This weekend was Winterfest in Redstone, Colorado. The quaint historic mining town of Redstone is about 15 miles from Carbondale on Highway 133 on the way to McClure Pass. Traditionally the town hosts sled dog races each winter, but this year they decided to mix it up a little bit and include ice climbing events, a snowshoe race, chili cook off and beer tasting.
The dog lovers in the crowd still got some great action with the addition of a skijoring clinic. Skijoring is a combination of nordic skiing and dog mushing, where the people and the dogs work as a team (you hope) to traverse the snow. The sport has tradition in Scandanavia where is has long been used as a means of winter transport.
Louisa Morrissey, owner of Skijor-n-More in Silverthorne, CO, helped organize the event. Participants brought their own skis and dogs,and Louisa provided the dog harnesses, bungee lines and tethers.
After the dogs were harnessed up, it was time to get on the track. There wasn't a lot of time for instruction; just keep your dog moving ahead, stay untangled and try to avoid other skiers and dogs.
I skied with both Elsie and Porter separately before I worked them together as a team. Elsie's drive to run and be in front helped her to pick up on it right away. She loved it! Porter was a little less enthused about the control aspect. As a team they did GREAT. It helped that they already know basic commands like whoa, high-on (to go), come around (to turn), etc. There is a whole set of commands for ski joring, but bird dog commands worked well too.
The day was a lot of fun and there were lots of participants and tail wagging dogs. As far as I know, no one got hurt. Below is Louisa skiing. She was on skate skis, which looked like it had an advantage over classic skis.
Check out the rest of my images from the Redstone Winterfest to see some of the other fun activities.
She was on skate skis, which looked like it had an advantage over classic skis.
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