JACKSON, Wyo. — Paw-powered and ready to race, mushers arrive in Jackson tomorrow for the ceremonial start of the Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race.
Anny Malo, from Quebec, Canada, is competing for an eighth year. She says she loves the format of the event.
“It makes us travel all around Wyoming and we have the chance to meet nice people
and make new friends,” she told Buckrail via email. “The group of mushers is also amazing. It’s like a family gathering around the same passion. I’m excited to see my dogs on the Wyoming trails and have fun with them.”
Malo won the Stage Stop as a rookie in 2019, then won it again six more times. Her son
Tristan Rivest, also from Quebec, is also competing this year, with Malo’s second team.
“It’s his first time competing and he can’t wait to live that incredible adventure with the
family,” Malo said.
The sled dog race kicks off with a ceremonial start in Jackson, followed by daily
competitive stages in Pinedale, Big Piney/Marbleton, Kemmerer, and Lander. The final
leg is on February 7. Each day of the sled dog race features a different course, with
cumulative time determining the overall winner of the $200,000 purse, one of the largest in the lower 48, according to the event’s press release.
According to race director Dan Carter, the overall race structure is similar to years past,
but this year’s route will utilize some other trail systems including in the Wyoming
Range.
“It’s still in the area and people can enjoy up to four of the staging areas in the Pinedale
training area, so that’s a change,” Carter told Buckrail over the phone.
Is Carter concerned about this year’s lack of snow for the upcoming event? Not really.
“You know, for sled dog racing, it’s not like skiing, necessarily, where more is better when it comes to snow conditions,” he said. “What really makes for a great trail is to have a solid base of snow with maybe just a light dusting over the top to provide a little bit of cushion.”
Carter said those are the current conditions, even though the weather patterns this year
have been “really odd.”
“The moisture content in the snow pack and elevation is average, and though the
valleys have no snow, the trails, for the most part, are in great shape,” he said.
The race director said the snow conditions align with what the 20 musher teams have
been training for.
“Their preference is to go faster; an average pace for a top team is around 15, 16 miles
per hour over the 25 to 30-mile course, so what the competitors hope for is that they can train for those speeds and then when they get here to Wyoming, the trail conditions
allow them to run at those speeds,” Carter explained.
Festivities will start Friday at 5 p.m. on the Jackson Town Square, with programming at 6 p.m. The first team is scheduled to leave the starting chute at 6:30. Sled dog fans can watch a live feed from the Pedigree Stage Stop Race’s Facebook page with race commentary and video race results each day.
This year’s musher roster includes Bruce Magnusson, Tim Thiessen, Austin Forney, Sarah Tarlton, Chris Adkins, Alix Crittenden (of Bondurant), Anny Malo, Tristen Rivest, Dennis LaBoda, Michael Tetzner, Michael Bestgen, Liam Conner, JR Anderson, Stephane Roy, Sean Hildreth, Leonie Tetzner, Remy Coste and Mitchell Jacobson. Full race profiles are visible online along with event schedules.
The Town of Jackson Public Works Department will be building a track for the race Thursday night. The following streets will be affected: Broadway, Cache, Willow and Snow King Ave.
