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The Thrill of Dogsledding
“Have you ever stood where the silences brood
And the vast horizons begin,
At the dawn of the day to behold far away
The goal you would strive for and win?
Yet ah! In the night when you gain to the height,
With the vast pool of heaven star-spawned,
Afar and agleam like a valley of dream,
Still mocks you a Land of Beyond.”
—Robert Service, from The Land of Beyond
"The dogs and the driver become one and work as a team."
Riding a dogsled at Dan MacEachan’s Krabloonik ranch is not exactly like the Alaskan exploration experience Robert Service describes in The Land of Beyond, but it might be the next closest thing in the Lower 48. In fact, MacEachan has brought to Snowmass years of passion and experience in the dogsledding business gained from Alaska’s “last great race,” the famed Iditarod, which MacEachan and his Krabloonik dogs regularly compete in.
Dogsledding is both a sport and an art form. It embodies a spirit of adventure and exploration and a tenacity and persistence against the elements. It requires strength, training, dedication and stamina, not only on the part of the dogs — who work and perform their tasks like Olympic athletes — but on the part of the musher, or driver, as well.
“The experience of driving a sled team is a physical, mental, and emotional one beyond anything I know,” MacEachan writes about his work. “The dogs and the driver become one and work as a team.”
When you visit Krabloonik, or any of the other dogsledding operators in the area, you experience a sampling of that teamwork, and a taste of what it would be like to race across the Arctic powered by well-bred animals alone. A two-hour tour, costing about $150, will not only be a memorable adventure, but also impart a bit of awe and respect for those, like MacEachan, who take the sport to its highest level — the Iditarod.
That race follows a 1,200-mile path from Anchorage to Nome and from the high peaks of the Alaskan Range to the icy shores lapping the Bering Strait, with temperatures pushing 50 degrees below zero. It takes winners nine grueling days, with the last group finishing as late as a month after the starting gun. The race commemorates a desperate 1925 emergency run when a diphtheria serum was needed in Nome to save the lives of ailing children — back when sled dogs were a primary method of transport across the frozen land.
Today, dogsledding echoes its 2,000 years of tradition and utility among the Inuit and explorers of the north mainly through recreation, and its popularity has spread south to Canada and the northern United States, as well as to the winter resorts of Aspen, Vail and central Colorado.
MacEachan built his 200-dog Krabloonik kennel as a continuation of a well-known Ashcroft kennel, Toklat, which was founded in 1947 after previously using its dogs with the Fifth Mountain Division in World War II. He spent years apprenticing, learning the techniques and the trade of mushing, breeding and caring for the dogs with whom he and the other drivers have grown very close. His business is run with passion and hard work, and it’s rich in history. The Krabloonik mushers try to impart that history to the hundreds of guests they take out every season.
The handcrafted sled sits idle in the snow with 12 anxious Huskies harnessed two to a row in front. It looks too small, but somehow you and your companion squeeze on board, and the musher hops on behind. You’re almost ready, but not quite.
“Ha, Ha,” your musher shouts, and abruptly the straining dogs are released from their stance and launch forward in unison. Snow flies up and smacks you coldly in the face before your breath is drawn totally in and your weight pressed back by inertia into the sled. The rush of cold mountain air, brisk movement, and awe-inspiring scenery blend in an amalgamation of excitement. You’re off.
Sitting just a few inches above ground level, you are whisked through the powdered valleys of the Snowmass-Maroon Bells Wilderness. Rocky peaks glisten in the sunlight overhead, skiers descend on the flanks of the Snowmass resort area and trees rush by perilously close, as your sled banks into a hard turn through the woods.
“It’s pretty exciting. I always scream — it’s like an amusement ride to me,” says Denise Glass, who, with her husband William, owns and operates Mountain Mushers, a dog sled company based near Beaver Creek. “The dogs go really fast, and every direction you go in you see something totally different.”
Mountain Mushers is another large kennel in the central part of the state, operating 10 sled rides a day, six days a week. The fact that 1,500 people rode with Mountain Mushers last season is testament to the sport’s popularity, and the value of the experience. The Glass’ large kennel holds about 90 Siberian and Alaskan dogs, and their routes offer breathtaking views of the Beaver Creek ski area and dramatic Castle Peak, as well as glimpses of Glenwood Canyon, nearly 30 miles away.
So when your legs start to feel like lead and two days of straight skiing become too much, hop on a sled and let yourself be taken for a ride. You’ll find a unique and culturally rich adventure to fill your day of “rest” without skipping a beat.
Abrahm Lustgarten is an award-winning freelance photojournalist and author based in San Francisco, CA. His work documenting sports, travel and culture has appeared in various publications, including Newsweek, Men's Journal, and Outside.
Aspen and Snowmass
