Park Record
Park City and Summit County News
Three siblings from Coalville are taking family bonding to another level — training for months at a time, trekking over snowy, mountainous terrain and enduring days of sleep deprivation as they race teams of powerful, athletic sled dogs.
Wade Donaldson, Dallin Donaldson and Natalie Wilson grew up in Summit County, enjoying the wide open spaces and agricultural community of the Wasatch Back. Each of the siblings is a self-proclaimed animal lover, so when Wade and Dallin were tasked with creating a business proposal in a college class 10 years ago, the answer was simple: guided sled dog tours.
“They saw that tourism has really grown in Summit County, and they thought maybe tourism was a way we could go out on our own and start our own business,” Natalie explained. “Dog sledding specifically was something we were interested in anyway, so they bought a team from a retired guy who used to race with his dogs, and for a couple of years, we figured out what dogs were all about.”
The business, Bear Ridge Adventures, takes tourists and winter enthusiasts on one-hour, two-hour or half-day excursions. Each dog sled can carry up to 350 pounds, and the route provides a scenic tour of mountains around Coalville.
“It’s a great experience for Utah,” Natalie said. “There are so many people I talk to who are like, ‘Dog sledding? I didn’t know there was dog sledding.’ It’s very family friendly, and the dogs are amazing. They love what they do, and they get excited to take people out.”
The siblings branched out into competitive racing about five years ago when a friend encouraged them to try it. Their first race was the American Dog Derby in Idaho, and they’ve been hooked on the sport ever since.
“There are definitely a couple of times in a race when you ask yourself, ‘What in the world are we doing out here in the middle of nowhere going up this huge mountain on this trail?’ It’s hard, and it’s tiring, and it’s not easy,” Dallin said. “But when you finish it, it’s just incredible — it’s incredible to watch your dogs running and seeing how they overcome difficulties. It’s so cool to see this team get stronger and stronger throughout the season, and they turn into this unit, this team, and there’s nothing they can’t overcome.”
The family now owns over 80 sled dogs, although not every dog competes in races, depending on their age, health and athletic ability. Each sibling participates separately with their own team of dogs, competing against each other as well as other racers.
Training begins in the fall with what Dallin dubbed “doggy tryouts.”
“It’s a lot like being an ultra-marathon runner,” he explained. “You have to start little by little. We’ll usually start with five-mile runs with our dogs, and we’re usually starting that in October on ATVs. We’ll hook two dogs up to an ATV or a side-by-side or a truck, even, and then just start building up the miles and the speed.”
By the time there’s snow on the ground, the dogs should be running around 30 miles per training session.
“Once you get up to around 40 miles a run, then you have to start doing back-to-backs, so you have to train to have scheduled rests in between your runs,” Dallin said. “You’ll do a 40-mile run and then have a six- or eight-hour rest and then do another 40 miles. What you’re doing at that point is trying to get their rests down.”
Most mushers naturally get in shape alongside the dogs, running with them on trails and training for sleep deprivation — the hardest part of sled dog racing, at least for the human participants.
Every race runs overnight, and although there are checkpoints for teams to rest, mushers rarely have time to squeeze in a nap. They essentially serve as the dogs’ coach, monitoring their health and troubleshooting any problems.
Once the dogs have slept, been fed and received any necessary medical attention, such as a massage for sore muscles or replacing the booties that protect their feet, it’s time to get back on the road.
“I want to make sure my team stays healthy, so their needs come in front of my need to sleep,” Wade said. “You get pretty drowsy and tired. I always talk to the dogs. I sing along to random music. I try to stay active. I’ll ‘pedal kick’ like you’re on a skateboard or scooter. I’ll run alongside just to keep myself moving so I don’t doze off and fall asleep on the sled.”
Natalie and Dallin both prefer the 100-mile races, which they say gives them a better balance between training and family life. The two recently entered the Idaho Sled Dog Challenge, a race in central Idaho about two hours north of Boise.
There, Dallin placed second, finishing in 19 hours and 46 minutes with an average speed of 7.55 miles per hour.
“My dogs were just clicking. I could tell the second I was about 10 miles into that first run. I was like, ‘Oh boy, my team is feeling it.’ They just looked good,” Dallin said. “That’s one of the fun things about being a musher is some races go really well and others don’t. You’re dealing with dogs, and there are trials and hard things you have to overcome together in these races, but when the team is all clicking, like they were for the 100 miles, it’s a lot of fun because you can just see they’re in the groove.”
Natalie said she ran into adverse weather conditions this year, but she was proud of her team, especially because she had a few older dogs with her. She finished behind her brother in fifth place in 20 hours and 22 minutes with an average speed of 7.24 miles per hour.
“For me, going into races, I really just want my dog team to perform to their best, and that looks different for different people,” she said. “Our dogs may be a little bit slower than some of the teams that are winning because they do go back and forth from running tours to running races. They’re not strictly race dogs, so that’s something we have to work through when we’re out training. I did have a few older dogs on my team, and I knew that they would always get me to the finish, but I didn’t know exactly how fast they would be able to pace with the conditions we were having.”
Dallin said he doesn’t have any specific goals in mind for the future, but he plans to continue 100-mile races.
Natalie, however, wants to complete what’s known as the Triple Crown — a series of races allowing mushers to qualify for the Iditarod. It includes the Idaho Sled Dog Challenge, the Eagle Cap Extreme in Oregon and the Race to the Sky in Montana.
“What keeps me going is my enjoyment of seeing the dogs do what they love to do,” Natalie said. “I love animals, and I have my entire life. These dogs, their energy is very contagious. It’s also a really humbling experience when you have to completely rely on animals and you have to trust in your training and you have to trust in them.”
Despite aiming for the Triple Crown, Natalie said she’s not interested in participating in the Iditarod.
But Wade is.
The siblings have started breeding and buying dogs more genetically suited for long-distance running to improve their teams. Wade has also branched out into longer races, such as the Idaho Sled Dog Challenge’s 200-mile route.
The February race was unfortunately cut short because of avalanche concerns, but Wade still placed first. He finished in 9 hours and 14 minutes with an average speed of 6.71 miles per hour. His next race in Montana, a 300-mile route, was also cut short because of inclement weather and poor conditions.
Although Wade and his siblings start training in October, the competitive season only runs for two months — January and February. The Iditarod starts in Alaska in early March.
Wade said he was disappointed he wasn’t able to fully compete in his races this season, but he’s hopeful he’ll qualify for the 1,000-mile Iditarod race after the Triple Crown next year.
“The Iditarod is like the capstone of dog sledding. As far as competitive distance mushing, the Iditarod is the race to do it,” Wade said. “It’s just something I’ve wanted ever since we got into dogs. I would love to accomplish that as a goal.”
He said he feels fortunate to train, work and compete with his family, even though they’re not pursuing the Iditarod together. His main motivation is his relationship with the dogs — his best friends.
“This wouldn’t be possible without them. They’re the true heroes. They’re the stars,” Wade said. “That’s the reason we do it, because we love the dogs. … You have to respect that these dogs were bred to do this and they’ve been bred to do it for thousands of years. It’s very natural for them. It’s what they’re best at and what they’re happiest doing.”
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Winter 2024/25
The Park Record newspaper publishes twice weekly in Park City, Utah, and has been serving Summit County since 1880.
