Dogs have day in snow after 15-year wait

THEY may be barking, but falling snow provided perfect conditions for competitors at a weekend of sled racing in Aviemore.

The Highland resort hosted the 2010 Arden Grange and Siberian Husky Club of Great Britain Aviemore Sled Dog Rally, and for the first time in 15 years, dogs and mushers packed away their wheeled rigs and raced on snow with sleds.

More than 1,000 husky teams pulling 230 sleds enjoyed the conditions on forest trails around Loch Morlich, in the shadow of the Cairngorms. The teams of two to eight dogs pulled the sleds around a four-mile track.

Organiser Judy Wakker from the Siberian Husky Club of Great Britain said: "The falling snow made it just a perfect venue. We could have been racing in Norway or on the Alps.

"After 15 years of racing on wheels, it was a real bonus for us."

The event has grown since it was first held in 1984, when just a dozen teams made the long trip north.