Dog sled and dog-ski racing: Mushing

This is possibly one of the most curious and fun sports for many, and one that takes place in the Pyrenees, it can only be said that it is worth seeing. Perhaps this word will not ring a bell to many people, but it refers to nothing more than sled or ski races led by dogs.

This activity, which it is necessary to emphasise is sporting, stems from a reality in the Nordic countrieswhere it is normal to use these animals for the transport of things and people, and for moving through icy and snow-covered areas at high speed -These dogs are all sportsmen.

The rider in this type of sport, i.e. the person who drives the dogs, is called a musher and in Spain, specifically in the Pyrenees there are races of mushing.

In the mushing we can also find different disciplines:

There is the so-called cartThe sledge is a sledge with 4 wheels, usually pulled by 6 to 12 dogs. Another modality is the skijöring The sportsman or musher usually uses some cross-country skis that are pulled by 1 or 2 dogs.

The tricycle usually has 3 wheels and is pulled by 3 or 4 dogs. The BikeJöring is a variant of the sport in which the player rides a scooter or a bicycle that is usually pulled by 1 or 2 dogs.

Finally, there is the modality Canicross being one in which the musher must run and is pulled by 1 dog. The athlete wears a harness around his waist and runs.

Until 2012, and for 22 years, the mushing competition PirenaThe route, which crossed the Pyrenees from West to East, through Navarre, Aragon, Catalonia, Andorra and France.