It was dog gone cold for the 2014 Gichigami Express Sled Dog Race! Fourteen dog sled teams started the race on Saturday, January 4 and 10 teams finished on Monday, January 6 in subzero temperatures. The race winner, Buddy Streeper with Streeper Kennel of Fort Nelson, British Columbia, is pictured here coming across Hungry Jack Lake in the first leg of the race. See more of the Gichigami Express action and a list of finishers on page A3.
The 2014 Gichigami Express Sled Dog Race will likely go in the record books as one of the coldest sled dog races in Minnesota’s history. Governor Mark Dayton ordered schools closed because of the extreme cold temperatures on Monday, January 6, the final day of the race. But the 10 dog sled teams that completed the race trekked on in the subzero temperatures, determined to fulfill the mission of the Gichigami Express to follow the trails of our past. Making a sweep of the 2014 race was the Streeper Kennel of Fort Nelson, British Columbia with mushers Buddy Streeper and John Stewart claiming first and second place.
The race started Saturday, January 4 at Grand Portage Lodge and Casino in reasonable winter temperatures of about 10 degrees. Fourteen teams took off in the first stage of the three-stage race which took the teams through some of Cook County’s most remote country to Hungry Jack Lake.
Using last year’s times as an estimate, mushers and dogs were expected in at Hungry Jack Lodge at about 1 p.m. Because of heavy snow, the race was slower with the first teams completing the 62-mile first leg at about 2:30 p.m. John Stewart of Aberdeen, Scotland, racing a team of dogs from the Streeper Kennel finished first in 5 hours 29 minutes, followed closely by his Streeper Kennel cohort, Buddy Streeper in 5 hours 32 minutes.
The Gichigami Express Sled Dog Race on January 4 – 6, 2014 may go in the record books as one of the coldest sled dog races held in Minnesota. Mushers and dogs not only survived the cold temperatures, many of them seemed to enjoy it. The winner of the inaugural Gichigami Express last year, Ross Fraboni, is pictured here coming in to the finish of the first stage of the three-day race at Hungry Jack Resort on Saturday.
The second stage of the race took off from Poplar Lake by Trail Center Resort at 9 a.m. on Sunday, January 5 with just 11 mushers. Local musher, Odin Jorgenson of Jorgenson Kennels in Colvill, as well as Erin Redington of Knik, Alaska and Amanda Vogel of Snomad Racing of Ray, Minnesota, scratched at the end of the first day.
The temperature was a brutal -25 degrees as the teams left Poplar Lake for Devil Track Lake, another 60 miles away. Again the trail time was longer than the inaugural 2013 race, with teams taking over five hours. Stewart of Streeper Kennels again finished first with a time of 5 hours 28 minutes, with Buddy Streeper’s team right on his heels with a time of 5 hours 30 minutes.
After running 62 miles, these frozen pups were still pulling at the harness to go some more.
Local musher Frank Moe, of Moetown Kennels of Grand Marais, scratched from the race that evening. Moe reassured friends and fans on his Facebook page that he and his dog team were fine, noting that he and his wife/handler Sherrie had six dogs warming up by the woodstove in their house.
The remaining mushers and dogs of the Gichigami Express Sled Dog Race took off from The Landing at Devil Track at 9 a.m. on the bitterly cold Monday, January 6 in the last leg, back to the Grand Portage Lodge. Monday saw the teams taking off in -31 degree temperatures with wind chill factor of 63 degrees.
At the end of the final stage, Buddy Streeper overtook Stewart, coming in to the finish in 4 hours 38 minutes, just ahead of Stewart’s 4 hours 47 minutes.
The mushers from the Streeper Kennel were not first across the finish line in the final stage. Coming in first to Grand Portage was Ryan Anderson of Ander Tier Kennels of Ray, Minnesota in 4 hours 32 minutes. Second was Streeper and third on Monday was last year’s Gichgami Express winner Ross Fraboni of 10 Squared Racing of Two Harbors in 4 hours 41 minutes. However, in the stage race format, total trail time is what counts and Streeper and Stewart had the best overall times of 15:41:59 and 15:45:10 respectively.
Their win was celebrated at the wrap-up event, a banquet at the Grand Portage Lodge and Casino on Monday night where the $25,000 race purse was distributed. After some drum songs by the Grand Portage Stonebridge Singers, Gichigami Express Race Director Beth Drost welcomed the mushers, sponsors, volunteers and racing fans, saying, “We’re so happy to have this race here in Grand Portage. It’s such a natural fit.
“The weather was perfect. We complain about it, but we need it. It’s cleansing,” she said.
“It’s wonderful that you come to Grand Portage to celebrate the great tradition of dog sledding. It’s all about the dogs—the way they work together as a team, running together; breathing together…It’s beautiful,” said Drost.
Jack Stone of Grand Marais, president of the Gichigami Express board and owner of Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply presented a special award to Matthew Schmidt of Grand Marais, whose dog sled kennel is yet to be named, for his perseverance. Many of the mushers had difficulty with vehicles in the bitter cold weather, but Schmidt had the worst luck. Stone thanked him for his dedication to the race.
Stone said thanks then to the many sponsors, such as the Grand Portage Tribal Council, the Grand Portage Lodge and Casino, Trail Center Resort and Camp Chow, Northern Wilds, the Cook County Visitors Bureau, Nace Hagemann Photography, the 1854 Conservation Authority, Outdoor Resources, and Nutrisystems.
Stone thanked the many volunteers that made the race possible, such as trail boss Clay Rumph of the 1854 Authority and the many start and finish helpers, trail crossing workers and amateur radio operators. “We had a really great group of volunteers this year,” said Stone.
Checks were presented and mushers had a moment to share their thoughts on the race. All of them thanked the race organizers and many thanked the community for help getting trucks going.
First place finisher Streeper brought a laugh when he said he didn’t think he was going to beat John Stewart—until he did.
Streeper thanked all the volunteers as well as the team of veterinarians. “The ability of the dogs to do what they do is because of you,” said Streeper. “Thanks to Jack and Beth and all of you. The folks getting us to the start were great. I’ve been to a lot of races all over the United States and Europe. This is the first time I’ve had a GPS tracker. That was nice and it helped spread the word of our sport.”
Ryan Redington of Callin’ Trail Kennel noted despite the weather and the trouble with vehicles, it was a great race. “I can’t wait to come back next year,” he said.
The evening ended with another song by the Stonebridge Singers— appropriately a traveling song— sending the mushers and dogs off for some much-needed rest.
Leave a Reply