It has been “a strange winter” for sled dog racers in the NWT, according to Susan Fleck, one of the territory’s most dedicated mushers and race organizers.
The Aurora Ford Classic Sled Dog Race was cancelled on its second day due to extreme cold, she said, while the K’amba Carnival races were nixed for the same reason. Fort Smith’s races were also cancelled on day two due to rain, and the Fort Resolution races were nearly cancelled due to “a big wind and snowstorm” that compromised the track.
Hay River’s Anthony Beck, a lifelong racer with 36 dogs in his kennel, experienced much of that disappointment firsthand.
“I’ve only competed in four races [this season],” he said. “It’s a really unusual year. The weather’s just up and down. One weekend, it was too cold, and we go to the next weekend and it was plus six and raining.”
Beck did not attribute the winter’s unusual weather to global warming, contending that “this is just Mother nature” and that “we’ve had years like this prior too.”
However, he is “hoping for a better winter” next year.
Dog racing is, after all, a longstanding and deeply important tradition in the North.
“Everybody travelled by dog sled [in the past],” Beck said. “It’s a big part of everyone’s culture.
“My grandfather travelled by dog sled back in the day. My great uncles. That was their way of transportation. My dad still has dogs to this day, and he’s 73, going on 74. [Participating in dog racing] is carrying on their traditions and practising my culture, being proud Métis.
“It makes me emotional just to think about it. It’s something I’m very, very proud of.”
Unfortunately, unusual weather is not the only threat dog sled racing is facing in 2024.
Beck stated he did not want to go so far as to call it “a dying sport,” but noted that interest in it is waning.
To combat that problem, he helps facilitate culture camps at NWT schools, where young people can learn about dog sledding and even meet some dogs. He visited roughly 140 children on March 18 and 19 alone.
The culture camps have left him with the impression that “all the kids would love to do it,” but clarified that it’s often not that simple. Dog racing is an expensive pastime, and some parents don’t have the resources to support their children’s interest in it.
“Not everybody can afford to do it anymore,” Beck acknowledged. “It comes with a lot of cost and dedication and responsibility. They’re animals that need to be cared for. This is not Ski-Doo racing where you can tune them up, put a new motor in them, and then when the snow goes, put them away. These things are year-round.”
Despite the challenges facing dog sled racing, Beck hopes more people will get involved in the sport, even if they start with just a few dogs.
He’s also hoping for a few more good races before the winter is over, starting with Fort Providence’s second race of the season, set for the weekend of March 23-24.
“It’s supposed to be minus eight,” he said, with just a few days left before the event. “We’re just waiting for the weekend in Fort Providence and hoping we have good weather.”