Anchorage 101

Barking Sled Dogs Outside Your Hotel Door   Slideshow 

The night before the Fur Rondy Sled Dog races start, city trucks slowly crawl down Anchorage's downtown streets. They are dumping snow, not removing it. The next morning, a sled dog race will be held right in the streets. After starting on Fourth Avenue in the heart of downtown, the Fur Rondy Sled Dog racers head to the Coastal Trail. Then the mushers and dogs ride around Anchorage in a loop, using their completion times as the basis of placement in this three-day race.

The Fur Rondy races are called sprint races. That's because the few dozen miles covered during Rondy much shorter than the Iditarod races that begin in early March. Sprint dog mushers and teams are completely different than Iditarod mushers, and train differently with less dogs. Sprint races like the one featured during Fur Rondy are exciting because spectators can follow the teams around town from different viewing areas in their cars. The entire race is broadcast on sports radio each day.