Snowlion Alaskan Huskies

Our alaskan race team

We started racing with Alaskan Huskies quite by accident. A rescue group asked if we would adopt two dogs who were causing havoc in the Bay Area. Apparently the owner, a school teacher, had visited an Iditarod kennel during his summer vacation and brought two cute puppies home. Left to their own devices with no opportunity to run, these huskies grew increasingly destructive and were soon relegated to the backyard where they proceeded to chew the siding off the house. So, we took them and fell in love with the drive and intelligence of the Alaskan Husky. We found out that both pups had come from a champion Iditarod kennel and jumped at the chance to get their year-old siblings from a repeat breeding.

Hooked on racing and the speed of these dogs, we selectively added dogs from two Iditarod kennels and started running longer races (up to 200 miles) with 14-16 Alaskan Huskies. During the height of our racing career our teams were ranked #1 and #2 in ISDRA (International Sled Dog Racing Association) for mid-distance. Then came several years of drought in the Sierra and races were cancelled all up and down the western states. We continued to train, but just for fun.

Today many of these dogs have passed, but we still have a couple of retired race leaders who help train our young Malamutes. Our favorite time to go out is after work, on a clear night—to take in the beauty of the mountains illuminated by the stars & the moon. That’s really what running sled dogs is all about: being on the trail with your best friends and enjoying the solace that comes from traveling through the wilderness.