THE COLD STINGS MY CHEEKS. I rear back – the sled bobbing like a skiff, my boots balanced on the runners, the eager dogs straining, the snow racing beneath me – and I feel so good I could catch a bullet in my teeth. Well, okay, not a bullet, maybe a baby carrot – I don’t have dental. But I can ride a dog sled for a snow-in-your-face fresh blast of winter, and so can you. If you prefer the limo treatment,
you can choose to get swaddled beneath heaps of blankets and hunker down in the belly of the sled as your tour guide steers through snow-laden trees in Kananaskis or near Pincher Creek or elsewhere. Wherever you are, the wind whips as a flurry of paws scatters your thoughts of everything but the here-and-now.
In the Beginning, the Dogs It starts with the dogs. Tey are beautiful, all heart and sinew and soul. Teir eyes will pierce you and stay in the attic of your mind long aſter you’re done your trip. And more than anything, they want to run. Te first time I stood waiting for
my dog sled to be ready near Canmore at the edge of Banff National Park, about 40 dogs were raising an insane racket, waiting to pull. It was if a full moon was rising or a volcano was about to explode. Tey jumped in place as if jolted, howled straight from the belly, spun around where they could – some kind of weird arctic voodoo. It’s infectious. It crawled up my spine. I became madly anxious to go.
Get Ready Your guide will get you suited up, give you a primer on how to steer and stop the sled if you’re able to drive, and what to expect on the trips. Depending on the outfitter and guide, the excursions can go for a few hours, half a day, a full day or overnight, and
a few days. Here’s a quick look at some
Alberta dog sledding operations, in no particular order. Dog sledding in Alberta usually gets underway in December, depending on the snow cover.
Mad Dogs & Englishmen Expeditions Based in Canmore, Russell Donald and Dawn Hedge are owner/operators who try to focus on “the personal touch, because we are a small kennel,” says Dawn. I’ve been to their kennel and they’ve created a nice little touring area with interpretive signs, a big tent, a show kennel for puppies and individual wooden houses for the dogs, whom they clearly respect – it’s worth the visit. New this year is two, half day tours. Te kennel to trail combines the kennel tour with a dog sledding run. Tey offer ski-joring packages, too, where you get on cross country skis and the dogs pull.
Howling Dog Tours I’ve rode with this Canmore-based operation and had a lot of fun. Run by Rich and Dana Bittner, the two hour and four hour tours are the most popular. New this year is a fresh litter
of puppies who will see some training – there is eight of them and they’re named for each day of the week, with the final one named Night, says Dana. You can meet up with the puppies likely in January while they’re still training.
Snowy Owl Sled Dog Tours Connie Arsenault says this year her Canmore-based operation and programs remain the same and, hey, no price increases. “In the summer we have an interpretive program where you can come up and visit the Huskies and now we have a wolf hybrid named Shaman,” she says. “Next summer we will feature walks with him.” Her dogs have appeared in movies and television shows. Te two hour Powder Hound Express tour is one of many. Klondike Ventures in Rocky
Mountain House caters to small groups and the Learn to Dog Sled is a big draw, so you can learn to mush and handle the dogs. Tere is ski joring as well. You can also dog sled outside the Jasper National Park boundaries with outfitters including Jasper Adventure Centre.
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