South River is ready to host another weekend of sled dog racing.
Lisa De Gennaro, the president of the Sleddog Sports Association of southern Ontario, says two days of racing are scheduled for Jan. 18 and 19.
The dogs and mushers will race over a four-mile (6.4 km) trail or a 2.5-mile (4 km) trail.
The shorter trail has fewer categories and includes people competing in two-dog sled and one and two-dog junior sledding.
The four-mile trail features one and two-dog skijoring as well as four and six-dog racing.
This is the fourth year for sled dog racing in South River and it's again taking place on a multi-use trail next to Almaguin Highlands Secondary School.
See: World Cup qualifying dog sled race in South River a tremendous success
De Gennaro says the four-mile trail has been extended by about half a mile thanks to the work of local residents Stephen Todoroff, Jessica Switzer, and Matt Paquette, who volunteered their time this past summer to expand the trail length.
She adds the work by these three volunteers has made the trail even safer “and that benefits everyone plus the dogs.”
De Gennaro says the goal is to increase the trail length still further in the future so that one day South River can host eight-dog sled racing.
“But for now we’re keeping it to six-dog sled racing,” De Gennaro said.
“Until we get to the point that we see the six-dog teams rocketing through the trail and get glowing feedback from the racers, we’re not going to put anyone at risk.”
De Gennaro says the problem with eight-dog teams is the line of dogs is longer, there’s more power with eight dogs pulling the musher and this has the potential for the lead dogs to whip the musher and the dogs at the back around.
Last year was the first time the South River race was promoted as an International Federation of Sleddog Sports (IFSS) event meaning competitors compete to accumulate points to qualify for the World Cup race.
The local event this month will again be an IFSS World Cup qualifier and De Gennaro says the two-dog sled and four-dog sled divisions are the two eligible categories where racers gather points for the World Cup.
De Gennaro notes this year’s World Cup is actually going to be a dryland event and it takes place in Minocqua Winter Park, Wisconsin from Oct. 21 to 26.
Because South River is an IFSS World Cup qualifier, De Gennaro expects some high-calibre race teams to show up as they continue to push for points so they can represent Team Canada and Team U.S.A. in Wisconsin.
“We’re expecting teams from Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New York as well as quite a few teams from across Ontario,” De Gennaro said.
She says teams from Timmins, Kitchener, Peterborough, and even Toronto are expected to race in South River.
And although they may not be trying to qualify for the World Cup, some local mushers are expected to register for the weekend of sled dog racing. So far only 20 people have registered for the South River Sled Dog event, but the low number doesn’t concern De Gennaro.
“Mushers are notorious for doing everything at the last minute because of the nature of the winters we’ve been having,” she said.
“A lot of people won’t register until the eleventh hour when they know the trail conditions are good.”
Despite the recent warm spell the region experienced, looking ahead to race weekend, the long-range forecast is calling for temperatures to remain below zero with scattered snow.
This means there’s much less of a risk that the trails will be slippery.
De Gennaro says slippery and slick trails make it tougher on the dogs and harder for mushers to control their sleds.
“The ideal conditions are a firm trail and you want at least a one-foot base of nicely packed snow,” she said.
The South River race has been attracting larger crowds each year despite only having started in 2022.
De Gennaro is expecting even more spectators this month as awareness of the annual event continues to grow and the racing remains free to watch. Additionally, De Gennaro says more people are taking up the sport of sled dog racing and many are from larger cities.
Participants have until Jan. 15 to register and the website details the registration process.
The high school will have various food items for sale and some area motels and resorts have mushers’ specials during their stay in South River.
De Gennaro wants to correct a misconception. Some members of the public have said mushers take part in sled dog racing for glory.
She says this is simply not true.
De Gennaro says apart from the mushers who are qualifying for the World Cup and are very competitive, many sled dog participants “just want to have fun and share their love for the sport.”
Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with Almaguin News. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
