SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
A musher drives a team of sled dogs, usually across snow and ice. But growing numbers of racers are showing the sport can thrive even if it's not winter. For the first time, the World Championship for Dryland Mushing, a snowless version of sled dog racing, is being held in the United States. Katie Thoresen from member station WXPR reports.
KATIE THORESEN, BYLINE: The first International Dryland Mushing World Championship was held in 2002 in Italy.
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THORESEN: And this week, more than 350 competitors from 23 countries are racing in northern Wisconsin with the hopes of becoming a world champion. In dryland mushing, dogs are hooked up to bikes, scooters, three-wheeled carts or even a person and run on dirt trails.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: OK guys, here we go. Up first...
THORESEN: One competitor, Andre Boysen Hillestad, had just finished one race. He has been competing in dryland mushing since he was 13.
ANDRE BOYSEN HILLESTAD: It's fun. It goes fast, and you have to be a little bit crazy in the head.
THORESEN: The now 23-year-old traveled from Norway to race his dogs in the one- and two-dog scooter races.
HILLESTAD: It's fun, and it's quite an experience.
THORESEN: Destinee Kiel of Michigan says that's been the reaction from a lot of the international mushers. Kiel is the sponsorship fundraiser chair for the U.S. Federation of Sleddog Sports.
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DESTINEE KIEL: And we've had so many compliments on the trail, the trees and the hospitality here in Wisconsin, that it makes us proud.
THORESEN: Kiel's been mushing for 23 years. This is her first time competing in the Dryland World Championship. Four of her dogs pulled her on her three-wheel cart.
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KIEL: I love the bond that I create with my dogs. They're my teammates. We do everything together from eat, sleep, train. What I do, they do.
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THORESEN: The excitement is palpable at the start of another race. The four dogs are ready. Handlers hold the dogs in place so they don't jump the start. When the countdown reaches zero, the barks fade, and they're off.
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NIINA BAUM: You're so in tune with your dog. It's almost like tunnel vision when you're out there. You're so focused. It's hard to notice anything else out there.
THORESEN: Wisconsin's Niina Baum competed in her first Dryland World Championship in 2019 in Sweden.
BAUM: And I was completely blown away, and I was just like, we have to do this in the U.S.
THORESEN: As a U.S. Federation board member, Baum and others with the organization worked to bring the Dryland World Championships to the U.S. This week, she competed in the one-dog scooter race with Dusty, her sister's large eurohound, an Alaskan husky and pointing breed crossbreed typically groomed for the sport.
BAUM: It's really key to have the extra power and strength, especially on a hilly course like this. He's also really fast. So he's the perfect one-dog scooter dog.
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THORESEN: Baum was 6 years old when she started dogsledding on snow. By the time she was 12, she was mushing on dryland.
BAUM: I love that, you know, I can continue to be out on the trail with my dogs outside of the winter season - you know, expands the time that I can be with them doing this.
THORESEN: And as racers compete on this last day for a spot on the podium, Baum and other organizers say they already have their victory, bringing the World Championship to the U.S.
BAUM: So it is really a historic moment.
THORESEN: And a celebration - as the International Federation puts it - of sport, dogs and the great outdoors.
(CHEERING)
THORESEN: For NPR News, I'm Katie Thoresen in Minocqua, Wisconsin. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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