Even if you can’t get out, don’t panic. You can survive for at least fifteen minutes, possibly over an hour, and hopefully there will be someone nearby to help rescue you.
Your rescuers will, of course, have to be very careful not to fall in themselves. If possible they should stay well away from the edge, passing you a long branch or a rope with a big loop to put under your arms (you will be pretty numb by now).
If all has gone well you will have only mild hypothermia, but will still need to be warmed up.
As they whisk you through some of the planet’s most inhospitable landscape, these magnificent dogs really do feel like a human’s best friend. Sled dogs have been bred over thousands of years for stamina and hard work in Arctic conditions. They have two layers of fur for insulation, and are at their happiest running for hours on end in the freezing cold pulling a heavy load. Most breeds can manage up to twice their own weight.
BREEDS OF SLED DOG
Although sometimes referred to just as huskies, there are in fact several different types of sled dog. They are among the oldest breeds of dog in the world.
The beautiful Samoyed originates from Siberia in the Russian Arctic, and is well insulated from the cold by its extremely thick fur.
The Siberian husky comes from a different part of Siberia, and has a much sleeker outer coat. It can have penetrating blue eyes.
The Alaskan Malamute is a particularly large and hardy sled dog, bred originally in Alaska.
Pure Canadian Inuit dogs are in danger of dying out, with sadly just a few hundred individuals left. This was the main breed used by the Serious Arctic team.
CONTROLLING SLED DOGS
A sled dog driver is known as a musher, and it’s important to adopt a very firm tone when giving the dogs commands. Sled dogs have not been bred as pets and can be quite a handful, but they will look up to a strong, dominant musher as the head of the pack.
SLED DOG COMMANDS
| Hike | Start moving or go faster |
| Jee | Go to the right |
| Haw | Go to the left |
| On by | Go straight on ignoring turns or distractions |
| Easy | Go slower |
| Whoa | Stop |
| Mush | Rarely used by mushers except in movies! |
A team of Canadian Inuit dogs prepare to spend the night chained out on the sea ice.
WHY DON’T sled dogs’ feet get frostbite?
Sled dogs are very well insulated with thickly padded paws and fur in between the toes. There are other adaptations as well, which are thought to keep lots of blood flowing through the feet and help stop the tissue freezing.
The booties often seen on huskies’ feet are not primarily to keep them warm, but to stop the dogs getting cuts when they are travelling over rough ice.
There are several ways dogs can be hitched up to the sled. Among the most common are the fan hitch, fanning out in front of the sled, or the tandem hitch, paired up in a line, which is better for narrow trails.
The dogs work together as a pack, and it’s essential to choose the right lead dog(s) to set the pace for the others and help find the best route through the snow.
Sled dogs need to be chained out in a line overnight so they don’t run off. The trick when out on expedition is securing the line by putting large ice screws firmly into the ice.
The sled dogs will be happy to sleep outside in the Arctic chill, even if there is a blizzard raging. They will often burrow down into the snow for insulation. If available, raw seal meat is one of their favourite foods.
There is little more exhilarating than running a team of sled dogs in the most spectacular terrain. Unfortunately, as snowmobiles take over for most Arctic transport, working sled dogs are becoming rarer. Most of the faster breeds are now used mainly for sled dog racing.
A sled dog never forgets
Crossing a frozen lake during the Serious Arctic expedition, the sled dogs began to get very jittery and eventually refused to continue. Some even leapt onto the sled. According to their local musher, the dogs were agitated because a previous attempt to cross the same lake had led to a soaking when the ice gave way.
Carting bulky food and gallons of water on expedition is always a non-starter, and in the Arctic it’s particularly pointless as everything would quickly be frozen solid. So apart from a few treats, freeze-dried expedition rations, pasta and porridge are probably the answer. You just need to add water. This raises the obvious question – where does the water come from? The answer of course is the endless supply of snow.
MELTING SNOW
This is one of the most essential – and tedious – jobs on an Arctic expedition, easily taking two or three hours every day.
First you need to fill a bin-liner with chunks of fairly solid, compressed snow (don’t take powdery stuff from the surface). The old cliché ‘don’t eat yellow snow’ applies, so camp discipline in having well-defined pee and poo spots really pays off.
Then it’s simply a case of stuffing endless small amounts of the snow into a saucepan, prodding and stirring constantly. Put a little water in first, otherwise much of the snow will be lost as steam and the pan will burn.
Snow is full of air, and depending on how densely the original snow is packed together, you will get at best about one-third as much water (it might even be as little
