The dogs can’t get a grip on ice, and will get cut on fractured ice, even with the ‘booties’ on. The ‘ice booties’ have rubber bumps on the bottom, but they are fairly worthless, and the dogs really want to feel the ground to be sure of their footing. So far there have been a large number of dogs dropped, and most of them are probably due to ice injuries. The dog’s nails/claws just don’t work well. Packed snow is the best surface for a dog team – low friction for the sled and good purchase for the dogs.

Yeah, I used a snow bank to brake a couple of times when I was working out driving a Beetle in the snow.

Do the dogs have traction problems on the ice too?

The temperatures are certainly better, but the trail is ice, not snow, which makes it hard to stay upright. A few inches of snow would certainly help, as you know from winter 4-wheeling.

A lot of the people who run these races do so to justify having dozens of dogs. They really like dogs, and if they live well off the grid, as many of the mushers do, a dog team is the only way you can get around in a real Arctic winter. Forty below does nothing good for an internal combustion engine, rubber and metal fracture readily, so wooden sleds and dogs are the only reliable forms of transportation.

The problem mushers have most often with dogs is holding them back, so they don’t injure themselves. The mandatory stops during the races are to give the race vets time to check on the dogs. There are no human doctors on race trails, but there are vets at every mandatory stop. If you break a bone during a race, or have another major injury, you can continue if you want unless that injury prevents you from caring for your dogs, then you are withdrawn by race officials immediately.