Message from the President

Hello to all our members. I thought I would give you an update on the Board’s activities.

At our AGM in May 2009, the board was given a mandate to organize and host a Dog Symposium as well as a 200 mile dog race.  We held the Dog Symposium on September 13, 2009 at Moun MacIntyre Rec Centre. We had a veterinarian speak as well as speakers from agility clubs, kennel clubs, cart pulling clubs, local skijorers, freight pull and dryland racing clubs.

We also had Kiara Adams, Gerry Willomitzer, Hans Gatt and Sebastian Schuelle answer questions at a Q&A session.  All the sessions were well attended by both members and non-members.  Local dog clubs expressed interest in helping plan the symposium next year.  A heartfelt thank you to our sponsors – Chocolate Claim, Icy Waters and Sky High Wilderness Ranch as well as our tireless volunteers: Simi Morrison, Jocelyn LeBlanc, Gary Burdess, Megan Ennis, Jon Lucas, Marie, Dave Desmarais, Darryl Sheepway and Laura Jane Lucas, as well as anyone else I may have missed.  Thanks to all of you the symposium was a success!!

The board is in the midst of planning a 100-mile dog sled race (Road Runner 100) with a long term plan to make it a 200-mile local qualifying race for the Yukon Quest.  We are looking for sponsors for our purse, so if you know of an organization looking to sponsor the event – this is The Event!

We will also be needing volunteers for the race for – timekeeping, registration, dog yard, start chute, trail grooming, etc. The list goes on and on so if you would like to volunteer, let us know by commenting here or emailing us (address on the sidebar) and the volunteer coordinator will contact you with details.  The race will be run on Feb. 28/29, 2010.  Stay tuned HERE for future updates!

Bye for now,

Gene Ennis

President, Dog Powered Sports Association of the Yukon

Race Date decided!

It’s official! The Board has voted and the Road Runner 100 will be held on February 28/29, 2010. Stay tuned for details and updates from the board! We will be looking for volunteers SOON so if you haven’t put your name forward, let us know!

The RoadRunner 100

Just a quick update on the mid-distance race so far, sorry for the delay in posting – we will be updating this site regularly from now on to keep you all in the loop! But we’re all volunteers here, so cut us a bit of slack…

The 100-mile race is now officially called “The Road Runner 100″ – and as you can tell from the title, we will only be doing the 100-mile race this season. It will run from Whitehorse to Haines Junction.  Date will be determined this week after the DPSAY board meeting, at which time it will then be announced and SET IN STONE!

We will soon actively be looking for volunteers, as the Race Committee starts rolling along.  Soon enough (we hope!) we will be needing volunteers for trail grooming. This is essential as we would like to have a great base all winter for the trail, encourage local mushers/skijorers/snowmobilers to use it to keep it packed.  DPSAY has some money to contribute to your gas, so let us know if you can help out. In any way! Let’s make this race happen, and with all the support we’ve had so far, it WILL happen. So thanks to those who have submitted their names, we will be contacting you shortly!

In the meantime if you have any comments, suggestions, questions, please leave them in the comment section or email us at dogpoweredsports AT gmail DOT com.

Until next time… think happy snow thoughts!  :)

First Annual Dog Powered Sports Symposium – Sept. 13!!

Join us for the first annual dog symposium promoting different sports powered by dogs!!  To be held in the Grey Mountain Room at Mount Mac Rec Centre on Sunday Sept. 13, 2009. Doors open at 8:30 a.m. See poster below for details and stay tuned for more info!

Race Trail Recon – Mendenhall to Aishihik River

Trail Reconnaissance Day #2 went very well! Stacie, Darrell drove quads from the Aishihik River bridge to Mendenhall and  Jon drove support. While something will have to be figured out at the bridge (so as to avoid the huge boulders and interpretive signs) and discussions will have to take place with CAFN, this half of the trail looks GREAT!!

We started out at the bridge and headed towards Mendenhall. Here are some photos of the route:
 

A minor obstacle at the Aishihik River bridge...

The Aishihik River bridge

Uneventful ditch

Old Alaska Highway

 

This might be tricky...

 

Jon scouts out an easier way across the creek

 

 

Stacie drives her trusty Honda down the "Trail"

Darrell leads the way

Up she goes!

The ditch lovely and green

Heading uphill...

He makes it!

 

Gravel pit - scenic detour!

Trail RECON Day – Race of TWO Cities!

Trail recon for the 100/200 Mile “Race of Two Cities” was a smashing success! We knocked off half the race route and the “trail” looks pretty good!

In fact, it’s going to be even better in winter when we have loads of snow and frozen creeks and rivers.   The sleds may run into a bit of overflow here, but they won’t run into soft, mossy, squishy ground and a running creek like today.  Thusly getting stuck. Really stuck:

Oops! Stuck in a creek! This was in the first 15 minutes of trail recon!

Thanks to everyone who came out:

The trail crew (L-R): Earl, Gene, Hugh, Eric, Eilidh, Normand, Carine, Laura, Jon, Darrell, Stacie (behind camera) (Missing: Ed Hopkins, who was wielding a chainsaw - Tagish-style!

 

Darrell forges ahead

 

 

Next Trail RECON Date: This Wednesday – we will attempt to check out the Mendenhall to Haines Junction part of the trail. Meet at Stacie’s place at 5:30 p.m. (opposite Mendenhall).

The crew enjoys a well earned dinner!!

100/200 Mile Race

I have added a new page for this NEW race – check it out, the 3rd tab just up above…

What a GREAT race!!! Thanks to EVERYONE for coming. We even had some surprise visitors from Kansas!!! (they didn’t just come up here for the race, but maybe they’ve just started a new trend!)  :)

Head to the Copper Haul Twister site for complete race results.

Darryl, Coho and Tippy!

I have to say, mushers/skijorers/bikejorers are awesomely mellow in the summer.  There was no complaining about the crazy, bumpy trails. Even though, they’re MY trails and I always complain about them!  I love the fact that numerous people took headers over handlebars, had brakes quit, lost teams but no one complained or even really mentioned the problems until later. 

An example:

Stacie: how was your run?

Kyla: Really good, fun!

Stacie: The trails weren’t too bumpy or wild for you?

Kyla: Nah, it was fun. I just took one header over the handlebars, but it was all good. And then we ended up in the river and I thought “whupps! I don’t think this is the right way! hahaha”

Stacie: Uh, wait a sec, back the truck up.  You flipped OVER the handlebars??

Kyla: Yeah!!! (she says proudly) But we got it together and kept on going!      

Stacie: Okayyy then… (REALLY hoping Kyla signed her waiver)

Susie and Tundra scream down the trail!

Check out ALL the photo-y goodness on our new flickr site – off to the right over there on the sidebar.

Valeri, Nina and Buddah head for the finish!

Trail & Conditions – Sat. night

The trail looked good today, but a bit soggy today due to all the morning rain.  The good thing – the cool temps are great for the dogs!  Looks like tomorrow’s conditions will be great for us. 

Temps look pretty good for the race tomorrow!

 

Amil/Decaf, Stacie/Harris tested out the trail today and the only problem I had (other than my wonky bent bike due to last weeks wipeout!) was the wet brakes. Those of you with disc brakes – lucky!  I also would recommend bikes over scooters on this trail – it’s quite “bumpy” and rugged.  It will not be a FAST trail.  

 

Amil and Decaf test out the soggy trail – Sat. June 27

The trail is marked all over the place with green flagging tape – be sure to keep the tape ON YOUR LEFT. Amil got lost the second time around, but figured things out the THIRD time.  She was my trail testing dummy.  The “dummy” got it after the flagging tape went up. The trail is short, only a km or so. The trail is the same for all the races.

 On that note, let’s hope for cool (but not too rainy!) weather tomorrow! See you at the races!

Race details & trail preview

There are four fantastic races at the Hot Hounds series, they consist of:

1. 1 pet dog, 1-mile
2. 1 sled dog, 1-mile
3. 2 sled dog, 2-miles
4. “Formula One” – 4-8 sled dogs, powered or engineless quad

Mushers are encouraged to have strong ant-hopping and pond-dodging skills for this slightly technical course.  The ant hills have been leveled out for the most part and the ponds are drying up.  The ponds also serve as a great cooling off spot for the dogs if they get too warm.  At the turnaround, you are right near the Mendenhall river, so you (and/or the dogs) can take a quick dunk there as well. However this slight detour will add to your race time! See you Sunday!

Meadow #2 - Stay Left!

Distraction on the trail - scungy pond!