dogs are a mixture of Alaskan and Siberian huskies and malamutes. They are plenty happy with a pet but even happier to get moving. Our three-mile ride is nothing for them, explains our guide, Kira Caurp. “They don’t like rest days,” she said.
We race through the snow-covered track, past trees, around curves, taking in the views of the Lyngen Alp Range, the wind in our faces. Nala, 8, is our lead dog, and Mai Tai, 5, is the youngest. So what if we can’t feel our fingers? It’s over too soon.
“Our dogs need to be intelligent, friendly, and strong,” Caurp told us. She added that from the time they are pups, the guides can tell if they are destined to lead, to be the swing dogs behind the leader, or to bring up the rear. Often, female dogs become leaders.
And just like people, some will work harder than others. The experience is a highlight of our two-week trip, along with seeing the northern lights, of course. There are other dogsledding adventures in Norway, of course, including at Sorrisniva, the world’s northernmost igloo hotel, complete with huge ice sculptures inside.
We learn that the upcoming Finnmark sled race (the second week in March) is Europe’s longest—almost 746 miles over six to seven days with 160 teams and more than 1,500 dogs. The winner takes about five days and 10 hours to complete the race in good weather conditions, while the last teams cross the finish line after seven days. There is also a junior class for teens between 15 and 18, which is a little more than 124 miles, with the mushers driving six dogs as opposed to 14 dogs for the adults. The race started in 1981 with three contestants. Now, although there are fewer than 200 mushers, thousands are engaged, a symbol that unites everyone in the region with daily bulletins of the race.
Closer to home in Alaska is the upcoming Iditarod, which is dubbed “The Last Great Race on Earth,” with an expected 24 mushers. The ceremonial start (weather permitting) is scheduled for Saturday, March 1, in downtown Anchorage and will end in Nome—a roughly 1,000-mile journey through Alaska over some of the roughest and most beautiful terrain anywhere.
The race commemorates the importance dog teams have had in Alaska, especially in native villages. Remember Balto? He was the Alaskan husky and sled dog famous for leading a team of dogs to Nome with diphtheria antitoxin in 1925 to combat a potentially deadly diphtheria epidemic there. You can see his statue in Central Park in New York City.
The Balto statue in Central Park, New York City. Dreamstime/TCA
Last year, veteran musher Dallas Seavey of Talkeetna, Alaska, claimed his sixth Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race championship. With that win, Seavey became the most celebrated musher in the 52 years of the race. It took him nine days, two hours, 16 minutes, and eight seconds.
It’s no easy task to train and race these dogs. You can learn a lot more about them even in summer in Alaska, when many teams make camp atop glaciers. You might meet some future Iditarod pups and mushers and their dogs who have run the brutal race. No wonder dogsledding is such a popular excursion for those cruising Alaska. In some cases, you fly to a glacier (typically costing $250 and up). In winter, you might even have the chance to drive the sled. There are tours everywhere, from near Anchorage to Seward to Denali.
In Minnesota, there are multi-day trips on which you stay in the backcountry. Ely, Minnesota, calls itself the “dog sled capital of the world.” Paul Schurke, one of Minnesota’s best-known mushers, who drove a dogsled team to the North Pole, owns and operates Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge in Ely, which offers multi-day winter trips, and is cofounder of the not-for-profit Wilderness Inquiry out of Minneapolis, which offers challenging wilderness trips accessible to people with a wide variety of disabilities, along with anyone else who wants to participate.
“Dogsledding is also easier for people who are more fitness-challenged, because the dogs are doing most of the work,” Schurke was quoted as saying, adding that exploring the Boundary Waters in winter (as opposed to a summer canoe trip) means you won’t be battling bugs or the rain or portaging a canoe across the mud. (Check out special family trips.)
In Norway, despite the cold, we hated to say goodbye to the pups. But they were more focused on how soon they could get out and run again.
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