The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Perthshire huskies set to pull in thrillseekers
THEY MAY be more used to the Arctic terrain of the Scottish Highlands, but a team of huskies has settled well in Perthshire.
Training to race up to 60 miles a day through the snowy Alps, the squad of Alaskan huskies has brought a sense of real adventure to their new home at a Perthshire hotel.
In a unique departure from its normal terrain, the world-renowned Cairngorm Sleddog Centre has set up the Scottish SleddogAcademy on the estate of Ballathie Country House Hotel at Kinclaven.
It is the first time the centre has run its teams of dogs in the lowlands.
Remarkably, snow is not actually necessary for them to operate, according to Aviemore Centre founder Alan Stewart, who has raced huskies professionally at the highest levels around the world.
He said: “Snow is great but it’s not essential for our dogs.
“Ballathie not only provides a marvellous training ground for them but also creates a sensational attraction for hotel guests.”
Teams of 10 or 12 huskies will run in pairs, pulling a rubber wheeled, aluminium cart at speeds of up to 15 miles an hour.
The cart can take two thrill-seekers who sit at the front with Stewart standing behind, guiding the team, apparently by mere telepathy.
The dogs and cart together are as long as a tennis court.
He said: “This is not a jolly sleigh ride — it’s a pulsating, thrilling experience which no one who has done it will ever forget.”
The Cairngorms centre, set up in 2001, is the only one of its kind in the UK and one of only five in Europe.
The transition from snow, where sleds with metal runners are used instead of wheeled carts, to forest tracks may seem dramatic, but Stewart said the techniques of sleddog racing are the same on both terrains.
Undulating trails up to two metres wide have been created through some of Ballathie’s ancient woodland.
Between November and March, guests will be offered Sleddog Experiences of between one and three hours.
The huskies, bred to race in temperatures as low as minus-40 degrees, cannot run when the thermometer rises above 10 degrees.
However, the forest canopy under which the trails have been created keeps conditions cool.
Ballathie House Hotel sales and marketing director Lin Mitchell said: “At Ballathie, we are thrilled to be working alongside one of the greatest experts in the racing Sleddog world and delighted to be able to offer our guests this very special experience.
“The sight of these fabulous dogs training throughout the Ballathie estate is magnificent and it’s marvellous to think we are playing our part in their future success.”