It was a lovely day on Sunday, perfect for racing dogs. It was cold, but sunny with no wind. On Copper Haul Rd, off Fish Lake Rd, there was a flurry of activity as mushers prepared their dog teams for the first Dog Powered Sports Association of the Yukon (DPSAY) Twister Race.

To add to the conditions a sun dog sat perched just above the mountains.

According to musher Martin Haefele, for some racers, this was their first time back on their sled this season.

“We finally had snow,” said Haefele. “For many near Whitehorse, it was tough sledding.

This was only their first or second time out on a sled.

“Most have still been training on an ATV or driving to places with snow.”

Haefele added that the dogs were certainly happy to be pulling a sled again.

The Twister race followed a 10-mile trail along the Copper Haul Road. Mushers either competed with eight dogs and a sled or four dogs while skijoring - 11 sleds and three skijorers raced.

The course mostly followed the road with some areas taking the mushers onto the trail. Haefele said the Copper Haul Road is a good place to start the race season.

“The course tends to be narrow on trails,” said Haefele. “Wider trails are better for passing. Copper Haul is nice to race on. It’s half-packed without a lot of vehicle traffic.”

Since the Twister was done on a road, there weren’t as many turns in the trail, which Haefele said the dogs prefer.

“Dogs want to run and tend to run faster with turns,” said Haefele. “If it’s just straight they sometimes get bored.”

Haefele agreed that the race conditions on Sunday were great, especially for the dogs.

“Around minus 20 C they do their best runs,” said Haefele. “It was about minus 14 C at the start of the race. It’s amazing how adaptable they are and what they can handle.”

With it being the first race on snow for a while, Haefele said all the times were close.

Armin Johnson and his eight dogs were the fastest team to finish the 10-mile race, his time was 32 minutes, 56 seconds.

Following in second was Mandy Johnson posting a time of 34 minutes, 53 seconds. Placing third was Martine Lelevier in 35 minutes, 33 seconds.

The top skijorer was Cynthia Coriveau. Her and her team of four dogs completed the 10 miles in 50 minutes, 25 seconds.

Second on the skis went to Jackie Taylor in 53 minutes, eight seconds and in third was Sochua Lesage.

Haefele said the races are fun for the dogs and that they can be competitive, like their musher, just not in the same way.

“The dogs like to chase other teams,” said Haefele. “People care about if they are first or what their time is. Dogs just care to catch a team that is ahead of them.”

Haefele said he will use the dogs’ desire to chase strategically during races.

“I have a slower team, so I like to draw a high number so we are one of the first teams on the trail,” said Haefele. “We like to get passed because then we can play catch-up.”

Before the race, the mushers drew numbers to determine their starting position. Once they had their start position, they left in two-minute intervals.

The next race will be the Carbon Hill in January, which has been held for over 30 years. It will feature 30, 10, and six-mile races as well as a 100-yard kids dash.

Haefele said this is one of the more popular DPSAY events.