Those Working Samoyeds

The Roslyn Rig Rendezvous was held October 29-30. It is the first event in the Pacific Northwest Championship Points series. The PNC points series a set of races that are sponsored by 5 participating regional sled dog organizations, Cascade Sled Dog Club, Inland Empire Sled Dog Association, Northwest Sled Dog Association, Sierra Nevada Dog Drivers, and the Southern Oregon Sled Dog Club. Rules have been established and agreed to by all participating clubs. Each participating club contributes one event to the circuit.

This years Roslyn Rig Rendezvous was held under clear, cool skies for the most part. There were a variety of classes from 1 dog bike-jor, 2 dog scooter, all the way up to 12 dog mid distance. Three Samoyed teams participated in this years event, Don Duncan’s 12 dog Seaview all Samoyed team, Judy Carrick’s 1 dog Charok bike-jor team and my Dashing sams 6 dog sprint team. There were ALOT of Sams in the parking lot! The race was well organized and everyone had a great time. All courses were quite challenging, with some pretty steep hills to negotiate. Alternate turns on the course were not roped off and so teams needed to listen to driver’s commands, a novel concept for sprint teams! I think every one of us that had a Samoyed team there was really pleased with the event and with our teams. Don’s team looked incredible and their times were superbly consistent, within seconds of one another between the two heats, indicative of a lot of hard training Don has put into his team this year. Judys 14 month old boy Toad, was just awesome and so much fun to watch. He left that starting line at a dead run each day and finished each heat with a big grin on his face. His “mom” Judy also had a big grin on her face! Judy and Toad finished in first place in the one dog bike-jor. I had two great runs with my team in 6 dog. They handled the turns and the hills well I was very proud of them!

This was the last gig race of the season, and the third of the year. Next race in the PNW will be at Frog lake Sno-Park in Oregon, near Mt Hood, on January 7-8. There should be one more Sammy team joining us then.

Sammily,

Jill Wilson
Dashing Sams