Team Ineka at the Sled Dog Stampede

On Sunday, Team Ineka’s Robert and Tyler Forto took part in the sled dog stampede at the Willow Winter Carnival in Alaska.

We had so much fun! (Well, after about 12 guys, a couple shovels helped get our dog truck un-stuck)

The Stampede goes a little something like this:

A team of two mushers and up to an eight dog team compete in a race to see who can collect the most cash. Each team is required to have a sleeping bag, a parka, a cooker, a heat source to melt snow, and a pair of boots. Whichever team can get out of their sleeping bags, melt the snow, put on your boots and parka, hook up the team and hit the trails will be the first to claim the cash!

The cowbell rang and we jumped into action.  We jumped out of our sleeping bags. We threw on our boots and I splashed some HEET in the cooker to melt some snow while Tyler started harnessing up our eight dogs.

By the time we were hooked up the team beside us was already on the trail! We had to kick it into high gear.

We got the dogs hooked up, threw on our required parkas and Tyler jumped into the basket and away we went.

We had a five mile loop to reach the cash.

About mid-way Tyler had to jump out of the sled to get the dogs to turn a quick right on the middle of the lake. He flew through the air and made a spectacular landing that got the crowd cheering!

We arrived at the cash. Cash and gift cards were hooked to clothes pins along the trail and we could collect as much as we could grab as long as we didn’t get off the sled.

We raced back to the truck to claim the “silver” for a solid second place with the team beside us claiming gold.

We grabbed about 60 bucks in cash and a gift certificate for 25 dollars from All Seasons Clothing in Wasilly.

We had an awesome time!

What a way to spend an afternoon. We will be back next year for sure.

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