Organizers of Michigan’s longest running dog sled race said they’re expecting a good turnout this year. The Winterfest race in Kalkaska is slated for January 20.
It seems dog sledding is re-gaining popularity across the board after a decline during the 2008 recession.
Winterfest race organizers said during the recession they were down to as few as 60 mushers, they said last year they had more than 100. Registration is still open for this year’s competition.
Chris Mahar is the membership chairmen for a Michigan based dog sledding association called Mid-Union Sled Haulers, or M.U.S.H. He said M.U.S.H. has seen an increase in membership across the board. He said he's seeing a particular interest in a new kind of dog sledding.
“We’re also starting to see a lot of interest in what we call dry land events. As sometimes we see less snow during the winters or want to extend the ability to be active with our dogs past just the winter months”.
Mahar said dryland dog sledding can be done year round, and it’s typically cheaper than winter sledding. Dryland mushers usually use between one and three dogs. Traditional, winter dog sledding requires three or more.