Devotees to dog sledding are born overnight, once bitten by the bug your two-seater sports car will almost certainly become a Transit van and your city flat a country cottage!

Dog sledding began in Canada and Alaska where, in the far north, people were dependent on their dogs for protection, companionship, hunting, trapping and, most of all, transportation. Sled dogs enabled explorers such as Byrd, Peary and Amundsen to explore the frozen wastelands of two continents. They have helped men in two World Wars and of course, the Canadian Mountie owes much of his fame to his team of sled dogs.

One of the greatest moments in dog sled history was in 1925. In the depth of winter, diphtheria was discovered in Nome, Alaska and the supply of serum in the city was inadequate to stave off an epidemic. A relay of twenty-two teams forged their way through the rough interior of Alaska and across the Bering Sea ice to bring supplies from Anchorage to the grateful townspeople of Nome. The Iditarod Trail Race has been held during March of each year to commemorate the Nome Serum Run.