Yes, it was another fun filled week with lots of snow! 
Actually, we are now getting too much!
This last 7 days produced 120cm of snow with the last bast on Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
This last 30cm, left us captured as there was no room due to the high snow banks to plow open the road.
Lucky, there is plenty of food here for both the dogs and myself and the electricity was not affected.
On Friday my friend John Vanderzon (Le Bon Jack), arrived here and cleared the snow with his tractor equipped with a snowblower. 
The road and the chalet now has enough room to stay open by use of my plow truck.
With all the snow, we have had to dig out the entrances to the dog houses even though the dogs do a pretty good job of it themselves.
​All the straw was changed this week and the dogs have nice warm dry living quarters.
After a  great deal of work on the trails, the dogs got to run on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. 
The above video is of one of the puppy teams with Lilly running lead at only 7 months of age. 
She looks like she will be a Natural Leader!
There are also videos posted on the puppy Page of all the puppies running this week. This was only their fourth time in harness and are showing to be an incredible litter.
Wednesday afternoon, both Kelsey and Laura departed from Miortuk to continue their lifes journey. They were a great help here and they will be missed by the dogs and myself.
Thank you for your assistance here at Miortuk!
Last Saturday , a good mushing friend, Keith Bryar passed away after a long battle with cancer.
RIP My Friend in the future we will run the trails again!
​Until next week.......

Snow Squall WatchIssued at 04:38 Saturday 27 February 2016
SummaryBrief, intense snowfall is expected to develop. Under the snow squall, visibilities will be significantly reduced due to the heavy snow combined with blowing snow. A cold front will sweep through Northern and Central Quebec this evening giving a few snowsqualls as it passes. It will track over Quebec and Trois-Rivières around midnight. Behind the front, a significant drop of temperature will cause slippery conditions on the roads overnight. Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow. Snow squall watches are issued when conditions are favourable for the formation of bands of snow that could produce intense accumulating snow or near zero visibilities. Please continue to monitor alerts and forecasts issued by Environment Canada. To report severe weather, send an email to tempsviolent.quebec@ec.gc.ca or tweet reports to #meteoqc.
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Less detailsSpecial Weather StatementIssued at 04:53 Saturday 27 February 2016
SummaryBusy week on tap for the province of Quebec... A series of disturbances will track across Quebec beginning Sunday afternoon or early Monday. First, we expect great amounts of snow, especially north of the St Lawrence and in the east of the province, on Sunday evening and Monday. Near the St Lawrence Valley and south, a mix of precipitation is expected once more. Another disturbance will affect the province of Quebec on Wednesday. Once again, heavy snow could affect several regions of the province with mixed precipitation over the south and east. Total snowfall amounts for the spring break may be quite significant over several regions of Quebec. Please continue to monitor alerts and forecasts issued by Environment Canada. To report severe weather, send an email to tempsviolent.quebec@ec.gc.ca or tweet reports to #meteoqc.
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All season long, we have been experiencing a lack of snow.
In two days this week, we more than made up for it with so far a total accumulation of 90+cm this week.
Yes, the old adage is correct: Be careful what you ask for as you might just get it!
You would think with all this snow the training would be great!
However, that is not the case as we are having problems packing the trail with all this soft, light snow.
Even after several trips packing/grooming, the trails are very soft and punchy and that is without this additional 30cm.
We did however get the "A" Team out for three runs this week and the "B" Team two.
The punch trail is dangerous for the dogs who want to lope fast and keep loosing their footing in the snow. The runs, other than the one on the 16th (7.5 miles), have been slowed down to protect the dogs from injury.
It is unfortunate timing, as I wanted to do a couple of 10 mile runs to prepare the team for the race at St. Luc. If the race takes place the team will be underprepared for what I would like.
It is still snowing!
Out now to plow out the snow!
​Until next week.......

Déjà vu, this was the same weekend as the race at Nicolet last year in the freezing temperatures and again this year with temperatures in the -30's in the morning with wind chills in the -40's. It was so cold through the night with the strong winds, that outside thermometer's glass mercury tube shattered! 
Needless to say the dogs are enjoying their extra straw bedding in their insulated houses coming out only long enough to enjoy their warm morning soup and then later their warm beef dinner with extra fat!
This week, all the puppies got to run for their third time in harness.
They were all exceptional, running as if they were much older.
It is incredible to see their performance and focus for being only 27 months of age. 
It is a real joy to run them!
The adults also got to run three days this week with a great speed run one day,
two days in a row running and on Friday a 12 mile run.
Due to the lack of races, where they would normally be running 10 to 12 miles/day, it was important to get them longer runs in preparation for the two day 15 miles/day race at St. Luc.
We have been lucky here to live in an area the gets more snow than many other areas of Quebec. Our trails here are pristine.
If you are interested in seeing more videos of the puppies running this week, please visit the Puppy Page.
​Until next week.......

It was a very crazy week here with weather and other distractions.
Firstly, the weather was bizarre with a foot of new fallen snow on Wednesday morning, turning to freezing rain and then rain. This system lasted for about 20 hours. Luckily the rain only penetrated the top few inches of the snow enabling us the still preserve the training trail. However, even after several runs grooming the trail there were small ice chards left in the snow. 
The good news was that we were still able to run the dogs abet with booties to protect their feet.
Training the A Team on Tuesday, we had a rabbit run into the team, trying to run across the trail, not only once but twice.
Luckily for the rabbit, it survived and the dogs didn't have a big tangle.
If you watch the video you will see this encounter.
Thursday Judith & Julian left here to continue their cross Canada trip. They were a big help here. Both the dogs and I enjoyed their stay here.
Thank you for your helping out here.
On Friday Kelsey Hawryluk arrived to join the Miortuk Team and learn about the Mushing Lifestyle.
Welcome aboard Kelsey.
Even with the weather challenges, we were able to get in three days of training.
The dogs are holding up well with their enthusiasm considering the race cancellations.  We also learned this week the race at Nicolet was cancelled due an all day rain on Wednesday that wiped out the snow required for the race.
​Until next week......