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TUMBLER RIDGE WOLVERINE CHALLENGE
SLED DOG RACES Mila Lansdowne
Wednesday March 26, 2008  | Julie and Peter Hartsveld, Tumbler Ridge BC
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By Mila Lansdowne
The Northern Dog Mushers Association of Tumbler Ridge held their fourth annual sled dog races at the Golf Course on March 15th and 16th. It was the 4th year of the race, run by organizer Stacey Lajeunesse, who was introduced to this spectacular sport in 1999 by Don McQueen. Both men worked at that time at the Tumbler Ridge Quintette Mine and went together to Yellowknife to see the Dog Sled Championship there. From that point “I was hooked” says Lajeunesse. Don McQueen comes from a family tradition of dog sled racers and attended last weekend’s race.
The weather conditions at the Golf Course were perfect. The springtime temperature from Friday changed overnight and the race participants found acceptable winter conditions with the temperature dropping to -24, and fresh snow in the morning.
Racing teams from seven communities; Hythe, Cecil Lake, Sexsmith, Hudsons Hope, Barrhead, Williams Lake and Tumbler Ridge, came to race on the Golf Course Trail.
First time participants or returning “old friends”, racers were very satisfied with Tumbler Ridge’s race trails and the hospitality. Not even the lack of warm shelter, food and bathrooms caused by the renovation of the golf course building could dampen the good spirits of these special guests.
Dog sled races are big in the Peace Region. Just recently on January 5th and 6th the Taylor Sledding Races, organized by the Mighty Peace Sled Dog Association, attracted a large field of participants.
In Tumbler Ridge were 21 teams at the start in six disciplines. The largest participation was in the four-dog with eight teams competing. The most spectacular race at the weekend was the six-dog race with four teams in the competition. Other fast pace disciplines were two-dog race and two- and one-dog skijor.
Stacey Lajeunesse’s long term goal is to lead the Tumbler Ridge Northern Dog Mushers Association to a membership in one of the most prestigious organizations; the International Sled Dog Racing Association (ISDRA) or the International Federation of Sled-dog Sports (IFSS).
Membership would open a possibility for Tumbler Ridge to organize premier events on the race circuit. Everything is possible, it only takes some enthusiastic people to make it happened. We have excellent conditions to work toward the official requirement put out by these organizations. The trails need to be extended to meet these requirements; for example the six dog race has to be six miles long (instead of the almost eight kilometres we have now). The Four dog race has to be four miles and so on. We could see eight dog races and the open category which offer a “once in the lifetime” experience.
In February there was the Open World Championship (OWC) competition in the spectacular unlimited class with teams of 16 and more dogs and a purse of $50,000. “Big dreams start with small steps”. For now we can support Lajeunesse and his group in the activities and promotion of this exciting free time activity and racing sport. Lajeunesse welcomes any interested individuals; his focus is especially at the Tumbler Ridge youth.
Dog sled sport training is a year round opportunity of excitement and we have experienced people and the support of the District in development of the trails and events.
Four Tumbler Ridge’s celebrities offered their time and energy for the “Celebrity Race”. Mayor Mike Caisley for the District of Tumbler Ridge, Pernell Kirby for Tags, Ryan Murray for the Project North Management inc. and Cheryl Wheaton for Northern Metalic Sales ltd. showed their bravery and sense of humor in the celebrity race. No one had stood on the dog sled track before. There was just a quick introduction to the three-dog sled by the mushers (gee, haw, easy, whoa; basic direction commands) and the racers were on their own on a round race course. The musher or the driver of a dog sled must have a strong leader personality and skills. He or she is understood by the dogs as “the leader of the pack”. In the celebrities’ race, no difficulty was too big for our brave woman and men. All of them finished successfully, showing the leader hand from the start to the finish. Thank you and congratulations! Who knows, they might get hooked onto this fascinating hobby too. There actually were five local celebrities at the races. The fifth celebrity was Larry White who took care of the race trails from the beginning to the end. Thank you very much!
Once you get the taste of the dog race atmosphere, there is no limit to the experience. Dog sled races are all over the world. One of the world’s most challenging races is the Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race in Alaska. Four hundred finishers from all over the world succeeded in the race since it was established in 1973. This challenging race takes nine to twelve days to finish mostly with 16 dog sleds.
It takes a lot of enthusiasm to be an active dog sled racer. The money you spend exceeds most of the time the price money you can get. There is entry fee for each discipline (in Tumbler Ridge it was between 5 and 25 dollars), lodging, fuel, meals etc. The 2008 Wolverine Challenge price in six-dog sled race was 450 dollars and four-dog race brought three hundred dollars to the winner. The total purse for this event was 3,500 dollars. You see, there is lots of love for the sport in place. The reward is an activity for the whole family and the enjoyment of outdoors experience of a rare kind. For example our local residents Julie and Peter Hartveld decided to participate in the race with their 15 months old pure bred Siberian Husky Chinook. Both are outdoors enthusiast and dog lovers. Peter raced in the two-dog skijor with Chinook and Quik for the first time and he just loved it. Julie and Peter are encouraging other interested individuals to try this winter fun too.
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