Dogs and sledges landscape

Dog Sledging

There is nothing more exciting than to have a sled packed for a few days and nights travel and a team of dogs hitched up at the start of the trail. You all take off with boundless enthusiasm, hopefully with the confidence that you can handle what the trip has in store. Sled dogs love running. The team works together under your instruction - you have to be part of the team - the leader behind the lead dog. A balance of love and direction is required by the driver.

The Antarctic dogs first appeared at Mawson in 1954, and remained the principal form of land transport throughout the 1950s and 1960s. With occasional new blood, they continued to be used for sea-ice and plateau travel until their eventual removal in 1993. The dogs were kept on a chain line near the station. Once a dog had reached the end of its working life (about seven years old) it was culled.

Sea and pack ice

The dogs were fed a substance called pemmican - a high protein mixture of meat and fat packaged in ricepaper. A similar foodstuff was also fed to early expeditioners, though thankfully modern expeditioners are much better catered for!

Sea and pack ice, challenges for the dog team.
In contrast Alaskan dogs are pampered to improve performance. They are housed in straw lined kennels, fed in bowls and watered once or twice a day. They are more highly strung, prima donnas compared to the Mawson chorus lines, particularly those used for racing. The Mawson dogs were only ever asked to perform at a fraction of their ability although they could continue at that level for long periods with minimal attention. To prepare for a longer trip you need to work with the team, both to improve their and your fitness - and also to establish a communication and understanding between driver and the dogs.

At Mawson, we'd take out five or seven dogs for a run each day, if the weather was suitable. Heading north we could visit Welch Island or for a shorter run circumnavigate Bechevaise and Entrance Island, which guard the mouth to the harbour. Eastward and westward lay other destinations and it was interesting to see how these places changed and how the sled and dogs handled the variety of surfaces on the sea-ice. There was always some event or story from a trip - how the dogs were interacting, a sled overturning on a snow bank, an icefall along the cliffs.

Camp site at Ledingham's Depot
Camp site at Ledingham's Depot

At Mawson in 1990 Pene, with her partner Paul, spent most of their spare time with the dogs - either running the teams or working on the equipment required. She did many trips away from Mawson culminating in a three week trip west to an Emporer penguin rookery at Kloa Point. Although they did not reach their destination, due to rafted ice, the trip was a highlight of the year and is described in FrostBytes.

In Alaska a number of trails lead from the dog yards at Hidden Hill. The short trails are ideal for training the teams. Gina borrowed 6 dogs to set up a small team in 1991, just in time for Pene's visit, and for some trips away the following spring. A key new skill of dealing with trees and narrow trails was required after the wide open spaces of Antarctica.

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