1st-5th of April 2023
The Arctic Circle Sleddog Expedition is an event organized by Team Petter Karlsson Sleddogs and arcticadventures.ch. It is a race with expedition caracter that is more about enjoying the beautiful nature with the dogs and driving in a good way rather than a competiton about who has the fastest team. There will be some well known long distance teams in it, but also 3 guests of Team Petter Karlsson that will get their first taste in long distance mushing.
Route: The expedition starts in Slussfors at 10.00 in the morning on Saturday April 1st. After about 80km teams will reach the Checkpoint of Ammarnäs, where there will be a depot, water, straw, a veterinarian and also a possibility to drop dogs. After a total distance of about 220km teams will reach the Checkpoint of Vuoggatjålme just a few hundred meters north of the arctic circle, where there will be once again a depot, water, straw, a veterinarian and also a possibility to drop dogs. From Vuoggatjålme 1 the teams will go north to Mavas, from there they will make a loop by going east to Miekak and then northwest to Pieskehaure and then south back to Vuoggatjålme 2. The total distance of this loop is currently estimated to about 160km. From Vuoggatjålme 2 the teams will travel back to Slussfors the way they came, with another checkpoint in Ammarnäs. The total distance of the race will be about 600km mostly through valleys and mountains.
Rules: For this expedition there will be some rules in place to ensure the safety of all dogs and people. All teams will have to carry the mandatory gear like they would need for the Finnmarksløpet and maps that cover the whole area they will be driving through. To ensure that the teams stay a bit together in the beginning, they are not allowed to leave the lake about 3km north of Vuoggatjålme before 21.00 on Sunday April 2nd. Between Vuoggatjålme 1 and the finish line there is 10h of mandatory rest that needs to be taken. This rest can be taken in the checkpoints, but also camping out on the trail. To ensure that every team took all their mandatory rest, everyone will need to reset their GPS at the restart in Vuoggatjålme 1, and when arriving in Slussfors it has to show a minimum of 10h stopped time. In either Vuoggatjålme 1 or Vuoggatjålme 2 a veterinarian will check out every dog in each team.
We encourage the teams to drive in a speed that's adequate for their dogs. Therefore ther will not be a time limit on reaching the finish line, take as much time as your dogs need!
There will be 3 guests of Team Petter Karlsson on this race. While no team is allowed to receive any outside assistance, these 3 teams can receive assistance from Petter Karlsson. If any of the 3 guests has to scratch, the other guests and/or their guide are allowed to take some of the remaining dogs of the scratching team into their team, up to the number of dogs they had at the start of the race.
Good to know: Camping on the trail is encouraged! Go out, have fun, and enjoy your time together with some other mushers!
Sponsors: We thank Axaeco for their generous support throughout the past and also the upcomming years. Thank you very much!
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