Dog Sledding at the Ski Hill

My afternoon as an Iditarod trainer. It’s the perfect athletic training event for me: you help the “runners” train by riding along, cozy, in a sled. Your job’s simply be dead weight, and to enjoy the scenery along the way.

For the past three years, Nature’s Kennel from the Newberry area of the UP has brought its top 24 dogs to Boyne Highlands every weekend. Riders have a choice between the 20-minute (2 mile, $50) or hour-long (6 mile, $150) rides, and no one need worry about wearing out the dogs. A typical training run back at the kennel is 75 miles.

“It’s a lot of mental work, starting, stopping, and doing a lot shorter runs than they’re used to, packing on some muscle,” says guide Krister Rossach.

Head to their UP base, and you can take an overnight ride on which you actually drive the team. At night, you even stop at a camp resembling an Iditarod checkpoint. The key to success?

“Being able to relax,” owner Ed Stielstra told us during our 20-minute run. “The best sled drivers we get at our kennel is kids. To them, it doesn’t hurt to fall, so they just relax. It’s similar to skiing. If you can relax, feel comfortable, you do fine. When you come up for an overnight trip, standing up will be your first goal.”