International mushers will race near Sisters

Christo Smit in training. photo provided Mushers from South Africa, Scotland, and Sweden have entered the Atta Boy 300 IFSS World Sled Dog Championships slated to run in Central Oregon January 5-15, 2005.

The world sled dog championships will consist of the six-dog mid-distance class followed by the 12-dog mid-distance class. The six-dog class will be approximately 25-30 miles for each of two days starting on Friday, January 7 at Mt. Bachelor.

The Atta Boy 300 will become the 12-dog championship which will start on Sunday, January 9 and run through Friday, January 14. The 12-dog championship will be in the stage racing format, 35 ­ 50 miles each day for 6 days, for a total of approximately 300 miles. The races will take place at Mt. Bachelor, in Bend, Hoodoo Resort and Upper Three Creek Sno Park, outside of Sisters, Walton Lake at Prineville, and Newberry Crater in La Pine before returning to Mt. Bachelor for the final day of racing.

Christo Smit of Gauteng, South Africa will be competing in the six-dog championship using a team of dogs provided by Race Director, Jerry Scdoris.

Smit's racing career started in 2002 and consists mostly of dryland racing. The last time South Africa had snow was 1982, according to Smit's father, Fred, who along with his wife and another son, will accompany Christo to the World Championships. In 2003 Smit dominated the point standings in the scooter class from the second race of the season.

Smit runs Alaskan Huskies that the family imported for racing.

A resident of Dumfries and Galloway in southwest Scotland, Steven Lindsay is a full time manager of a project called "Dog Sport Scotland" which has set up dedicated sled dog trails for the 400+ UK mushers to train and race on. He will also be competing in the six-dog class then act as a race judge for the 12-dog class.

Lindsay has been racing for the last 14 years, mostly with scooters in dryland competition which is more popular in drier climates than it is in the United States.

Lindsay is an ex-Scottish amateur boxing champion and an avid adventure sports enthusiast.

Sara Sundin, of Orsa, Sweden, will be competing in the six-dog championships also using a Scdoris team. Sundin grew up on a dairy farm in Orsa, in the middle of Sweden. She was only three weeks old the first time she went dogsledding.

She received several Swedish Championship medals and a Silver medal at the European Championship in pulka.

Pulka is similar to skijoring with the main difference being that the dog is harnessed to a sled and the skier is attached to the sled. In the Nome or sled dog style, Sara earned a Bronze medal in the Swedish Championship. Now she is studying for her Bachelor of Science degree in Forest Engineering.

For more information go to the Atta Boy 300 website at www.attaboy300.com.