By Amelia Rogers-Neubarth
Over the summer, Ponte Vedra High School freshman Cecelia Redner traveled to Alaska for a month. During her time there she got to experience the rare sport of dog sledding. “It was a magical once in a lifetime opportunity that may seem overrated to others,” This experience was shared with her cousin who is a resident in Alaska. She went sledding a total of 7 times throughout her trip.
Alaska dog sledding was used as the lifeline of Alaska. Previously, the dogs were used to help provide medicine to people that needed it at a quicker rate. To preserve dog sled culture residents of Alaska began dog sled racing due to the remoteness of many villages and towns, as there were few roads. A famous dog sled race in Alaska known as the Iditarod began in 1973, and is used to recreate one of the most important mentions of dog sledding in history, with a fun recreational twist. This race continued to be well known in Alaska for generations to come and remains popular today.
During dog sledding, in some cases, the dogs may be too weak to pull their passengers. “At one point on a tour we got stuck in dirt and the musher and I had to jump out of the cart and had to assist in pushing it out of the dirt because the dogs weren’t strong enough.” There were 14 dogs leading this tour. “They are highly trained to be harnessed to pull carts weighing up to 800 pounds, so these kinds of situations do not happen often,” says Cecelia. They are all Alaskan Huskies to complete races and give passengers rides.
The dogs’ diet consists of raw meat, dry kibble, supplement powder all watered down. This is to help power their high energy days. Since the dogs need high energy and strength to pull passengers it leads to them misbehaving. Some even escape their yards. When not sledding they are in yards that have a cabin connected. These cabins can house up to eight dogs. During the summer, the male dogs stay at the boy’s camp in Seward Alaska. The females on the other hand are kept on the punchbowl glacier. In the winters they are all combined in Sterling Alaska where they build their Iditarod dream teams are assembled.
“During the trek I was standing but guests on the tour usually sit.” The ride goes near a glacial fed river and it’s on native American territory they rent to train the dogs. The path was bumpy since it was on a dirt road and pulled by dogs. The dogs are loud making the trek very noisy. The ride lasts about ten minutes. “Overall dog sledding was a remarkable experience,” described by Cecelia Redner.
(Pictured- Cecelia Redner (9) dogsledding this past summer.)
Alaska dog sledding was used as the lifeline of Alaska. Previously, the dogs were used to help provide medicine to people that needed it at a quicker rate. To preserve dog sled culture residents of Alaska began dog sled racing due to the remoteness of many villages and towns, as there were few roads. A famous dog sled race in Alaska known as the Iditarod began in 1973, and is used to recreate one of the most important mentions of dog sledding in history, with a fun recreational twist. This race continued to be well known in Alaska for generations to come and remains popular today.
During dog sledding, in some cases, the dogs may be too weak to pull their passengers. “At one point on a tour we got stuck in dirt and the musher and I had to jump out of the cart and had to assist in pushing it out of the dirt because the dogs weren’t strong enough.” There were 14 dogs leading this tour. “They are highly trained to be harnessed to pull carts weighing up to 800 pounds, so these kinds of situations do not happen often,” says Cecelia. They are all Alaskan Huskies to complete races and give passengers rides.
The dogs’ diet consists of raw meat, dry kibble, supplement powder all watered down. This is to help power their high energy days. Since the dogs need high energy and strength to pull passengers it leads to them misbehaving. Some even escape their yards. When not sledding they are in yards that have a cabin connected. These cabins can house up to eight dogs. During the summer, the male dogs stay at the boy’s camp in Seward Alaska. The females on the other hand are kept on the punchbowl glacier. In the winters they are all combined in Sterling Alaska where they build their Iditarod dream teams are assembled.
“During the trek I was standing but guests on the tour usually sit.” The ride goes near a glacial fed river and it’s on native American territory they rent to train the dogs. The path was bumpy since it was on a dirt road and pulled by dogs. The dogs are loud making the trek very noisy. The ride lasts about ten minutes. “Overall dog sledding was a remarkable experience,” described by Cecelia Redner.
(Pictured- Cecelia Redner (9) dogsledding this past summer.)
Great article, Amelia!