International Pedigree
Stage Stop Sled Dog Race Begins in Jackson, Wyoming; Salvisberg Wins Stage
One
Jackson, Wyoming—January 25, 2003--The largest sled dog
race in the lower 48 states, the International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog
Race (IPSSSDR), began Saturday, January 25, 2003, in Jackson, Wyoming.
Twenty-one world class teams departed from the Town Square in downtown
Jackson on the first stage of the race.
Mike Salvisberg from Bear Creek, Yukon Territory,
posted the fastest time of 0:08:37; Lloyd Gilbertson from Chatham, Michigan,
came in second with a time of 0:08:55. Melanie Shirilla and Doug Swingley,
who just happen to be husband and wife, from Lincoln, Montana, posted
identical times of 0:09:32, however, because of their order of sign up,
Shirilla won third and Swingley was fourth.
Following the conclusion of the race in Jackson, teams
left for Dubois where they will attend a Meet the Mushers Banquet at
Headwater Arts and Conference Center, at 6:30 p.m.
Stage Two begins Sunday, January 26, at 8:00 a.m. at
the Sheridan Snow Oval outside Dubois. Teams will depart in three-minute
intervals on the 53-mile trek. Immediately after the race, Dubois hosts
Skijoring and Sled Dog Races as part of their Winterfest festivities.
With its unique “Stage Stop” racing format, the race
stops in a different Wyoming community each night from January 25 through
February 1, 2003. After Dubois, the race continues on to Lander, Evanston,
Mountain View, Lyman, Kemmerer/Diamondville, Alpine, and Pinedale before
finishing at Teton Village in Jackson Hole. Each town hosts festivities for
mushers and spectators ranging from junior dog sled races for children, dog
parades and ice sculpture contests, to banquets, carnivals and fishing
derbies.
The International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race was
founded in 1996 by Frank Teasley, an Iditarod veteran who lives and works in
Jackson Hole. Teasley’s goal was to make sled dog racing more accessible to
the general public as well as to showcase the beautiful state of Wyoming.
During the 2003 IPSSSDR, title sponsor Pedigree will host “Postcards from
the Trail” with photographs posted on its web site, pedigree.com. Pedigree
will make a donation to animal shelters for each visitor to the site during
the race through its Homeward Bound program. For more information, visit the
race website at
www.wyomingstagestop.org, or contact the race via e-mail at
wystagestop@blissnet.com
