Husky News

Jeff Martin left his software job in Michigan to run with the hounds in the Colorado wilderness near Fraser.

Jeff Martin generally doesn’t start conversations with strangers. The one time he did, it changed his life.

In December 1995, Martin traveled from Detroit to Aspen for a ski vacation with his best friend from college. They were at a bar and Martin wanted to play pool.

Not usually one to ask if he could join, Martin ended up at a table with Harry Portland, whom he found out drove dog sleds for Krabloonik Kennels in Snowmass Village.

When Martin, then 25, left the bar he told Portland he’d be back the following season to begin his life as a musher.

He wasn’t kidding.

It was December when Martin walked out of that Aspen bar. In June, he walked away from his job as a software programmer in Michigan and drove west.

Today, at 37, Martin and his wife, Tracie, own Dog Sled Rides of Winter Park. Though their business is smaller than Krabloonik operation, the Martins have 84 dogs at their facility, located in back of their home on Grand County Road 5, just west of Fraser.

Before he could become a musher, Martin had to beat out 399 other applicants for five spots at Krabloonik. He went through a barrage of tests that included how he worked with the dogs and, most importantly, how he could handle the physical demands of the job (tryout camp included chopping wood, push-up and sit-up tests and long runs through town). He was chosen as one of five mushers that winter and he’s been doing it ever since.

Martin has never regretted his decision to change careers (though he did take an 80 percent pay cut), but often wonders what life would have been like had he not moved.

“There’s no way you can accurately predict what you’re gonna do 20 years down the road,” he said.

Martin’s office 170 days of the year is now 600 acres of wooded trails on leased land behind his Fraser home. His desk: the back of a handmade toboggan.

His co-workers are his Siberian and Alaskan huskies, and he knows each by their bark. When he worked for Krabloonik, he learned 250 dogs’ names in about two weeks.

Three other mushers, his wife and an assistant help the operation at Dog Sled Rides of Winter Park run smoothly.

His business, which he took over in 2001 and is the first he’s ever run, opens the world of dog sledding to paying customers from across the United States and around the world. Most think they have to travel to Alaska to get the same experience.

Clients pay to ride in homemade sleds that are more like recliners than toboggans, complete with pads and a sleeping bag to keep them comfortable. Each ride is 45 minutes long and traverses 4 to 6 miles of twisting trails that give people expansive views of the Continental Divide and Fraser Valley.

Very few customers leave unhappy, and most are surprised at the dogs’ abilities — a team of eight can pull a sled up to 25 mph.

“An amazing experience,” said Tom Marsh, a 31-year-old from Manchester, England, after his ride. “I can’t believe how strong they are. They aren’t even out of breath, are they?”

While some of the dogs were born at the kennel, the Martins also take in dogs. Most come from homes that underestimate the amount of exercise they need. Even if they come from homes where they didn’t get enough room to roam, Martin said, 75 percent still will make excellent sled dogs.

This need to run is complemented by Martin’s rules for living at the kennel.

“Everyone works if they’re going to live here,” he said. “We expect (up to) three trips a day depending on the dog.”

One of the 84 dogs at Dog Sled Rides of Winter Park, on Grand County Road 5 just west of Fraser, waits to be harnessed. Below: Malcolm Neill is one of the mushers. Joshua Buck/Times-Call

Though the dogs range in age from 14 months to 14 years old, the dogs’ prime pulling years are from the ages of 3 to 7.

Like putting together a lineup for a basketball squad, Martin matches up dogs based on their abilities, both cognitive and physical. Gus, for instance, is one of his best dogs. Gus almost always plays teacher, getting matched with younger dogs in hopes that he’ll show them the ropes, especially as a lead dog.

Martin is constantly switching where the dogs are lined up while harnessed to the sled, giving him a chance to see which dogs are the best leaders. More often than not, a female dog makes the best leader and the strongest dogs are best-suited nearest the sled.

Martin said many guests are overwhelmed when they first arrive at the kennel. Most have never seen this many dogs in one place.

When a trip is about to go out, the dogs that aren’t running are resting off to the side, but nearly every dog is howling and yelping with excitement, making for a loud experience. The dogs harnessed to the sleds are excited they get to run; others are jealous they have to wait.

Despite such a chaotic scene, the dog are approachable and laid-back. They can go from barking and jumping to a sedative state in an impressively short time.

On the trail, the dogs are in their element. Martin and the other mushers have a set of vocal commands they use to tell the dogs when to turn or when to stop, but being creatures of habit, the dogs know where to stop along the trail because they’ve done it so many times.

The dogs run as if they could run all day, but play just as much. Some of Martin’s most-used commands are getting the dogs to stop playing and concentrate on pulling.

The entire experience, from getting to see eight dogs pull a few hundred pounds behind them to the opportunity to see the backcountry from a different perspective, is what keeps customers coming back.

“It was totally awesome,” said Jeanne Evans, a 63-year-old from Alexandria, Va., on vacation with her husband, John. “We came out here to get a real winter experience. It’s like drinking up the beauty. I was thirsty for it.”

Source: Longmont Times-Call