Monthly Archives: September 2018

#25 — Tim Thiessen from Leadville, Colorado. Tim’s passion for dog sledding began in 2003 when he was hired to work for a Breckenridge, Colorado dog sled tour company. Soon afterwards, he began to put together his own team of Alaskan huskies and competed in last year’s Eukanuba 8-Dog Classic. Tim lives with his fiancé… Read more »

#24 — Richard Beck from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. Richard is a Supervisor with the City of Yellowknife. He grew up in a family of mushers where dogs were a part of their culture. He’s placed in the top 10 in multiple races in Europe, Alaska, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Quebec. Richard recently… Read more »

#23 — Tommy Bird from Southend, Saskatchewan, Canada. Tommy has been around dogs all his life and tells his story better than anyone, “…from first dog a few days old when my mom brought me home from hospital …dad pick us up by airplane …help my dad in trapping as a kid age 8 to… Read more »

#22 — Rachel Courtney from Caliento, Manitoba, Canada. Born in Mainburg, Germany, Rachel began bikejoring (riding a bike with a dog pulling) when she was 14 years old; she was “immediately was hooked on mushing,” she says. Four years later, she came to Canada from her native Germany to learn more about sled dogs, and… Read more »

#21 — Anny Malo from Quebec, Canada. Anny Malo is a biologist, Executive Director and owner of Bio-Forest Management Rivest with her husband, Marco. She started mushing in 1995 after Marco used his dog team to meet her. Mushing became their passion and in 1998 they spent eight “hands-on” months at Joe Redington’s kennel learning… Read more »

#20 — David Torgerson from Red Lodge, Montana. Since starting sled dog racing in 1989, Dave has raced extensively throughout the United States and Canada in the middle distance and stage format. In 2001, he put sled dog racing on hold to pursue other aspects of life, his family and business, but in 2017 returned… Read more »

#19 — Dennis Laboda from Hovland , MN Dennis is a self-employed contractor. Sled dogs were a neighborhood activity for him when he was growing up in Minnesota. His older brother, Dale, started mushing as a teenager and raced IPSSSDR in the early years of our event. Following in his brother’s “footsteps in the snow,”… Read more »

#18 — Emilie Entrikin from Fairbanks, Alaska. Emilie was first introduced to the dog mushing at age 21 working for a mid-distance kennel in Minnesota. She then moved to Alaska and began skijor racing with her own two dogs. Not quite satisfied with the challenge of skijoring, Emile bred her first litter of pups and… Read more »

#17 — Lina Streeper from Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Canada. Lina grew up in a small community in northern Sweden and became fascinated with sled dogs at a young age. Since moving to Canada in 2007, she has focused on professional sled dog racing. She’s part of “the famous mushing dynasty” known as Streeper Kennels…. Read more »

#16 — Katherine Scheck from Whitehorse, Yukon Territories, Canada. Born and raised in the Yukon, Katherine started running dogs in 2011 when introduced to skijoring. In 2012, she bought a litter of pups — the six-and-a-half-year-olds in this year’s race team are from that litter. Katherine lives near Whitehorse with her 5-year old daughter, 3-year… Read more »

#15 — Erick Laforce from Lanoraie, Quebec, Canada. Erick is a Montreal firefighter who grew up in a small town at the edge of the country. He spent his teenage years in Montreal where a husky he later named Max came to him in the school yard one day. He says that the magic of… Read more »