Pure Dog Talk

Storm Kloud team of Alaskan Malamutes proved their heritage in 1994 After two years and 3,000 hours of training, Nancy Russell’s Storm Kloud Alaskan Malamutes were ready to compete in the iconic Iditarod Race in 1994. Storm Kloud Alaskan Malamute team at a check point on the Iditarod in 1994. Russell shares her stories of this epic journey, noting that she was proud to show that “Our dogs can still go on and do what they were bred to do.” Twenty below for eight days Russell and her crew drove with the five females and 10 males, all but one bitch intact, that made the final team. “It was 20 below zero when we left Minnesota. And it never got above that for eight days, all the way to Alaska,” Russell said. "There was no snow in Anchorage," Russell said "so they hauled in snow and put enough on the street to run the teams 15 blocks. Because a driver would not be able to set a snow hook if they had trouble with a team, an extra person had to ride with them. Therefore I got to ride in the sled for the ceremon