Photos courtesy Jed Stephensen
Jed Stephensen, a senior from Leavenworth, Kan., only dreamed of driving a dog sled until he got his chance to drive the dog sleds for tourist trips in Togwotee Pass, Wyo. last winter. This Christmas break he will drive sleds with his dad.

This was the kind of book that Jed Stephensen’s father read to him every night growing up. As a child, he dreamed about driving a dog sled through the frozen tundra. As he got older, that dream only grew. Last winter at Togwotee Pass, Wyo., this dream came true.

Stephensen, a senior from Leavenworth, Kan., said that he was “kind of brainwashed in the idea of dog sledding” by his father. At age 15, Stephensen went to Dubois, Wyo., where he was able to accompany Billy Snodgrass, owner of Continental Divide Dogsled Adventures, train his team of Alaskan huskies. It was during the summer, so he simply rode behind the team on a four-wheeler.

Stephensen called Snodgrass again last year to ask if he could work with the dogs for the winter. Snodgrass offered him a job driving dog sleds on half-day tourist excursions in Togwotee Pass.

Although Stephensen had little experience when he started, he said that “the learning curve in dog mushing is extremely steep.” He learned the hard way at times and was even given the nickname “Crash.”

“The number one rule is to never let go of the sled,” Stephensen said. Once he flipped a sled while on a tourist ride. As he was trying to get it free, the huskies jerked it out of the snow drift; all he could do was hang on as they dragged him for about 100 yards.

Stephensen soon learned how to control the sled, although he said that the dogs are at times unpredictable. “A lot of people are under the impression that we have complete control over the sleds. That’s a total illusion.”

He said that even though the dogs are kind to humans, they are very territorial with each other. They never put two males or two females next to each other on the sleds, or else they fight.

The dogs that pull the sleds are called Alaskan huskies, although they’re not a purebred breed. They are a mix of Siberian husky and several other breeds, including greyhound. This breeding produces dogs with high endurance and slightly shorter hair.

Even though the dogs are bred to pull the sleds, they still require a lot of special maintenance. The owners feed the dogs high-protein, high-fat diets consisting of elk meat, lamb fat and various animal innards. They also have to apply special ointments to their paws and de-worm them every two weeks.

This Christmas break, both Stephensen and his father are going to work together for Snodgrass. “I’m really excited. It was something that my dad and I only have dreamt of. Now we’re going to do it,” Stephensen said.

Snodgrass will also start to host dog-sledding expeditions at Grand Targhee through BYU–Idaho next semester. The expeditions will be offered at highly discounted rates, and the students will get an opportunity of a lifetime.