Go, Dog. Go!

A wintertime Seussian scene played out during the two-day Flathead Classic dog sledding event last weekend at Dog Creek Lodge near Olney. 

Over several hours on Saturday and Sunday, dogs took to the trails one by one and two by two and four by four and six by six, hauling sleds, children, Nordic skiers and fat bikes across freshly groomed corduroy.

When Jackson Casaus’ team of four dogs came around the final corner of the 5.5-mile course on Sunday, they slowed to a stop and the rearmost two dogs laid down in the snow, just 30 feet from the finish line. 

Amid some chuckles and claps from spectators, cries of “Hike!” from Casaus and eventually some help pulling the team back up and directing them onward, the team crossed the line after 29 minutes on the course, finishing 12th out of 15 competitors. 

“Those two dogs in the back are just pups and learning how things go,” Casaus said. “With just two experienced dogs on the team, they can’t pull the pups when they decide they want to stop. They’re both kind of shy pups, and when everybody started clapping at them and people ran up to help I think they just wanted to bury into the snow. But I guess if anything, it was entertaining.”

Last year, the Flathead Classic experienced a pandemic-induced hiatus, and mushers were excited to have the local event return. 

“It’s just fun to have an event happening so close so you don’t have to get up and drive forever,” Casaus, who lives in Olney, said. “It’s great being able to support the local community and see all our friends together and enjoy the camaraderie.”

Between the sled races (four- and six-dog categories), skijoring (skate skiers pulled by one or two dogs) and bikejoring (one or two dogs pulling a fat bike), this year’s Flathead Classic saw the highest number of competitors for several years. 

“I think this is the most people I’ve ever seen at a local event. There are more teams than ever but also way more spectators,” said musher Sara Parr of Whitefish. “It says a lot about the community in the area and how well this event is organized. 

Parr, who ran in the six-dog class, considers mushing an “adopted” passion that she picked up from her husband Butch. The couple has been involved in dog sledding for nearly four decades and operates Winter Woods Dog Sled Tours based out of Whitefish with their kennel of 23 dogs. 

Parr started racing around 15 years ago, mostly sticking to shorter distances, while Butch has won the 350-mile Race to the Sky twice. 

“It’s so loud here [where the dogs are tethered] but once you get out on the trails and they stop barking and are just running it’s so quiet and peaceful,” Parr said. “You can’t beat it — there’s really just nothing like running over the trails without a sound.”

Parr’s two days of racing, which ended with a fifth-place finish, weren’t entirely peaceful however. She came in from her second run on Sunday with a small gouge across her face and gash on her hand. 

“There’s this one corner on the way back on the Grizzly Trail, you come down the hill and there’s a sharp corner that I’ve been dreaming about how I would get around it,” she said while tending to her dogs. “Yesterday I didn’t get around it but today I did and it was just the best feeling! And then of course I went around a few more turns and biffed it on another corner.”

Race organizer Brett Svetlik, who himself raced in the two-dog skijoring event, was pleased with the  turnout. 

“The fact that we have a venue where we can close down the resort for the weekend in order to bring the dogs out is so great,” he said in between his duties announcing each incoming team. “Everyone wanted to be here — it wasn’t just the mushers that got last year off but the spectators and guests that love being able to watch what’s a pretty niche sport.”

The excitement over the event return however was most prominently seen through the four-legged racers that kept up a cacophony of yips, barks and howls until they were finally let loose to run. 

“You can’t make a dog run, but they love to do it,” Casaus said. “And when you get done at the end and your dog jumps up and give you a hug, and another hugs you from the other side, that’s just love right there and you can’t make that up.”