Dogsledding in western Greenland

“A person looking to hunt for subsistence cannot live without a sled and dogs, which is a very common means of transportation during the winter. The sled accessories should therefore be good and durable so that everything which is wearing down is constantly renewed”. Not much has changed since a Greenlandic hunter told his listener this 40 years ago. Tuning and updating your sled gear is still as important a feature of today’s dogsledding as it was in the 20th century and as it most likely also was in the 12th century, when the first dogsleds arrived in Greenland. The keyword here is: accessorize! Since without the proper gear you have no sled. Furthermore, without good dogs you have no team to pull you, your stuff, and your passengers anywhere. And then you are just stuck with a very long, clumsy object mounted on runners, which can be incredibly tough to push uphill. So that’s the sled. Ready to go. But this whole dogsled adventure thing will go nowhere without the right team up front, and so the old hunter, who was introduced at the beginning of this article, tells us: “Taking care of your dogs is more important than your sled”.Point taken. Now get to it!  Tending to your team of dogs is a full-year cycle of activities which have one common denominator: food and gear fixing. Your dogs will eat anything within the range of the individual chain, but try and feed them seal, fresh fish, food pellets, and stuff like that. And don’t forget water in the summertime, since there is no snow around, and a sled dog is not super comfortable in the sun with those good layers of skin and fur. Once you’re done feeding the dogs, their harnesses need repairs, the sled probably should get that annual overhaul, and the chains, collars, and maybe even the shed for food and gear needs attention. Then there is training. Not only will the dogs work up their own internal hierarchy in the group, but you need some kind of good leadership program to trim the most suitable team leaders to different tasks. Some dogs are natural born alpha-males, some are the female equivalents, while certain dogs lead the way on the trail, and others lead by incredible levels of mayhem and insanity. You have to learn to control, groom, and develop your team, because older dogs die and younger ones grow up to take their places year after year. Eventually even the snow is going to fall, global warming or not, and the animals are ready for lift-off. The launch is never quiet, and the first (many) trips are like letting a kindergarten loose on a candy store. But at some point down the trail the tide will change, and as the season progresses the trips become longer, the dogs become stronger, and life just becomes plain old beautiful as the soft sound of creaking runners blends with the roughness of the white Arctic. There is a strength in this bond. And you need to forever strengthen it. Once you ride a dogsled you’ll see why this smooth sailing was the preferred Inuit means of land based transportation for centuries. On the dog sled you wind down and get under the skin of everyday life in the Arctic. The creaking of runners over frosty snow, the dogs panting, and the kind but firm communication between driver and dogs, it is all essential to dogsledding. But there is walking and maybe even running, too. Every so often the driver has to jump off the sled to help guide the dogs down a trail or up a hill, and on especially steep slopes, a gentle push from behind the sled will help the load-sharing and keep down the amount of evil glares coming from the pack as they fight their way uphill. Passengers often enjoy the luxury of not having to get on and off the sled while driving, but then there is all the more time to drink a cup of hot something, eat a snack, and watch dusk move to polar night, bringing the northern lights along for the ride. Make sure, however, that as a passenger you are properly dressed. The drivers will help you get into the nicest, warmest clothes you will ever wear, and in a pair of pants and a jacket made from local materials, you’re as snug as anything. Read up on dogsledding adventures in books by the polar explorers, and don’t miss Knud Rasmussen’s travel diaries for some serious Arctic dogsled explorer literature. Other resources like ilovedogsledding.com about sledding in this particular region of Greenland is also a good point of departure for learning more. Books and other resources are handy for understanding the context of dogsledding in a wider historical perspective, but it is through practicing it that you will learn, and doing that with a pro rider is without a doubt the thing to do. So don’t forget to ask your driver questions, have them tell you stories about hunting and long adventurous trips, foul weather, ice cold nights, and all the wonders of being outdoors on a dogsled. The true adventure is to get both the action and the knowledge all in one content package.  Have fun in the back country!