Humans have been harnessing dog power to pull sleds for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years. One of the oldest sleigh runner artifacts in existence, discovered in Finland, dates back to around 9,000 years ago — although whether dogs or humans pulled or pushed the sleigh is still a bone of debate. These ancient sled dogs came from a lineage of Siberian wolves as domestication spread through Arctic cultures. It doesn't take much to imagine these early Arctic people saying, "Hey, race you to the next ice floe."
Modern-day sled dog racing and skijoring (derived from the Norwegian word skijøring, or skikjoring, meaning "ski driving") are winter sports enjoying plenty of events in Central Oregon, sponsored by the Pacific Sled Dog and Skijor Association.
"The club was started back in the 1950s in southern Oregon and was called the Southern Oregon Sled Dog Club," said Cari Hinesly, PSDSA treasurer. In 2007, the club and a skijoring group from Central Oregon merged to create the PSDSA.
"It's not just about racing, as a lot of people go into the sport for fun, but will go to races for the camaraderie," added Hinesly.
The first upcoming PSDSA race, with co-sponsor Cascade Sled Dog Club, was the Diamond Lake Race Feb. 24 and 25. Held at the Diamond Lake Resort, this race featured even-numbered teams racing various distances, from 4 to 29 miles in length, over the two-day event, as well as recreational and advanced skijoring races. Race organizers had to petition the USFS to move the start location to the southern end of the lake, near the junction of Highways 138 and 230, due to limited snowpack earlier in the season. The race has been going on since the 1970s.
Unfortunately, the Frog Lake Race near Mt. Hood, which the Cascade Sled Dog Club was hosting on Jan. 27 and 28, was canceled due to low snow.
Local Central Oregon race organizers hope that the present run of snow will hold for the Bachelor Butte Dog Derby at Wanoga Sno-Park March 1-3.
"We call this the Odd Dog Race because we use odd number of miles and odd numbers of dogs," said Cyndi Smidt, who coordinates the BBDD with Kevin Byrne. The first BBDD was held in 2010, and like Frog Lake, Diamond Lake and other races, is snow dependent.
Like the Diamond Lake Race, the Bachelor Butte Dog Derby offers various distances for sled dogs and skijorers. "Over the years, the distances have been modified," said Smidt. "A lot of times you'll have one race go out and they'll come back before another race goes out. We nest everything within each other so you might have everyone out on the course at the same time." Trail distances range from 1.5 to 25 miles. A separate set of awards will be presented to purebred Siberian Husky teams, as members of the Siberian Husky Clif of America, Inc., in the 15-mile Mid distance and 15-mile Sprint class.
There are a lot of logistics in planning a sled dog race, let alone having enough snow for the dogs to run on. "If you're going to have a race, you need a well-packed course," added Hinesly. Several snowmobile clubs help with grooming the course, and volunteer as course marshals.
"Spectators are always welcome and we might even enlist you to help out with the race," said Byrne. Volunteers are always needed to help with loading dogs into the starting chute, as spotters, take down and set up, and helping spectators navigate in and around the start/finish area. To minimize any interactions with the sled dogs, which are working dogs and focused on their tasks, leave your pets in the car or at home and watch small children in and around the dogs.
Meanwhile, at least one more race is in the works after this weekend, without the snow. The PSDSA Mush without Slush event is April 6-7 just outside of Sisters at Zimmerman Butte. It's an event to introduce participants to the world of skijoring. Though the snow is generally gone by that time of year, dogs are hooked up to bikes, scooters, carts or anything nonmotorized, and get to run the course with their handler. On-site camping makes this a fun time for all.
