Information about Tours

Welcome to Winterdance Dogsled Tours Race Team!

The Dream...

Our distance race team started as a dream over 12 years ago when we first hooked up our 4 huskies.  It has been a long road but the Iditarod has always been the ultimate destination for us and our dogs.  That road lead us to Haliburton,Ontario where we established our kennel and touring business back in 1999.  Since than we have now grown to a touring kennel of 140 Purebred Siberian Huskies with some amazing staff and the priviledge of having introduced thousands of people to this incredible sport. 2006 saw the start of our march to Iditarod, with Hank and an 8 dog team running the 50 mile race in Bancroft, Ontario.  Since then they have completed the Maramora, Ontario 120 mile race and travelled to Maine for the Can-am 60 & 250, Michigan several times for the Seney 300 and UP 200, and Minnesota for the Beargrease Marathon a 400 mile challenge.  This past winter saw Hank complete both required qualifing races to enter the Iditarod in Alaska!

2010 IDITAROD!!!!

"Iditarod - You can not compare it to any other competitive event in the world! A race over 1150 miles of the roughest, most beautiful terrain Mother Nature has to offer through jagged mountain ranges, frozen rivers, dense forests, desolate tundra and miles of windswept coast. A race extraordinaire, a race only possible in Alaska. From Anchorage, in south central Alaska, to Nome on the western Bering Sea coast, each team of 16 dogs and their musher cover over 1150 miles in 10 to 17 days. It has been called the "Last Great Race on Earth" and it has won worldwide acclaim and interest.

It is not just a dog sled race, it is a race in which unique men and woman compete; men and women each with their own story, each with their own reasons for going the distance. The Spirit of Alaska! The race pits man and animal against nature, against wild Alaska at her best and as each mile is covered, a tribute to Alaska's past is issued. The Iditarod is a tie to "a commemoration of" that colorful past. The Iditarod Trail, had its beginnings as a mail and supply route. Mail & supplies went in. Gold came out. All via dog sled. Heroes were made, legends were born. In 1925, part of the Iditarod Trail became a life saving highway for epidemic-stricken Nome. Diphtheria threatened and serum had to be brought in; again by intrepid dog mushers and their faithful hard-driving dogs.

Each musher that completes Iditarod, whether in the top ten, or winner of the Red Lantern (last place) has accomplished a feat few dare to attempt. Each has gone the distance and established a place for their team in the annals of Iditarod lore."

While the race didn't end the way we had planned Hank says of the 700 miles he travelled "it was the most amazing experience of my life" For 2011 he is looking to further that experience and take on the other North American 1000 mile race called the Yukon Quest, which runs between Whitehorse and Fairbanks. Said to be a tougher and longer race with 1/2 as many checkpoints Hank is anxiousely awaiting the arrival of fall to start running dogs and preparing for their next adventure. To top off the year he will also be running his favourite race the Seney 400 again, and than heading to Churchill, Manitoba home of the polar bears at his friends Ed Obrechts urging to run the Hudson Bay Quest with him. It is shaping up already to be a very exciting winter!

Our 2012 Race Season:

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