Dog-Sledding, Like Climate, Heating Up

Racers, Tourists Follow Snow Northward Or Join the Sport's Dry-Land Aficionados

JUKKASJARVI, Sweden -- Sixty Alaskan Huskies yipped and yelped and howled on a frozen river 120 miles north of the Arctic Circle, itching to run.

The dogs, five teams of 12, tugged impatiently at harnesses tethering them to wooden sleds, where 20 tourists -- from Britain, Portugal, Denmark and the United States -- sat in insulated snowsuits, bracing themselves against subzero temperatures and wind. Then the sled drivers shouted, "Hike! Hike!" and the dogs started pulling and fell silent.

"They are happy when they run," said Kalle Leissner, a bearded Swedish musher whose dog teams are part of a global boom in sled-dog racing and tourism that stretches from the snowy woods of Alaska to the sandy Outback of Australia.

Tens of thousands of people in dozens of countries compete in dog-sled racing on snow and, farther south, in proliferating events known as "dry land" races, in which dogs pull bikes or scooters -- or even runners, according to the International Federation of Sleddog Sports. Warming climates, thinning out the snow, have helped drive interest in dry-land competitions in places not normally associated with dogs and sleds, such as Argentina, New Zealand and Mongolia.

Tens of thousands more people, meanwhile, are traveling as tourists to the world's far north -- including Alaska, Canada, Norway, Sweden and Finland -- to spend a few hours or days being towed by teams of dogs.

Dog breeders and tour operators said the rising interest comes in part from the bull market for environmentally friendly vacations. "There is a kind of beauty in it -- it's environmental, and the down-to-earth part of it attracts people," said Kenth Fjellborg, Leissner's boss, a local dog breeder who said he takes at least 5,000 people on dog-sled tours a year, up from 200 people in the early 1990s.

Fjellborg said his clients have ranged from honeymooners to children to royalty -- in 2006, he led Prince Albert II of Monaco on a dog-sled expedition to the North Pole.

"People are fed up with sitting on a beach and frying like a lobster," said Gill Kilbey, part-owner of dogsledding.co.uk, a British tourism company. She said travelers like the "dogs, the snow and the peace -- there are no iPods, no television, and people say it gives them a chance to really think."

"I don't have to advertise. People just come," said Grant Beck, a former champion racer who runs two dog-sledding companies in Yellowknife, in Canada's Northwest Territories, and had 7,000 customers last year.

Prices for dog-sled tours vary by region -- a four-hour trip in Canada can cost $100; four hours in Sweden costs more than twice that much. "It's definitely important to the economy. It's become very, very popular," said Harald Hansen of Innovation Norway, which promotes trade and tourism.

He said budget airlines have made long-weekend international getaways common in Europe.

"We have been focusing on other activities than just alpine skiing to help compete with France and Switzerland," Hansen said. "We want to carve out a niche that is unique to us. People can go dog-sledding and see the northern lights, and it seems like that's succeeding."