Montana Musher Finds Idaho Snow, Wins a Rare 2024 Sled Dog Race

The lack of snow this winter is taking its toll on numerous events normally held in the west.

A great example is the cancelled sled dog race competitions that require adequate snow over lengthy distances for mushers and their canine athletes. In fact, the  Idaho Sled Dog Challenge’s Warm Lake Stage Race, January 25, has been the only race that organizers weren’t forced to cancel this year due to low snowfall and poor trail conditions.

A husky congratulations to Clayton Perry from Power, Montana! Clayton recently took first place, the only Montanan to mush his way into the upper standings. And, it would appear that about 17 minutes between first and second for this 52-mile event - a far less grueling distance than many of these races - is a pretty solid win.

Clayton and his team finished the race in 5 hours, 38 minutes, outdistancing second-place finisher Craig Anderson of Enterprise, Oregon, who finished with a time of 5 hours, 55 minutes.

ON AGAIN OFF AGAIN

Clayton also had planned on competing in the 300-mile race, in which he participated in 2020 and 2022. Race organizers had announced early last week they were cancelling the 2024 ceremonial start, the 100-mile race and the 300-mile race. They had been closely monitoring trail conditions for several weeks. Some recent snowfall on January 15 had organizers saying the longer races would he held, but that decision was rescinded on January 23, as trail conditions rapidly deteriorated with above-freezing temperatures and rain.

Anticipating conditions would continue to get worse, official cancellation of those events was announced, as the weather was making the trails unsafe for the dogs and their mushers.

LINCOLN, MONTANA'S LOSS

The Idaho Sled Dog Challenge is part of the Rocky Mountain Triple Crown, which also includes the Eagle Cap Extreme near Joseph, Oregon, and the well-known Race to the Sky near Lincoln, Montana. The Eagle Cup Extreme was cancelled several weeks ago due to lack of snow, and the Race to the Sky was called off on January 22.

A strange winter in the west, indeed. More information on the Idaho Sled Dog Challenge and 2025 events can be found here.