Sled dog races canceled

This year’s weird winter weather has claimed one more victim as the 76th running of the World Championship Sled Dog Race has been canceled.

“There’s no snow, and the lakes are not safe,” observed Jim Lyman, president of the Lakes Region Sled Dog Club which hosts and sponsors the annual event.

This is the second time in as many years that the World Championship has been canceled because of a lack of snow, but last year the club was able to stage a Lakes Region Championship when a late snowfall allowed them to prepare and utilize a smaller than normal course. “We really need a full week to build the course for the World Championships,” Lyman explained. “When you look at the long-term weather forecast, there’s no snow accumulation predicted so we really had no choice but to cancel.”

Lyman promises that the championships will be back next year, bigger and better than ever, with one caveat. “We have to have snow,” he laughed. “Or else put wheels on the sleds.”

Although the weather has been unusually warm this year, Lyman said this isn’t the first time the races have had to be canceled. “There were a couple of years during the 1980s when we didn’t have enough snow, so this isn’t a first,” he recalled.

Having spent years building the races around the second week in February, Lyman indicated that the club intends to maintain that schedule for next year’s event. “We have to schedule around other races around the country,” he said. “And almost always the weather cooperates.”