Organizers who revived a historied dog sled race across Lake Minnetonka have canceled the event for the third consecutive year because of warm weather.
This year, Klondike Dog Derby planners had already moved the race day from Feb. 14 to March 7 because of a run of unseasonably high temperatures and rain.
A recent thaw and rain created a “slushy soup” on the big lake, said race director Bethany Hway. “There isn’t enough snowpack to put in a safe trail.”
Despite recent snow and a forecast that includes some colder weather, organizers decided to make the call now, three weeks before the event. Part of the timing was in consideration of participants who travel from Alaska and parts of Canada, Hway said.
Heavy snow and solid cold early in the season boded well for the race and its 35 sled dog teams.
“We had a strong start to winter and felt optimistic,” she added. “Our whole team felt like, this is our year.”
The derby starts and finishes in Excelsior, with mushers and their dogs running two 20-mile loops on Lake Minnetonka.
Hway, who grew up on the sport in Ely, helped revive dog sled racing on Lake Minnetonka. The Klondike Dog Derby returned in 2020, but its history dates to the 1930s, when racing was part of a winter festival in Excelsior. In the 1970s, the chamber of commerce and North Star Sled Dog Club put on sled dog events; more followed into the 1990s.
