Hi again everybody!Sorry for having taken so long

Hi again everybody!

Sorry for having taken so long to get this information out, but life just keeps getting in the way … Anyways, the AGM was not terribly well attended but we did manage to re-elect a board of directors. The directors are the same as last except for Bill who does not have the time to sit on the board  but is happy to continue helping out in the background with whatever is needed.So the board members are Ruth, Gillian, Sharon, Cher and Sue.

It was decided to go ahead and pursue sprint races for 2014. We have since had a board meeting and the race dates have been set for January 25-26, 2014. There will be several different categories (ie 2 dog, 4-dog , 8 dog teams) and we are hoping to maybe have a “fun” category of ski-joring where you can bring your happy pet and try ski-joring with him/her … all something we are working on. The format will be 2 races in each category – one race on Saturday and one race on Sunday – with the overall winner being the fastest time for both races. All the start/finish will be at Jewel Lake resort, so it should be really spectator friendly with lots of opportunity to enjoy the winter wonderland in between races.

We are trying to plan a few fund raising events throughout the year. Of course we are holding our – by now – traditional Fowl Supper in October, but we are planning a day of fun at Jewel Lake this summer with rubber duck races among other things. Jewel Lake resort has also generously donated their empty recyclables for the summer to us as long as we pick them up regularly – ie every Tuesday. If you think you can do a run for us please contact Sue at 442-2161.

Stay tuned to the blog – we try to keep it current!

Happy Trails,

Ruth Sims

President, The Boundary Dog Sled Association

Hi All;

We are officially back in action and getting ready to host sprint races in 2014. The Christina Lake sprint demo was a success in spite of the warm temperatures causing some grief with packing the trail. A huge thanks to Dan and Terry for doing endless circles to try and salvage the trail for us!!! The 3 teams that we had out all enjoyed themselves and are excited about coming back next year to compete for money!

So we are getting ready to host a day of sprint races in the Grand Forks area. The first step is our AGM which has been set for April 24th at the Station Pub upstairs at 7 pm. PLEASE come out and get involved!!! This will be a lot of fun and the entire event will be spectator friendly and fun to be involved with.

See you at the AGM!

Ruth Sims

President, The Boundary Dog Sled Association

HI All;

We are hosting a demo sprint race at Christina Lake in conjunction with the winterfest 2013.

The race is on Saturday February 2nd at 11 am. The race starts and finishes at the welcome center at Christina Lake at the Welcome center parking lot. There will be at least 4 teams with 4 dogs each and likely a couple of mushers also ski-joring the loop. The trail is right behind the Welcome Center and is approximately 1 mile long, So come out and cheer on the mushers and join the action! There will lots of chance see the dogs, talk to the mushers, pet the dogs and generally enjoy the day! There is also a pancake breakfast at the Community Center from 8-10 am.

See you at the race!

Ruth Sims

President, The Boundary Dog Sled Association

Fowl Supper a success

Just a quick note to say a big THANK YOU to everybody who helped out with the 3rd annual Fowl Supper held on October 20th, whether you cooked a turkey, peeled spuds or baked pies. A special thanks to Teri, Sue, Bill, the Xi Gamm Nu Sorority, Gillian, Sharon, Cher, Sue, Mickey, James, Jock and Betty-Ann. We managed to feed 175 people and sell a bit of merchandise. Once all the receipts have been accounted for we will have a better idea of how much money we raised, but I do believe we did OK this year. Of course also a big thank you to everybody who came out and ate!

Stay tuned to the blog – we may not be holding a race next year, but we are still working on the next race in 2014.

Happy trails.

Ruth Sims

NEWS FLASH

Hi All;

A few things have happened since the last update. FIrst of all we have decided to NOT have a race in 2013. After much discussion it has become apparent that we do not have the sponsorship nor the volunteer base to put together a good race in 2013. However, we are not going away! We have decided to take 2013 to regroup and make 2014 a new start for the Rail Trail Dog Sled Race. Instead of a mid-distance continuous race, we are planning on changing the format to sprint racing – at least intially – with a possibility of a stage race as well. Sprint races are a lot of fun with the dogs running fast and furious for a very short distance. This makes for a great spectator sport! A stage race is a race that runs a set distance for each stage of the race – usually a day – and then technically restarts the next morning. Again, this is a great spectator sport with lots of oppotunity to see the dogs run and visit with the mushers and dogs between stages.

So don’t think we have given up! On the contrary – we are renewing and bettering what we can offer in 2014! We are therefor continuing our fund raising efforts, and our next event will be the – by now traditional – yearly Fowl Supper on October 20th. This year we are holding it at the Senior’s Hall (in City Park). So come out and have some good food and enjoy the company of other dog sled enthusiasts.

If you would like to help out with the supper please contact Sue at 250-442-2161. We can always use a pie or a helping hand with the dishes!

Ruth Sims

President, The Boundary Dog Sled Association

FInally an update!

Okay, so it has been a long time coming but we have had some computer issues, hence the lack of updating on the website itself as well, so please bear with us.

The race dates have been set – the dates are January 25th-27th, 2013. So please mark your calendars and if you are a musher, please put usn your race calendar!

We have also elected a new board of directors: Ruth Sims, Sue Ross and Bill Ross are all staying on for the second year of their term. The newly minted board members are Gillian James, Cher Wyers and Sharon Marshall. We have already had 2 board meetings since the AGM, and both have been productive in moving forward and getting the 2013 race up and running.

We are planning another Fowl Supper this fall. The date is going to be October 20th, so mark the date and bring your friends and family. We are holding it at the Senior’s Hall this year. We are also working on getting together a fundraising event at Owl Mountain Ranch in the summer. Stay tuned for more on that.

The race route is being reworked again to try and make the course a bit less strenuous for the teams and cutting down on the number of cattleguards needing attention. At this time the route will remain mostly unchanged from Grand Forks to Carmi where we cross under the highway on the river. From there, the 12-dog teams will be heading north towards Kelowna on the Kettle Valley Railroad to McCulloch Lake and then return to Beaverdell and finish in Westbridge. The 8-dog teams will finish in Beaverdell as usual.

We have thought long and hard on how to reroute the trail to get a more user friendly trail and at the same time maintain the interaction with the local communities. At this time we are putting the musher experience ahead of the local communities. We are aware that we need to improve our trail significantly if we want to keep this race a feasible entity. Therefor we have decided to forego coming down in to Greenwood and Fiva this year. This will eliminate a lot of climbing and descending for the teams and make for a much improved trail route. We are hoping lots of people will still come out and support us! Make it a road trip to Westbridge for the finish line or come to Beaverdell and watch the 8-dog teams roll in.

We will need help with checkpoints north of Beaverdell (ie McCulloch Lake and likely at Wilkinson FSR), so there is lots of room for people to help out still! Of course we are going to need help with the trail once the snow flies!

We are doing our best to get the website up and running better in the near future! In the meantime, we will keep the blog as our means of communication.

See you on the trail.

Ruth Sims, President

Upcoming AGM

Hi All;

First of all: The AGM is set for WEDNESDAY MARCH 28TH, 7 pm upstairs at the Station Pub in Grand Forks.

A huge THANK YOU to all the volunteers and sponsors for their support in 2012! We could not have done this without you!!!

I think everybody has had a chance to digest the 2012 race and we have had much discussion amongst the board members as to how to proceed from here. The biggest challenge we faced for the 2012 race was the rapidly dwindling number of board members and key volunteers as the race dates drew close. Consequently things were left to the last minute or simply did not get done, or not done well, whichever the case may be. The shortcomings of the race is a huge disappointment to us all, particularly for all the board members and volunteers that put such a tremendous amount of work in to making the race happen.

We have decided to forge ahead and start planning for the 2013 race. What we need are people who are willing to sit on the board of directors. It is no secret this is a tremendous amount of work for all involved, however as each race is executed the amount of leg work required gets a bit easier as contacts are established and we all gain knowledge as to what is expected for each race.

So if you are interested in seeing the Rail Trail 2013 become a reality and of course a success PLEASE come to the AGM and get involved! Bring a friend or two or five, come out and support us and we can make next year’s race a resounding success.

Hope to see you at the AGM

Ruth Sims

President, The Boundary Dog Sled Association

What it’s like in the area of the race

For those of you who were following the race but couldn’t be here … a little video of what the weather conditions are like in this area. I don’t have a sled or team so I did the next best thing – I went for a drive.

Enjoy 🙂

Awards Banquet video

The awards were given out at the banquet this evening at the Royal Canadian Legion. Here it is …

Awards Banquet still on

To those who are wondering ….

The Awards Banquet is still on.
7 PM at the Legion Hall tonight (sunday)
come one – come all
Tickets $25