Glory Hounds

Give your dogs all the credit - I'll be posting monthly Pooper Scoops again this season, including photos and video clips. Send pix and poop to yukonwriter@lycos.com . I'll be somewhere around the pyramids.

After the race, I'll be signing From Ice to Ashes for the winners of the Hot Hounds finale, among others. I remember Janet Keller and Darryl Sheepway each won a copy, but I forget who the others were. Cash in your voucher on the 22nd.

See you at the SHINY NEW GATE.
Jessica Simon

posted by yukonwriter

SEASON 4 - RACE DAY ONE - ALPINE VET RACE DAY

The snow is here, it's being packed, and whilst there has been some terraforming at the 12 mile turnaround (no drop-kick turn anymore - oh I can sense the disappointment), the season is ready to roll...or sled...or ski.

ALPINE VET have kindly put up the cash prizes for the top 5 positions in the 12 mile CHT, the 5km 1 pet dog, and the 5 km kid's race; other merchandise prizes have been donated by Aurora Booties, Yukon Brewing, First Mate Dog Food, and Icy Waters Ltd. Please note although every competitor will receive a block of dog food from Icy Waters Ltd, the organisers cannot guarantee a prize for every place - if that's the case the available prizes will be randomly allocated to finishing positions before the bib draw. We do have some environmentally friendly Red Lanterns for the 12 mile this year though!

Still, at $10 entry fee (which goes back to those top 5 places), held at $10 these past 3 seasons, and a $5 block of dog food, it's still just $5 for a race and a chance to win some superb merchandise or cash - if you've been training (which lardy Snowpigs havn't, having put on 9lb lying on a beach for two weeks in late Oct.)

So, get out there and get training, especially those Snow(Beer)pigs and meet at the socially acceptable time of 10.00 am, Sunday 22nd November at Icy Waters Ltd - park as usual at the Gazebo at the MacIntyre Marsh lookout and walk down. Please be on time, bring stuff for a potluck whilst we wait for the results, and, oh yes, don't forget the skis, sleds etc and 2-4 dogs for sleds, and 2-3 dogs for skijorers in the 12 mile CHT - don't worry, you sledder monkeys get more dogs later in the season; one pet dog race - erm, bring one pet dog; and the kids 2-4 dogs for sleds and 2-3 for skijorers.

See you there, 10.00am (note that please, Kyla, Janet, you know who you are : ) ) Icy Waters Ltd, Sunday Nov 22nd

FIRST MATE does it again!!

Today the CHT Org received confirmation that First Mate will again Sponsor the FIRST MATE EXTREME FREIGHT PULL in December. 36 bags of First Mate Extreme are up for grabs for the best pullers across the light, medium, and heavy weight categories.

In the last two years, for the December and Summer Freightpulls, and CHT League, First Mate have donated almost 4 tonnes of dog food!

It's good stuff - as Asha the Rottie will tell you! and available year round at Duffy's Pets and Tanzilla Harness Supply.

So, let's get training. Sunday Dec 13th is the date - whilst those mushers are climbing 2000+ feet in their "Reach for the Sky and Take the Beer" Poker Run (purse $1200), the freightpullers and their incredibly hard working monkeys (as if they do any of the work!) will be competing for First Mate's most excellent EXTREME Dog Food!

City comes through! Parks and Rec to emplace gates on Copper Haul Trail!!

Most excellent news today - at a meeting at the MacIntyre Marsh Gazebo (the historic Yukon Brewing Copper Haul Twister start line) Doug Hnatiuk of City Parks and Rec outlined the City's plans to emplace a winter gate across the Copper Haul Trail to be locked Nov 1st - March 31st. The CHT Org will have access to a key. Doug expects the gate to go in before Nov 1st. Other access points at the base of the Mt Mac Road and at Mt Sima are to be blocked with significantly sized pieces of jagged rock.

Very great thanks are due to Doug Hnatiuk for working towards this and leading it to completion, and also to City Planning (Pat Ross), Klondike Snowmachine Association (Harris Cox), DPSAY (Gene Ennis), CHT Org (Jon Lucas) and most importantly all of you who emailed Doug to show your support for such a project - well done! See, your voices can be heard!

Of course, bad people may try to wreck the gates, but then Cabela's does a very cheap line in motion activated sit and wait cameras, well worth the investment to identify the vandals :) - Gotcha!

First Race, Nov 22nd, Alpine Vet Race Day - on a trail that will have a much reduced chance of being rutted like the surface of the moon. Thank you Doug and the City of Whitehorse!

DPSAY Road Runner 100, Sponsorflash!!

ICY WATERS LTD confirms as first major sponsor with $1000 donated towards the purse.

For all Road Runner 100 (beep beep!) details keep following the DPSAY site (look to the right of this and just click the link).

Those Yukon Brewing Growler Race Results in full

A soft surprise awaited the racers on Sept 20th - fully a month earlier than last year's race, it hadn't occured to anyone we spoke to that the lovely frosted hard packed sand of Oct 2008, would be soft, squishy, treacle for the race of Sept 2009! there was a lot of uphill...and a lot of humans joined their dogs on foot by charging...running...walking..staggering uphill.

1 mile CANICROSS

1 - Alexandra Rochet - 8.40

2 - Pascale Hennifer - 10.36

1 mile 1 PET DOG (all bikejour)

1 - ASHA - Jon Lucas - 5.21

2 - PIPPA - --------------- 7.22

3 - Big Siberian Dog - Janet Keller - 7.36

1 mile 1 SLED DOG (all bikejour)

1 - Darryl Sheepway - Grizzly - 4.22

2 - Gaetan Pierrard - Ibex - 4.37

3 - Cynthia Corriveau - Nahanni - 4.42

4 - Jesse -K2 - 5.36

5 - Amil Dupuis-Rossi - Polar - 5.47

6 - Jon Lucas - Bogart - 6.20

7 - Eilidh Lucas - Bluto - 6.28

8 - Vern Selman - another big Siberian - 8.50

9 - Janet Keller with yet another large Siberian - DNF

2 mile 2 SLED DOG (all bikejour)

1 - Jon Lucas - Assman + Tutshi - 8.32

2 - Darryl Sheepway - Grizzly + Coho - 8.40

3 - Cynthia Corriveau - Nahanni - 9.49

4 - Amil D-R - Polar + Fry - 10.06

5 - Janet Keller - 2 large furry Siberians - 12.43

DNF - Jesse; Vern.

And that's it for Hot Hounds Dryland Season 3! Thanks to all the hosts, sponsors, volunteers - RM Gene Ennis for 5/5; organiser Jon Lucas, and of course all you racers who come out and make it fun - Remember if you want to win your money back come and race in the Dec 13th Poker Run: Reach for the Sky and Take the Beer: 22 miles from Icy Waters Ltd up and over Mt Mac and back in under 4 hours, 4-12 dogs, top 3 hands win. Prizes from Air North, Yukon Brewing, and Hot Hounds.

Season 4 of the Yukon Brewing Copper Haul Twister League kicks off (snow permitting) on Sunday November 22nd with the Alpine Vet Race Day, Sleds 2-4 dogs, skis 2-3 dogs. Let's get the snow dances going!

Merry Training and thanks for a great summer

Yukon Brewing Grr Grr Grrrowler Dryland Race

Slightly lower key, with about 21 entrants across 4 classes the races were nonetheless thoroughly enjoyable and great fun with a warm and friendly potluck afterwards. These were perhaps the hardest trails of the Dryland circuit with a lot of uphill through soft sand...

Official Results and photos delayed until Friday when our blog editor returns from Vancouver, however:

Canicross - 1st Alexandra Rochet

1 mile 1 Pet dog - 1st Asha + Jon Lucas

1 mile 1 sled dog - 1st Grizzly + Darryl Sheepway

2 mile 2 sled dog - 1st Assman + Tutshi, Jon Lucas

Tune in on Friday pm for all the rest of the info, & expect a post from host and Yukon novelist Jessica Simon!