Mancos Mush
Races draw mushers, tourists to mountains
Tuesday, February 14th 2006
By Josh Huseby | Journal Staff Writer
A weekend full of activity was capped off Sunday with the final stage of the second annual Directory Plus Mancos Mush/Silverton Slush. At nearly two miles above sea-level in Silverton, Grant Beck, of Yellowknife in Canada's Northwest Territory, and Clint Hallam, of Lymann, Wyo., were crowned this year's champions.
journal/sam green
Larry Natazke climbs the hill at the start of the race Friday morning during the Mancos Mush/Silverton Slush sled dog races. Top photo, a sled dog waits to be removed from its truck kennel and harnessed for the race.
Beck took first place in the 125 mile race with a time of 6:21:30, and Hallam, last year’s 100 mile race winner, won first place in the 85 mile race with a time of 4:49:38. Hesperus racer Gregg Dubit finished eighth with a time of 6:03:31.
Though this is only the event’s second year, it is being so well received by the sled dog racing community that organizers plan to add another stage to next year’s event, according to event organizer Margy Dudley.
Dudley said the third annual race is tentatively scheduled Feb. 8 through 11, 2007. The popularity of the event is also forcing organizers to place a 30 team cap on the event.
This year, 21 teams from the Western United States and Canada came to compete in the race’s three stages, up from two last year. Stages one and two were run on trails in the San Juan National Forest northeast of Mancos on Friday and Saturday. For mushers competing in the 125 mile race, both stages were 50 miles, with 30 mile stages for the mushers competing in the 85 mile race. The third stage, on Sunday, was 25 miles long for all mushers with the start and finish lines in downtown Silverton.
At the end of the weekend, every musher walked away from the race with a portion of the $12,000 purse. Beck left Southwest Colorado with the largest portion of that purse, $2,175. For placing first in the 85 mile race Hallam won $1,400.
The event’s main goal is to draw tourism into the area, Dudley said.
“We really want to bring tourists to the area in a slow time of year,” she said.
In addition to bringing in tourism dollars, the mush turned into a multiday event that served the event’s two other main goals: to educate, and to benefit the Adaptive Sports Association in Durango.
The event was able to do that with the daylong Mancos Mush Festival in downtown Mancos on Saturday. During the day’s events, local youths had an opportunity to learn about sled dog racing and Mush souvenirs were sold to benefit the ASA.
Throughout the weekend, Inspired by the San Juans Art Exhibition was on display at the Mancos Community Center on Grand Avenue. An artist reception was held Friday night shortly before the Meet the Mushers dinner. During the artist reception, an original oil on canvas by Mike Simpson was up for silent auction. The painting was sold for $1,300 with proceeds going to the Mush and the ASA.
“It’s good to be able to do something good with your putting on the race,” Dudley said.
As for the race itself, event organizer Gretchen Dubit said it can be far more grueling for the mushers than it is for the 230 dogs that ran in the event.
“The mushers really need to run their dogs well,” she said. “They spend four days thinking about what does the dog need.”
There is a lot of strategy that goes into running a race like this, Dubit said. She should know. Along with her husband, Gregg Dubit, she runs Durango Dog Ranch, a sled dog tour business, and she entered three teams in the race. On hard-packed snow, like what was on the trails over the weekend, if a musher runs the dogs too fast, it could cause damage to the pads on the dogs’ feet. To keep the dogs safe and well trained over the course of the weekend, a musher must manage their team well, Dubit said.
Though the event is run in stages to draw tourists, raise money and educate kids, there is another reason Dubit wanted to host an annual mush in Southwest Colorado.
“It’s an incredibly beautiful area for mushing,” she said.