It was another week of dealing with life's challenges here at Miortuk.
First Mother Nature blessed us with extremely cold temperatures. With the day time highs in the mid -20's and the lows in the -30's with wind chills in the -40's. These temperatures caused vehicle starting problems which we unable to correct until Thursday when we finally got the truck started.
Due to the problem with the truck & the frigid temperatures we were unable to run the dogs. With these extreme temperatures, you can run the risk of frost bite of the dogs lungs if they are run. 
  We also experienced snow machine issues with the electric starter blowing up. This was disappointing as it is a 2010 machine with very low mileage. I am still awaiting a response to my request for assistance from Bombardier, as I found out they had starter issues with that year's machines.
However, we did go the race last weekend at L'Epiphanie. The organization had prepared a supper trail with very fast conditions on a very technically challenging coarse.
 Saturday, we were lucky enough to draw the first start position & left to the cheering of large crowd of spectators lining the main street start. It was very exciting!
The dogs ran great on Saturday with some of the fastest speeds of the season. This speed & the hair pin turns made for a very exciting ride on the sled maneuvering through the tight turns. We had one momentary stop on the coarse when one of the lead dogs stopped to answer the call of nature. She had never did this before , so it caught me by surprise. Luckily we had no tangles and finished the run without further instances.
Sunday was a different story, with the trail being chewed up with over 100 teams passing over it before us. With these conditions & the lack of training runs , the teams speed was down. The section through the golf coarse, which was unique to the Open Teams was great & the team responded with a speedy run. The lack of training was also seen on the teams performance as the result having to stop the team over seven times due to tangles & issues again with natures callings. The dogs were telling me that I didn't do my job in preparing them. So all I could do is laugh at the silly situations that happened. 
RUNNING DOGS CAN BE A HUMBLING EXPERIENCE!! HA! HA!
I would like acknowledge the great assistance of my handlers Michele & Ben and the assistance from the Gonsolin Family for getting my team to the Starting Line.
Overall, we had a fun weekend & weather providing, prepare the team better for the next race.
Until next week.......

This has been a very strange Winter! 
Last weekend rain & then a deep freeze with temperatures hitting -35C. Everything was frozen up making the trails hard & icy. Finally, we received snow on Saturday & again on Sunday resulting in 12" of fresh snow. Sunday also had 50 km winds resulting in drifting snow & white outs. Saturday & early Sunday temperatures were around 0 degree Celsius. Now the temperature is falling again with the forecasts for the week with highs around -20's & lows in the -30's!
Due to the weather challenges, we were only to get out training on Saturday & Sunday. The dogs performed well in very tough conditions. They showed they can tough it out in very difficult conditions.
I would like to thank & acknowledge Jean-Charles Audette for the beautiful photos.
Until next week........ 

It was a week of making some changes here at Miortuk. 
First: We placed Frodo, Pippin, Merry & Sam in the kennel with the adults. They were remarkable with the change and didn't put up any fuss. They actually enjoyed their own space & played with each other.
Second: We placed Angel & her puppies Yaluk & Tepeu in the Puppies Pen & out of the basement of the Chalet. Here to the change was easily made.
All the puppies are enjoying their new surroundings.
The weather here this week was warm with freezing rain Friday afternoon,  drizzle on Saturday & rain on Sunday. we have lost about 12" of snow in the last couple of days.
However, we did get in a couple of 10 mile runs on Tuesday & Friday. All the dogs performed well, especially the ones that raced the previous weekend.
The photos above are of the puppies taken today.
Until next week.......

Last weekend kicked off the 2013 racing season with the race here inSaint Michel des Saints, Defi Du Lac Taureau. 
We had a great weekend of racing & trying new leaders to get experience with Head On Passing. We treated this race as a training race as we only had one 10 mile run with the sled before the race. I was very happy with the dogs performance & their strong effort. This was also the first time this season they worked as a 12 dog unit. The conditions were tough on the first day with slush, ice & punchy snow on the lake portion of the trail. Sunday was much better due to the weather & efforts of the trail makers. It was the first race for Michele & Ben, they both did a great job which made my job a lot easier. I would also like to acknowledge Valerie, Laurent, Loic & Anthony Gonsolin for their assistance getting us to the Starting Shoot & the return to our truck after the race. The photos above show our teams from introduction to the Open Class in Sprint Racing. If & when photos are available of the race last weekend, I will add them.
Until next week........