"Sled dog racing (sometimes termed dog sled racing) is a winter dog sport most popular in the Arctic regions of the United States, Canada, Russia, and some European countries.[1] It involves the timed competition of teams of sleddogs that pull a sled with the dog driver or musher standing on the runners. The team completing the marked course in the least time is judged the winner.
A sled dog race was a demonstration sport at the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York and again at the Olympics in Oslo, but it did not gain official event status.[2]
Sled dogs, known also as sleighman dogs, sledge dogs, or sleddogs, are a highly trained dog type that are used to pull a dog sled, a wheel-less vehicle on runners, over snow or ice, by means of harnesses and lines."
The most famous long-distance race is the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Also known as the "Last Great Race on Earth", the Iditarod is over 1150 miles of some of the roughest and most beautiful terrain in the world. The race consists of fierce mountains, frozen rivers, thick forests, and desolate tundras. Each team of 12–16 dogs must go from Anchorage all the way to Nome.[5]
Although each musher has different strategies, each team must have certain pieces of equipment, such as an arctic parka, an ax, snowshoes, and boots for each dog's feet to protect against cutting ice and hard packed snow injuries."
Here's a superb photo, with no tongue-in-cheek!
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| State of Alaska | |||||
| |||||
| Nickname(s): The Last Frontier | |||||
| Motto(s): North to the Future | |||||
 | |||||
| Official language(s) | None[1][2] | ||||
| Spoken language(s) | English 89.7%, Native North American 5.2%, Spanish 2.9% | ||||
| Demonym | Alaskan | ||||
| Capital | Juneau | ||||
| Largest city | Anchorage | ||||
| Area | Ranked 1st in the U.S. | ||||
| - Total | 663,268 sq mi (1,717,854 km2) | ||||
| - Width | 2,261 miles (3,639 km) | ||||
| - Length | 1,420 miles (2,285 km) | ||||
| - % water | 13.77 | ||||
| - Latitude | 51°20'N to 71°50'N | ||||
| - Longitude | 130°W to 172°E | ||||
| Population | Ranked 47th in the U.S. | ||||
| - Total | 710,231 (2010)[3] 626,932 (2000) | ||||
| - Density | 1.03/sq mi (0.4/km2) Ranked 50th in the U.S. | ||||
| - Median income | US$64,333 (4th) | ||||
| Elevation | |||||
| - Highest point | Mount McKinley[4] 20,320 ft (6,193.7 m) | ||||
| - Mean | 1900 ft (580 m) | ||||
| - Lowest point | Sea level 0 ft (0 m) | ||||
| Before statehood | Alaska Territory | ||||
| Admission to Union | January 3, 1959 (49th) | ||||
| Governor | Sean Parnell (R) | ||||
| Lieutenant Governor | Mead Treadwell (R) | ||||
| Legislature | Alaska Legislature | ||||
| - Upper house | Senate | ||||
| - Lower house | House of Representatives | ||||
| U.S. Senators | Lisa Murkowski (R) Mark Begich (D) | ||||
| U.S. House delegation | Don Young (R) (at-large) (list) | ||||
| Time zones | |||||
| - east of 169° 30' | Alaska: UTC-9/DST-8 | ||||
| - west of 169° 30' | Aleutian: UTC-10/DST-9 | ||||
| Abbreviations | AK US-AK | ||||
| Website | alaska.gov | ||||
"Alaska (
i/əˈlæskə/) is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait. Approximately half of Alaska's 710,231 residents (as per the 2010 United States Census) live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaska is the least densely populated state of the U.S.[5]
i/əˈlæskə/) is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait. Approximately half of Alaska's 710,231 residents (as per the 2010 United States Census) live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaska is the least densely populated state of the U.S.[5]Alaska was purchased from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867, for $7.2 million ($113 million in today's dollars) at about two cents per acre ($4.74/km²). The land went through several administrative changes before becoming an organized (or incorporated) territory on May 11, 1912, and the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959.
The name "Alaska" (Аляска) was already introduced in the Russian colonial period, when it was used only for the peninsula and is derived from the Aleut alaxsxaq, meaning "the mainland" or more literally, "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed".[6] It is also known as Alyeska, the "great land", an Aleut word derived from the same root."
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