We’ve all seen Eight Below, right? The incredibly sad story of a man who tragically had to leave his beautiful sled dogs to escape to safety amid a heavy winter storm in Antarctica, only to return later to find that not all the dogs were able to survive the harsh conditions. A powerful, tear-jerker of a movie and the first thing that comes to my mind when thinking of dog sledding. Thankfully, I’m here to tell you our experience was nothing like this, and that this was one of the happiest days of our lives!
ADVENTURE AWAITS
For Paige’s 26th birthday, we decided to go big, as in 8 purebred Siberian Huskies big! We traveled to Breckenridge, Colorado, roughly 3 hours from where we were living at the time, which is not bad by our standards. However, we did have to be there 30 minutes before our 10:00 reservation. We were so excited that I am not even kidding when I say we were awake by 3 A.M.! It felt like Christmas morning. We hit the road and arrived at the parking lot about 3 hours too early. Unfortunately, they don’t have service back on their long, winding, icy, and extremely bumpy roads. So no phones, no computers, just pure anticipation with nothing to distract us.
The clock struck 9 A.M. and Good Time Adventures was finally open and people were rolling in. We decided to try and check in early, but unfortunately couldn’t because of occupancy restrictions due to COVID. As we were heading back out to the car to await another long 30 minutes….we heard them. The joy of hearing 100 huskies simultaneously barking brought us a moment we will never forget. We rushed outside and around the building to see them all getting lined up, jumping, howling, yelping, and ready to go. We were giddy with excitement! 30 more minutes and those furry bundles of joy were all ours!
Finally! We were all checked in and getting ready to meet our handsome boys and sweet girls who were going to be taking us on an adventure of a lifetime. And here they come, whipping around the first corner as fast as can be, nearly throwing the well-trained guide off their sled. They came to a halt at the start of the trailhead where our guide then split all 10 o’clock reservations into groups of 6. Myself, my wife, and a group of 4. She led us over to the dogs, introduced each of them one at a time, and described their responsibilities.
MEET THE DOG SLED TEAM
For this excursion, the pack consists of 8 total dogs, grouped side-by-side in partners of 2. At the front of the pack were the lead dogs: Lance, a sweet 5-year-old boy with one floppy ear, and Farmer, the cool, calm, and collected 8-year-old veteran of the pack. The lead dogs have to be very smart, and attentive to the task at hand and must know their Gee’s (right) and Haw’s (left).
Second in line were the point dogs: Flint, the 7-year-old boy with an insatiable need for belly rubs, and Valkyrie, a sweet, energetic 2-year-old girl and Farmer’s proud protégé. The point dogs are there to help the team take turns nice and wide and are “leads in training” or backup leaders if something were to happen to the lead dogs.
Third in line are the team dogs: Chisel, the 6-yr-old boy who was born to run and whose persistent whining to get moving will surely let you hear about it, and Ratchet, the patient 5 yr old girl who is there to keep her partner, Chisel, under control. The team dogs have truly no responsibility whatsoever! They are there to have a good time, run nice and hard, and add a little extra dog power.
And lastly, at the back of the pack are the wheel dogs: Jaguar, a 2.5-year-old boy who inherited his father’s (Flint) love of belly rubs, and Jabba, the 5-year-old epitome of a “good boy”. The wheel dogs are there to be the muscle of the group. They pull the most weight of the dog sled to get it moving and are the anchors around the turns. After a thorough introduction to the dogs and how to operate the dog sled, our guide, Haley, then gave us about 15 minutes to get acquainted and give the dogs as much love as we could before officially dog sledding.
**DISCLAIMER: If you don’t like licks, cuddles, and dog hair, then this may not be the best excursion for you.**
AND WE’RE OFF!
Our guide gave us a rundown of how things were going to play out for the next 2 hours and then asked who would like to go first. I was so nervous and didn’t know what to expect or what to do, but my wife kindly volunteered…ME. YIKES! WOOHOO! LET’S DO THIS! AHHH!! A frenzy of emotions coursed through my body, unsure if the 10-second rundown of how to actually operate the dogsled was enough to be fully prepared, but who am I kidding, I was born ready for this!! I mean just look how excited I am.
With the rise of Haley’s hand and a stern “MUSH!” I let my foot off the sled brakes and OFF WE WENT! Speeding through the aspen trees in the snowy mountains of Breckenridge, Colorado. What a unique experience and one we will never forget.
EXPECTATION VS REALITY
As you can tell, I’m really talking dog sledding up because it truly was such a magical experience for us, but I’m also here to tell you everything about our experience and be completely honest with any negative aspects of it as well. We didn’t read much about how this guided tour was run, which is 100% our fault because it is clearly written on their website.
Our expectations going into this were that we would have our own sled (my wife and I) and a guide leading the way. We also thought that for the entire 2 hours, we would get to dog sled through the mountains with just a few breaks to give the dogs a rest and to switch positions. We were a little disappointed in realizing that was not the case. Rather, the groups consisted of 6 people and 1 guide. Two people were on the sled, 1 person stood on the back of the sled and got to steer and manage the brakes while another person sat in the sled. The other 4 people in the group were pulled in a larger sled being drawn by a snowmobile the guide was driving.
We took rather frequent stops about every 4-5 minutes to let the dogs cool down (it was 32 degrees, but they like it about -45 degrees). After about 5-10 minutes of loving on the dogs and providing them with well-deserved encouragement, we would all switch places. So, in reality, everyone got to steer the sled twice and sit in the sled with the dogs twice (about 20 minutes of actual dog sledding). Since our expectations were not completely accurate through no one’s fault but our own, we were caught off guard in the actual amount of time spent on the dog sled. However, being in the larger sled in front of the dogs gave us a unique perspective as well. We got to see the tongues flopping, the smiles on their faces, and really take in the beauty of our surroundings.
LET’S GO AGAIN!
Despite our misaligned expectations, in the end, we’ve never been happier. We got in so many cuddles that day that I still am picking dog hair out of my winter coat. Dog sledding was an unforgettable experience that we would absolutely do again in the future. It cost $140 per person, so we wouldn’t go on just an average Saturday morning, but potentially for a special occasion we would do it again in a heartbeat.
Be sure to contact us if you have any further questions about dog sledding!
Terrific! I really enjoyed reading this. I am going to share this with friends and relatives. It is so interesting!
Sally, we’re so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing!