End of winter - beginning of spring?

A cross country ski race took place in our area about a week ago and solely for this event a 40km skiing track had been created. We expected this track to be crowded with people on a sunny Saturday afternoon but encountered only two skiers - what a luxury to have the trail to ourselves! After four months of constant cold weather the high temperatures of the weekend came as a surprise - is spring* in the air?!

(And, just to clarify things...spring* in the north of Sweden and Lapland does not mean daffodils and leaves on trees. Up here spring is a continuation of winter but with brighter days and milder temperatures. So, when we long for spring, we're not hoping for our snow to melt - just for the bitter cold to end.  ;-))

 

Gem, Titan and Tuisku ran 35km (21.7mi) yesterday which means that Titan is halfway 

into completing the distance requirements for his WTD-title. 

The trail was set in a varied terrain, providing both challenging uphills and flat expanses. 

For those of you who are not familiar with the Nordic style of sledding - this is a so called pulka sled,

I am skijoring behind, or next to, the sled, which is attached to my waistbelt through a bungee line.

Why skijor and not sled? Because it allows you to be active and gain more exercise!

The new sled worked really well and was easy to maneuver in downhills.

Gem and Titan in the warm light of spring.

Keeping their tug lines tight - good dogs!

A sign of trail experience - Tuisku knows how to cool down during breaks and preserve his energy.  

  

Fingers crossed for two more months of snow and sunshine!

Teenage Titan

Titan is a teenager and like all teenagers he needs a lot of interaction and activity, both physical and mental, to be happy and content. To "be part of things", whether it is working or playing, riding the car or just hanging out indoors, is very important to Titan. He's happy as long as he can stay close to his pack - and especially stay close to mummy.

Today we left the other dogs at home and went skijoring, just the two of us. Titan is a strong dog with lots of energy and drive. He clearly takes working in harness seriously and has a great pulling technique. With time he'll also learn to conserve energy better and run at a more moderate, malamute speed.      

 Titan doesn't know all commands yet but luckily the most important command, 

Whoa! (stop), seems to ring a bell.

   It's difficult to imagine that just little over a year ago - Titan was just a baby pup!



More trail action

It's Saturday and another day of skijoring! With the return of the sun the world seems brand new and filled with energy. Tuisku knows it's sledding season and starts off the morning choir a bit earlier than usual. He is eager to hit the trail and wants to make sure nobody oversleeps.

Gem and Tuisku waiting impatiently for us to get ready... 

...and off they go!

Thunder sets off with a big leap, eager to catch up with the rest!

 There's a lot of power in a Malamute...

...luckily they know how to relax too.

 Tuisku, Gem and Thunder on our way home in the afternoon. It's such a good feeling to start off the weekend with some fresh air on the trail.



The Big Bears

It's been a cold week with temperatures below -30C (-22F). Today was a little warmer so Thunder, Leia and I went on a skijoring excursion from home to the ocean bay - a 2 hour run in a changing scenery.

Nordiclight's Thunder, WTD, WPD, with a frosted beard...  

Leia and Thunder, who will be 6 and 7 years old this year, make a great working team. I call them my "big bears". :-) 

 Check out the tail on Leia - she often carries it straight up when working. She's a powerful girl!

Heading out on the ice of the bay, the wind was pretty cold out here.

 

And back home through the snowclad forest. A nice but chilly run!

Thunder freshened up afterwards with a snow-bath, apparently he decided -20C wasn't cold enough...

My birthday sled

I got myself a new sled for my birthday or, maybe I should say, I bought an old sled with a brand new sled bag, as this Polaris nordic style pulka sled, made by Gösta Karlberg of Kallasgården in Dalarna, is somewhere between 20-30 years old. Still in excellent condition though! Gösta has been building sleds and mushing dogs for more than 40 years and his Polaris skijoring pulks are very popular among competitive skijorers in Sweden.

We're not into racing with our Malamutes but this lightweight pulk will be perfect for mountain excursions as the large and functional sled bag packs everything you need for a week-long excursion.

Tuisku in the distance, checking out the trail ahead...

I am looking forward to trying out this sled on a longer trip soon!

 

We had a nice and interesting visit at Kallasgården, where we also got to meet Gösta's beautiful Greenland Dogs. Gösta is a great source of information when it comes to trails, dogs and equipment. I'm sure we'll be visiting again to buy a second sled in the future.

Lunchbreak skijoring

Another day of fantastic weather and simply impossible to stay inside. Today I spent some quality time with Tuisku during my lunchbreak. Fingers crossed the weather will stay this beautiful all week, it's Leia and Thunder's turn to go skijoring tomorrow.

Harnessed up and ready to go.

Pure bliss!

Time for some contemplation in the afternoon sun before heading home.

Does it get any cuter?

Run to the sun!

Today I took Gem and Titan skijoring during my lunch break. There are many winding trails in the forests surrounding our home, some long and some short. I picked a trail that headed in the direction of the sun - after a long winter I'm definitely in need of some sunshine!

It's fun to explore new trails, every day we see something new.

New year, new adventures

It's our first winter in our new home in Sweden. The fall was a busy time, we spent nearly every evening and weekend building pens, dog houses and creating a big playarea for the dogs. Now, when all the work is finally done, we have time to enjoy the best of winter - February, March and April!

Our village is situated only a couple of miles from the coast which means we enjoy a fairly mild climate and get plenty of snow. With a dump of fresh snow nearly every day this winter the trails are smooth, soft and not too fast - ideal conditions for skijoring with a team of eager Malamutes!

You can see our two locations on the map; Nedre Bäck in the north of Sweden, and the village of Hetta in Finnish Lapland in the north of Finland. In his blog you can follow our Alaskan Malamutes and their activities. You are also welcome to visit our website: http://www.laplandmalamutes.com/

Happy Trails!
/ Marit Kangas & Fredrik Öström

Titan in the playarea with the new pens and dog houses in the background. We built the dog houses in the same style as our dog houses in Lapland - the dogs like them and the design is functional so we decided to stick to something we know.