(not exactly off-season, but)

[Kiragirl]

Has anyone ever done Skijouring? You're on cross-country skis with a small team of huskies pulling you. Those are 2 of my favorite things, skiing and huskies, I'd love to try it.

 

[Gloria]

This is actually a really cool sport. It is very invoved and really challenging. My Newf that I lost last year was really good at cart pulling and I tried it with him a couple of times when he was younger. I totally flailed. There is alot of equipment involved ( don't forget the booties for the dogs or you'll spend all your time cleaning snow out of their paws like I did ), lots of training with the dog, and lots and lots of balance. It's a great sport though it does require alot of discipline and perseverance. Definately not a weekend excursion, but I would recomend it if you have the time and skills. I think it could be very satisfactory for the right person with the right dog.

 

[Pequenita]

I've x-country skied once. It went something like this:

me: "Hey! This track stuff is easy. Let's do something different."
SO: "Okay. Let's go up this hill."
me (halfway up hill): "This hill is long and I'm slipping backwards. Can we go down now?"
SO: "Now, remember, you don't have a sidecut on those skis, so if you can't slow down with a 'turn' or snowplow, just ski into a snowbank....but your heels are going to come up...."
me: "Ahhhh!! I can't turn and I'm on the freaking skinny boards!!"

After which I skied into a snowbank, pitched headfirst into the snowbank, and tried to use my hands to break my fall. I wound up with my head and hands stuck in the snow, looking like a W -- butt at the top point and two ski poles sticking up. Think sorta upside-down in a tree well, except without the tree.

Granted, these were rental x-country skis, but given my stellar skillz, skijouring sounds a little out of my league right now. But I sure like huskies!

 

[Kiragirl]

Thanks for the info...and I wiped out once, also, on cross-country skis. It was pretty funny though. Going down hill trying to do little teeny adjustments to make a turn, ended up in the snowbank! My cousin laughed her ass off later when I told her the story over a glass of wine. Maybe I'll stick to hiking with huskies. or keeping XC skis separated from them.

the scenery was beautiful, tho, skiing in the woodsy trails at Keystone, CO.

 

[Pequenita]

I think alpine skiers doing x-country for the first time is probably going to be pretty comical, in general. I mean, first of all, x-country doesn't seem so different from alpine that you'd actually get a lesson, right? But then you forget that the damn heels aren't attached, and mayhem and hijinks ensue when a hill comes along. I don't know how I would have righted myself back up if the SO wasn't there to pull my upper body out of the snowbank! I'm chuckling just thinking about it....

 

[persee]

I've watched skijouring... but I doubt I'd have the endurance for it. I xcountry skiied before I ever did alpine - in HS - and it was interesting. We took stuff to a local golf course and away we went. I'd charge up the "hills" so I could cost down. I don't recall ever falling, but it all seemed like a lot of effort for those short downhills. Never did it again after the first 2 times. I really ahve to wonder how awkward I'd be at it now.

However what I'd really like to do is some dog-sledding. No I don't just want to ride on the sled while someone else mushes. I was to learn to mush! Eventually I'll be at a place where I can do this. Everytime we're in the area and they have one of those "ride on the sled" events it irks me - what's the fun if i'm not in control? I might as well just watch a movie.

 

[Kiragirl]

When I was in Lake Placid, NY 13 years ago (Whiteface Mt is near there) a man ran dog sleds on Mirror Lake. He had a box of husky pups, so we checked them out. When I picked one up she slid into my ski jacket and stuck her little face out of the top over my shoulder. That was IT! She came home with me and was my best friend for 12 1/2 years!!!!!

 

[Gloria]

Dog sledding is a fairly popular sport here, we have the Race to the Sky and then the qualifiers go on to the Iditarod. I was fascinated with it at first. I responded to an ad my freshman year in college to work with a woman and her team. Long story short, she chose me, and I made it through the first day and could not bring myself to go back. For me, I have generaly viewed dogs as pets, had many, so the whole working dog thing got to me. Seeing the mass amount of dogs in tiny kennels just got the best of me. Although they were considerably cared for in practical ways, it was just weird to me that they received no love, I guess, they just had such a different life than Fido ussually does. I am not saying there is anything wrong with that, I just didn't get it, it wasn't for me.

 

[Lilgeorg]

My daughter lives in Wasilla, Alaska " Home of the Iditarod". She has several personal friends who run the race every year. I have visited the kennels of Linda Pletner and Linwood Feidler. Each and every puppy spends at least part of their first year learning manners and being part of the family. Every dog gets daily affection and personal care. That's why they love to run and can hardly wait to get out on the trail. Yes, they are working dogs but they are family pets too. Most Alaskans are very proud of their dogs and love them.

 

[Gloria]

I didn't realize that Linwood had moved. He used to live in Helena, we would go to the pitch fork bbq in his support every year for awhile. In no way was I insinuating that the dogs weren't cared for, just that I didn't get warm fuzzies from seeing them all in kennels. Like I said, it wasn't for me.

 

[sleddog]

I've done quite a bit of it with my dogs. I've currently got 2 Siberian Huskies, though one is almost 14 years old and not able to run much anymore. My X-C skis are somewhat trashed since they'll sometimes take you "off trail". One of the races I entered didn't have enough snow cover and required crossing pavement- the dogs don't understand that you don't slide well on pavement and will pull just as hard regardless of the surface.

If you're interested in trying it - I would make sure you're fairly comfortable going downhill on X-C skis, and that your dogs are gee-haw trained- it's nice to know that you might have some control over the dogs because they'll think otherwise. You'll also need a good fitting, padded harness for your dogs and a hip belt to attach the dogs to you so that your hands are free to help pole along the long flat areas and up hills.

I actually started out on in-line skates and still go out with my younger dog almost every day if the roads are dry. It's great cross training and once you've gone about a half mile, the dogs tend to pace themselves at a comfortable speed to skate with rather than just being pulled.

I've got several friends that have had racing teams for dog sled racing. Yes, the kennel dogs are working dogs but I've never seen such well cared for animals as those that are used for racing, and many of them make a rotation as the "house dog" of the week. Many of these people have big dog yards, so they may be chained up part of the day, but they usually get supervised play time to run in the yard. Huskies are very smart - I had to get a special leash clip for one of my dogs since she knew how to twist her neck to open the leash. She also could climb fences, so would get out of the yard if not watched carefully. As a result the breed has to be kept well contained, which may seem cruel to some, but is the only way to ensure their safety.

If you want more info on skijorring feel free to PM me.

 

[Kiragirl]

Thanks for all the great info! I'll have to work on XC skis to prepare.