Tourism aids in summer training

WASILLA — Ryan Redington walked along his line of sled dogs waiting to pull the next load of tourists at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Headquarters last Saturday.

As jacket clad visitors readied their cell phone video cameras for the ride, Redington’s dogs tugged at the line, yelping to

go.

Little did these tourists know, their fun-filled ride is actually helping Redington’s dogs stay in shape for the 2009 Iditarod.

Redington, grandson of the “Father of the Iditarod” Joe Redington Sr., works his dogs all year long, whether it be training for the Iditarod, or taking tourists out on the icefields near Juneau.

The exercise keeps Redington’s team from becoming sluggish over summer, making it easier to jump start training when winter rolls around, he said.

“We don’t have to wait for them to build up anymore,” Redington said, just before the next set of tourists shot off into the woods behind a noisy team.

The Knik resident is tapping into something many mushers take advantage of during the summer months.

With many mushers running tourist operations during the summer across the state, they avoid their dogs lounging in Alaska’s short summer of warmer temperatures, wasting away what conditioning they’ve built up.

Sebastian Schnuelle, a Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, musher who runs mushing tours on the Juneau icefields, said the benefits show in the lead up to the big race.

“In summer, you’re not gaining, you’re maintaining,” Schnuelle said.

Not only that, but offering tours to folks from around the world helps out when it comes time to pay for everything that goes along with the Iditarod.

“The tourists enable us to do this financially,” Schnuelle said.

Running a mushing tour operation is nothing new to Alaska. Mushers like Martin Buser, Vern Halter and a litany of other Alaska mushers show the sport to tourists — and locals — during the off-season.

For some, however, other methods must be used when not catering to tourists.

Tom Thurston, an Oak Creek, Colo., musher who doesn’t run a tour operation, said using a walker for his dogs helps them maintain over summer.

Thurston said his walker, usually used to exercise horses, keeps his dogs exercising without wearing down during Colorado’s warmer months.

The idea is simple, the walker consists of a merry-go-round looking contraption that spins. Dogs are attached by leash to the walker, moving in circles at various speeds.

But perhaps nothing is better to a sled dog than exercising by doing what they love.

Even as Redington’s dogs were being asked to do yet another pull of giddy tourists, they didn’t hesitate to jump up and try to take off before everyone was ready.

Before the team blasted into the woods, Redington said he knows keeping his dogs focused all summer will help out in the long-run, maybe even in the ‘Last Great

Race.’

“I think it keeps them in great shape,” he said.

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.