Warm weather cancels sled dog race
The Flathead Classic Sled Dog Race is the latest casualty of unseasonably warm weather.
The two-day event planned March 5 and 6 has been canceled.
This winter has been a challenging one for winter sports, with cancellations of the Montana Pond Hockey Classic in Kalispell and at least four ice-fishing derbies in the region.
Race organizer Brett Svetlik drove the trail near Olney on Sunday and called off the races because of trail deterioration and predicted warm weather this weekend.
According to a news release from race organizers, the area used for the Flathead Classic was logged earlier in the season, leaving the road with little snow.
“In spite of some good snowpack in January, the month of February has been brutal on the trails with bare ground, ice and slush on the existing trail,” according to the news release.
The Flathead Classic is in its third official year, but organizer Jack Beckstrom said there has been a similar race for seven years. It’s the first time they have had to cancel it due to weather.
“We kept losing mileage as we kept trying to move the start further up the road,” Beckstrom said. “Three days before it looked like we could still pull it off. [Svetlik] said, ‘I can’t even ask people to come and run their dogs on this.’ It wouldn’t be safe for the dogs.”
Beckstrom added that the unfortunate weather this year led them to look at other areas that could serve as back-ups for the race in the future. The snow conditions in the Kootenai and Flathead forests looked better this year, but permits take longer to acquire than they do on the Stillwater State Forest, the race’s normal venue.
Disappointed dog mushers can roll their entries over to next year’s race and sponsors will be held over for the 2017 event.
Fans of the annual race in Olney can still support it by attending a fundraiser tonight from 5 to 8 p.m. at Bonsai Brewery in Whitefish. One dollar will be donated for every glass of beer served that night and attendees can donate cash to next year’s event.
For more information, visit www.flatheadclassic.org or email adanac@adanacsleds.com.