On a subzero winter morning, snow muffles all sound on the Grand Mesa until the sparkling flat-top mountain comes alive with the sharp yips and howls of eager sled dogs.

Those joyful sounds bring tears to the eyes of Shannon Greene, a U.S. Marine Corps wartime veteran. She knows her Siberian Huskies will follow her commands – Gee! (turn right), Haw! (turn left), Hup Hup Hup! (a motivational chant) – even into the teeth of blinding snowstorms. Some days, those storms turn a six-mile sled dog race into a grueling trek that feels like 60 or even 600 miles. Though Shannon might lose sight of what’s directly ahead, her dogs always know the way.

Grand Mesa, located on Colorado’s Western Slope, receives an impressive 300 to 420 inches of snow annually, on par with Wolf Creek Pass. It’s atop this snow-covered mesa that Shannon, who served 23 years in the Marines, brings the Siberian Huskies she’s bred, raised, and trained to compete in the annual Grand Mesa Summit Challenge.

Shannon and her husband, fellow Marine veteran Brian Cockriel, were married in 2014 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The couple now lives on a few acres north of Elizabeth, Colorado, where United States and Marine Corps flags fly proudly from their home. The property is spacious enough for their 13 dogs, who trample the backyard, wear down the wooden stairs, and bark insistently when a low-pressure front signals incoming snow.

Brian is Shannon’s handler on the Colorado sled-dog circuit, which includes races from Walden to Silverton. Their daughter, Raicheal Greene-Cockriel, joined the family’s passion as a junior-class sled-dog musher, competing in her first race in early 2024.

The family draws inspiration from the legendary Siberian Husky, Togo, who helped deliver life-saving serum during the 1925 diphtheria outbreak in Nome, Alaska. The Disney movie Togo has become a family favorite. Shannon estimates she’s watched it a “million” times, crying at each viewing. She even recites lines from the film. Her own lead Husky, Nanook, is her personal Togo, helping her earn the title of Colorado State Rookie Musher of the Year for the 2023-24 season.

 

On race day, the excitement is palpable. Teams like Montrose musher Jesse Miltier’s eight-dog pack sense the anticipation, jumping and straining at their harnesses as the countdown begins. With each passing second, their barking grows louder until, at the command “Go!”, they leap forward, propelling Miltier’s sled across the snow. Spectators cheer enthusiastically, chanting “Hike, hike, hike!” as the team vanishes into the wilderness, 32 furiously galloping legs kicking up a flurry of snow.

Two additional teams, spaced a minute apart, follow Miltier onto the course. The race’s 6- or 8-mile track winds across Grand Mesa’s rolling terrain, where the wind-rippled snow and breathtaking scenery create a challenging but stunning backdrop.

The Grand Mesa, the world’s largest flat-top mesa, dominates the eastern edge of Grand Valley. At 10,500 feet above sea level, the Summit Challenge holds the distinction of being the highest-elevation sled-dog race in North America. By comparison, Alaska’s nearly 1,000-mile Iditarod peaks at just 3,771 feet.

Preparations for the January event begin a week in advance. Members of the Rocky Mountain Dog Sled Club, along with U.S. Forest Service Snow Rangers, use snowmobiles to pack the trail. “You need to set a firm base so the dogs won’t sink to the bottom,” says Lynn Whipple, president of the Rocky Mountain Sled Dog Club, a co-sponsor of the race. After three days of packing, volunteers from the Delta SnoKrusers Snowmobile Club use their snowcat groomer to finish the course.

Participants compete in two categories: pro (seasoned mushers) and recreational (newer mushers), and in two disciplines: sled-dog racing and skijoring – a thrilling blend of cross-country skiing and dog power. Sled teams range from two to 16 dogs, with the race length matching the team size (the eight-dog course is 8 miles long).

Before the race, spectators and mushers gather for a course briefing. Popular Grand Junction radio personality MacKenzie Dodge provides live commentary from her repurposed yellow school bus. With her gravelly voice and infectious enthusiasm, Dodge encourages spectators to act as unofficial “handlers,” assisting mushers with unloading and guiding dogs from the parking lot to the starting gate.

 

Excitement on the track occasionally leads to chaos. Miltier’s team crosses the finish line without him, leaving officials scrambling to locate the missing musher. Volunteers quickly identify his dogs and contain them as Miltier, uninjured, recounts the mishap: “I was past the 8-mile turnaround when I went down into a dip. When I tried to straighten it out, my dogs flipped me.” Despite the setback, Miltier’s team finishes strong on day two, earning second place overall.

Whipple also encounters challenges. Her six-dog sled team, led by Apollo and Odie, becomes tangled at the start of her first race when a spectator lying on the course disrupts their momentum. “Apollo is the brains of the operation, and Odie has the speed,” she explains. “They’re a bit competitive, but they work well together.” The team recovers and clinches first place in their category with a total time of 49:33 minutes.

Durango Dog Ranch’s Roxie, a tireless competitor, dazzles in both the eight-dog sled race and one-dog skijor. After just an hour of rest, she’s back on the track, eager to pull musher Gregg Dubit across the snow. “She’s unstoppable,” says Dubit, as it takes three people to hold Roxie back before the skijor begins.

While Arctic breeds like Huskies and Malamutes dominate the sport, other breeds also shine. Laurie Brandt of Montrose races Eurohounds – a mix of German Shorthaired Pointer and Alaskan Husky – and compares skijoring to mountain biking. “You’re going up to 25 miles per hour downhill. On the uphill, I really push, like I’m the ‘third dog,’ ” she says. With two solid runs and no spills, Brandt takes third place in her race.

For many, the Summit Challenge is less about the competition and more about the bond between human and canine. “Dogs have a living-in-the-moment enthusiasm that’s contagious,” says Brandt. “When you’re out there racing with them, the pressures of life and work fall away.”

On the Grand Mesa, it’s always a race of grit, grace and the unbreakable bond between musher and hound.



Want to experience the thrill of the sled dog races for yourself?


Mark your calendar for the 2025 Grand Mesa Summit Challenge, happening Jan. 25-26, 2025 on the breathtaking Grand Mesa. Join us to cheer on mushers and their amazing canine teams, explore the winter wonderland and be part of this unforgettable Colorado tradition.

For event details, directions and tips for spectators, visit the Rocky Mountain Dog Sled Club website at rmsdc.org or follow them on social media for updates. We’ll see you on the snow!