Jackie Newton
5/5
We are from Colorado and were looking to do dog sledding in our own backyard. I chose this place based on location and reviews. We were staying in Vail, so this one was the closest. Other sledding places in the area (Breckenridge and Leadville) were offering experiences where everyone has to take turns in the sled. This experience was the only one I saw where everyone can ride in the sled for the duration of the experience. For this, we thought it was worth the price tag. On the day of, we met in the designated parking lot. It is right off of I-70 in Wolcott. The van and one of the mushers was already waiting for us there with our waivers. There are five sleds that hold two people each so you may end up riding in the Van with some other parties as well. The van is 4 wheel drive and you drive a little bit up the mountain there to their property. Based upon your party size or composition (weight), they may have to split you up to ride by yourself in a sled. After the dogs are all hooked up (there are 10 dogs per sled) and ready to go, the mushers assign you to a sled. Our party was assigned Cameron. Our other party members were split up into separate sleds and also got the owner of the company. The sleds took off one at a time, but with enough space between each group. The trail itself was very interesting. There were uphill, downhill, turns, straight, going through aspen groves, going through wide open areas. It was very peaceful, pretty, and serene. It was all open land with views as far as you could see. During the ride, Cameron would share his insights into his job, the trail, and the dogs. We went for about 30 minutes or so, then we all stopped to take a break and let the dogs rest. We had hot cocoa and homemade pumpkin bread (If you would like, it is included). We also got a chance to say hi to the friendly and social dogs. After about 10 minutes or so we got ready to get back out there. The second half of the trail was probably about 30 or so minutes back as well. We dressed like we were going skiing/snowboarding. Layers, winter wear, hat, gloves, neck gator, snow boots, and goggles. This is also to say that this experience is completely outdoors. The only time you aren’t outdoors is the van ride to and from the property. There are porta potties at the start/finish of the trail if you need those as well. We didn’t need to bring many things, but if you need to, you can leave a bag in the van while you are out, as there isn’t much room on the sled for things besides yourself. We did bring a GoPro and got great footage with it attached to the chest. The dogs (all 80 something of them) live on a ranch 30 minutes north of the property and that is where they are taken care of. They are “Alaskan Huskies” which is a way of saying they are bred to the qualities they need such as endurance, drive, fur coat, speed, etc. Therefore every dog looks different. They were certainly excited and more than ready to run and pull the sleds. You could tell this was their passion. Overall, it was a little more than we wanted to spend on an excursion but we all agreed that it was absolutely worth it and we understood the price tag by the end of the journey. For us, we were happy we had the experience and that it was in our own backyard and very accessible from Vail. We also wove this into our skiing/snowboarding trip on our break day. All in all, the tour took a little over an hour and a half so I would budget around 2 hours for this. You do load back into the van to be driven back to the parking lot where your car is. This company has been running for 30 years or so now so they definitely have things down, and are well organized and experienced. We felt safe the entire time and everyone there was friendly and helpful. If you are on the fence about doing this, let this be your review to push you to do it. You will not regret it, that’s for sure. Thank you Mountain Mushers for a great, amazing, high quality experience.
