Dog Handling Training for Iditarod

 It is Iditarod time again.  This year I will be helping with running the dogs and sleds to the start line.
Today i  went to the headquarters to be trained on how to handle the dogs. Oops, the athletes.  They are the most important issue today.  Sounds like the Memphis Grizzles right, it is all about the athlete. This year the Iditarod will be running the south course.  Even number years the mushers go the northern route and odd number years they travel the southern route.  The course is 1049 miles from Anchorage to Nome.  The conditions are unbelievable.  I still haven't figured out what makes these mushers, guys and girls, do this race.  You must love the solitude and winter weather.  They do not travel with GPS or phones, there is a GPS somewhere on the sled for TV to follow the sled but nothing to help them find their way. In years past, the mushers would finish the race in about 18 days. About 4 years ago the first musher arrived in Nome in just 8 days.  That is a lot of ground to cover each day!

Here is Niki being welcomed by one of the athletes.  They are the most friendly dogs.  I can't believe all they want to do is RUN!!!!  Trying to hold them at the start line is much more difficult than it sounds.

Aren't they gorgeous. Those blue and black eyes.  This particular team has almost all related dogs. That means that many of the brothers and sisters run next to each other on the team.  There are only two dogs with bi-eyes (one blue and one black) all the others are either both blue or both black.

First things first.  All dogs get booties put on their feet. You know how it is. No athlete enters the field without proper equipment.  We made the foot salve two weeks ago and now they put it on before the booties to keep the foot pad soft so it doesn't crack.  Take note of their harness.  As handlers we had to learn the different parts of the sled, harness, ropes and where to hold and where not to hold.  First words of wisdom, don't bend down to hold the dogs. When they get excited they jump straight UP into your chin or nose.  Many handlers have battle wounds, cut lips and bloody noses, from forgetting RULE #1.  I will try to remember this rule but it may be cold and I might forget. 

 Here I am getting the instructions for handling the lead pair.  I will tell you one thing. Come Saturday, I will not volunteers for the lead team.  There is too much pressure to keep them cool and comfortable. Once the dogs hear the count down, 5,4,3,2,1, they go CRAZY!!!! On about count 3 they are on their hind legs and then they put all four legs down and there is no way to hold them.  Think of 16 dogs with all the force, or dog power, and away they go.  These dogs live to run.  If they had their way they would run all day and all night.  When they are at the kennels, they are put on merry-go-rounds because they think they are really covering a lot of territory.  This is the traveling kennel. 10 dogs on each side so there is a total of 20 dogs.  They each pray they will be the chosen one to run with the team.

Here are two athletes who were NOT chosen. The instant they know they get to stay in the kennel they become very quiet.  The one on the right loves to get warmed by the sun so he cuddles close to the bars to enjoy the warmth. Usually the dogs sit a bit farther like the dog on the left.Below are the different colored dog booties from the Iditarod a few years ago.  There I am standing next to the Winner Trophy. Isn't that huge?

This is a typical dog sled.  It is made out of wood and some are made out of aluminum.  One of the mushers is a teacher in Idaho and had his students build his sled for the race.  It worked pretty well.  A lot of duct tape was used for repairs until he reached the work station.  The sleds today do not carry 1,000 pounds of food and supplies.  They must carry 3 days of dog food and people food, the cooker, and a bale of hay (sleeping areas for the dogs) and a sleeping bag for the musher.  That is it today.  You should check out the Iditarod headquarter web site to see the conditioned these athletes and musher endure for 8 - 12 days.  Unbelievable.  The female musher that I am supporting, Angie Taggert, said the cabins in the bush are somewhat disgusting and that she will probably sleep in her sleeping bag with her dog team.

Training is over and back into the kennel.  It was a fun day.  Not enough miles covered for the dogs sake but the trainees, that's me, thought it was plenty.  The Second Rule to remember.  If you trip and fall, which we were assured each of us will, Rule #2 is to Roll Out of The Way. If you fall, roll towards the snow bank because there will be 16 dogs and two dog sleds about to run you over if you just sit still with frustration.  So I go to bed at night with my mantra, Don't bend down and Roll, Roll quickly!!!!

But before he is loaded in the kennel, one last kiss for Sheryl.  We had a great time bonding today. I only wish I could walk this team to the start line.  Remember, I may be walking or probably running the winning team to the start line. Why run?  We get assigned to a musher and sled which is parked about 8 city blocks away from the start line.  The handlers are in charge of bringing the team to the start line but we have to run the entire way because these dogs run so fast.  The snow isn't like slush snow in the lower 48, but more like bags of sugar spilled out on the road.  It is hard to get good footing on slippery sugar.  Isn't he just friendly?  I am holding a dog food bag used to drop the food at the check points.  I plan on framing mine with all of my Iditarod memorabilia.  It will be my new framed art for Memphis.

Here are my two favorite athletes to bid you all good bye.  I will be getting ready with all sorts of Iditarod events this week.  On Saturday, I will be handling the dogs and then at 4PM I will be running with the Reindeer'

s!!! yep, really.  We will all stand at the corner of 4th and G and then they say go and we run with a few minutes head start before they let the reindeer's go.  The reindeer will be safe and end at their kennel and food at the end of the very large block.

I have several events to blog so some of these will be out of order. I am sure you won't mind as long as there are lots of pictures.  Tomorrow David and his guy friends head to FL for the Daytona 500.  He is so excited. I feel safe since my brother is going along.  Well, maybe they will keep each other out of trouble.  Jensina leave for Italy on Wednesday for a bit over 2 weeks.  She will have a great time with her friend Morgan.  Tyler is heading to Colorado skiing.  I will be working the start of the Iditarod and then fly to Nome to work the end Last Great Race on Earth!!!! I am so excited. I hope it is warmer than I keep hearing.  This weekend was minus 45 degrees in Nome.  We will work in shifts to complete the outdoor building (dog houses, finish shoots, and timers tables, etc) and then a shift inside signing post cards for class rooms, answering phones and giving trail information for the TV and radio stations.  Keep warm, I hear you are all thawing out.

Hugs from Nanuq of the North.  Sheryl

Skiing at Alyeska, AK

After another hard week of teaching, we were rewarded with 8 inches of snow on Thursday night.  Yahoo!!!!! Friday we had a half day of school so at 12 noon we hit the cross country ski trails.  It was AWESOME with fresh snow.  Almost everyone else in Anchorage went downhill skiing at Alyeska Resort in Girdwood, AK so the 5 of us had 25 miles of freshly fallen snow trails all to ourselves. It was so great.  Beth and I are ready to go but first we must take pictures with the new snow.  I forget how short I am most of the time because most of my elementary students are shorter than I am.  However, when I get where it is all adults, I realize how short 5 feet 1 inch tall really is compared to other adults!!!!

Saturday we headed to Girdwood for some downhill skiing. It was my first ski trip since my knee surgery.  This is Alyeska Resort and it is set in the Chugach Mountain Range.  This is where you board the tram to take you up to the top 2 chair lifts.  They have heli-skiing at Alyeska but on this day the Race teams were having a competition and they don't hel-iski when a race is taking place.

This is the view from the top of Chair 4.  There are 8 chair lifts, one tram, and three bunny rugs.  I had no idea what a bunny rug was but now I do.  This picture shows the top of the mountain.  There are many people skiing on the front face but only a handful hiking the saddle of the mountain to ski down in fresh snow.

A tradition is to toss your bra or panties or mardi gras beads on this tree during Mardi Gras week.  Thank goodness it wasn't Mardi Gras week for us.  I would probably be the first person to toss a training bra on the tree!!  What makes this ski resort a little different from the others that I have skied is that since it is in the middle of AK Chugach Forrest, there are about six different areas on the ski slopes that are forests.  Yep, real thick wooded trees.  Several trails have cat walks through the trees but other trails go between two trails with the trees in the middle.

This is from Chair #5 and we start at the Upper Bowl.  Just to the right of the Upper Bowl is the Downhill Ski Team participating in a Ski Race. It was fun to watch them from the chair lift.  The race starts at

Chair #6 all the way to the bottom of the hill. The racers ranged from 12 - 18.  Quite amazing athletes.

 I am sure you won't be surprised that the Alyeska Cup is sponsored by the local Orthopedic Clinic.  They are a very business in Alaska with all the skiing, snow machines, hiking, and boating activities.

This is a first for me.  When you purchase your lift ticket they do not give you a wire and paper to place around your jacket pull.  Nope.  Up here you get a small individual credit card. You have to place the credit card, or lift card, in your left pocket not near an IPod or phone.  Then when you go to enter the chute to board the lift you pass through a metal detector-like machine.  If your pass is valid the gates open and you proceed to the chair lift.  Pretty darn cleaver.  Nothing to get caught on equipment, the chair employees don't have to look to make sure your coat ticket is the correct color.  Apparently there were a lot of people making fake passes so the little credit card pass eliminated all sorts of paper work and waste.  Once you purchase a lift pass you take it with you on each trip to ski and they will reduce your chair lift ticket by $5 each visit.  Not a bad deal!!! 

This is a bunny rug.  It is basically a heated-plastic moving sidewalk like you would use in an airport.  Apparently Alaska skiers could not handle a tow rope so they have these moving mats.  This is the baby, bunny rug, and below is the adult moving rug because it is 4 people wide. It looks pretty easy but the first time you get on this moving rug you want to move your feet and body forward.  However, you are wearing skies and can't move forward!!! 

This is the kiddie mover.  After the kiddies take their bunny hill lesson they board this sled behind a snow tracker and take them to the next hill.  The ski instructor is towed behind the sled.  I want this type of sled to move adults from one ski area to the next chair lift. 

The three amigos, Sheryl, Beth, and Niki.  Niki enjoyed skiing until she took a head first fall into a snow pile.  She allowed me to take a photo even though she lost a ski, froze her face, and flung her pole in front of another skier. 

This is the sun room decor of the famous "Chair 5" restaurant.  They make an awesome deep-dish pizza.  And for those of you beer lovers, nothing beats the Alaskan Pale!

I had another encounter with a moose at school on Thursday.  Unfortunately, it was a few minutes before the kids were to be released to the bus so I was armed with a moose blow horn, walkie-talkie and fluorescent green bib!  So what did I do, I sent the kids home on the path near the middle of the soccer field versus near the end where Mr. Moose and I were grazing.

This is a major mode of transportation in AK.  This is a snow bike.  You will notice the saddlebags and lights.  The tires are studded and the bike helmet has a strobe light on top of it. 

Just in case you all forgot, but I do work up here among all my play activities.  My motto is "Work hard and Play hard" and I live by that.  This is my "after school" club - Drum making.  We are teaching the Native boys how to make native drums and present their drums with a native dance the end of March.  Here we are sanding the round frames so that the poly fiber material doesn't rip.  The next two weeks we are designing our drum design and decide the color scheme.

This is my view when we cross country ski a mile from my house.  It was a little after 7 pm when I took this photo.  We are gaining 1/2 hour of sunlight every week.  It is so noticeable on the evening end not the morning side.  I still go to work with the moon on one horizon and the sun rising on the other horizon.  It is completely daylight by 8 am. 

I hope you all are enjoying your snow thaw and warmer weather.  We are enjoying warmer weather (in the 20's) so we are getting a little bit of snow each day.  I hope it stays this way for about 5 more weeks. 

Have a wonderful day.  Do what you love and love what you do! Life is good.

Hugs,  Sheryl the Nanuq of the North.

Ski For Women Feb 2011

 This is Ski for Women Race.  I was so proud of myself. I made the decision to stay in the front of the pack and try to beat my time from last year. i did!!! by 15 minutes.  I skied steady and hard.  I had to keep avoiding the falls in front of me.

I was unaware that Anchorage Schools had a Jewish menorah.  This one on the ASD showcase features the a sports theme.

These are my bunnie boots.  They are big because they are issued by the US Army for all their soldiers.  They are so warm.  The paratroopers use them for jumping out of the planes.  I don't have to pressurize mine. I just have to keep the valve closed so that they don't let water in the valve.  So when I speak of my bunnie boots that I will be wearing in Nome now you know they are cute, white, fluffy and no pointy ears!!!

 This is how the extra rolls of toilet paper is held in each bathroom stall.  They hand extra rolls on a ski pol on the back of each stall door. Very useful!!!

Ski for Women 2011  All the profits of this race goes to help end domestic violence.  There were 1400 women and girls skiing this year.  .It was another cold and windy day for our race.  This year was a bit different because we considered ourselves as veterans.  We didn't dress up this year because there wasn't enough snow the week before so we didn't plan on costumes.  The beautiful butterflies from last year were jellyfish this year.  Their costumes were pretty but not spectacular like last year.

The first group were Buffalo.  They were a group of women from Montana and had great buffalo tails.  The ladies to the left were all in furs.  Their group name was "going out in style".  Cute. 









Then the girl scouts showed up as the different
selection of cookies.  I like the Tagalongs but David loves the Thin Mints.

These two lades are some of the teachers we teach with.  They are very artistic.  They teach at Birchwood school so they are the "white birch trees".  Very cute. They won second place in the teams.  i am not sure you can see Stacy's beaver on her right leg.  We had to inform her that the beaver is misplaced. we think the beaver should be placed where the birch branches split!!!






These ladies were the muffin tops!  I could be a part of that group!

I really liked this group.  The young lady on the left was a chain saw, the next lady was a shrub, then the garbage can and a lady on the right was a match stick.  Very cleaver. 

This lady was simply a spectator but she made her beautiful parka.  She was very warm on this very cold day.  I wasn't cold while I was skiing but standing around for the parade and the race to start was nippy.

This is the beautiful Denali (Mt. McKinley) which could be seen from the top of the ski area.  It is hard to believe this majestic mountain is 300 miles away but on a clear day it is a sight to behold.

This is Beth, Niki, and Sheryl boarding the shuttle bu to the race area. 

Traffic cone heads!  Cleaver.  Anchorage is like any other city full of construction spots.  In Anchorage it is amazing how much construction is done during the winter months.

I hope you enjoyed another unique fund raiser in Anchorage.  We all have noticed that Anchorage has a costume event almost weekly during the dark winter time and the delightful summer months.  I think the effort to dress up and participate in another activity to raise money makes it more fun.  We have met so many amazing people and our friendship circle keeps growing by attending these events.  Tomorrow is Valentines Day and I hope you spread your warm heart and hugs with everyone you love.  "the girls" are going to dinner and Beth and I have funny gift bags for the person who gets the most questions correct on a quiz, or whoever takes the challenge presented.  Just another evening of girl fun.  Happy Valentines Day to all of you.

Hugs from Sheryl the Nanuq of the North.