Travel by Dog sled

Our 5-night "Wintergreen Classics" includes complete training and gear outfitting, 1st & last nights in lodges, 4 days/3 nights of guided wilderness travel & winter camping, generally 6 participants with 2 guides per group

On these entry-level winter skills programs, you'll spend your first evening & morning at the lodge receiving hands-on training in winter camping and travel skills, including dog care & harnessing, dogsledding, back-country skiing, snowshoeing, winter ecology, and cold weather comfort and safety. Then you'll embark on a 4-day, 3-night guided wilderness dogsled trek.

You'll travel by dogteam each day (with skiing & snowshoeing as optional campsite activities) and enjoy campfire chats with your guides and group each evening. You'll camp in our Himalayan Hotel sleeping tents (or try an "igloo"!), Siberian Chalet cooking tent, and our cozy Antarctic sleeping bags and strata-rest pads ("a toasty sleep at any temp!") We'll celebrate the trip with a festive final evening back at the lodge.

No experience or gear needed. Lots of learning & lots of fun! A "hands-on" experience during which you'll have a chance to try it all: harnessing & driving dogteams, setting camp, fire building, outdoor cookery, building snow shelters and more. Open to anyone in good fitness (singles, pairs, groups), including families with kids 8 and older. Rental clothing and boots available. These are the trips that launched Wintergreen back in 1987 and they've remained a favorite of guests and staff alike ever since.

Participant Profile:

Last year, half of these trips were booked by families, schools or clubs for their own private trip. Of the other guests, half were couples, 20% were pairs of friends or family members and 10% were singles. Ages ranged 8-76. About 20% had dogsledded before (generally on our lodge-to-lodge trips), about half had never been camping before (summer or winter) and a few had never been in snow before!

Group & Guides:

Each of our "Classics" is facilitated by 2 Wintergreen guides plus support staff . Each trip accommodates one or two groups of 6 persons each. If there are two groups, training sessions are presented jointly at the lodge but on the trail the groups and their guides travel and camp separately. Generally, three freight sleds are provided for each group of 6. These large sleds each accommodate two drivers, who stand side-by-side on the back of the sled. Participants drive the sleds while the guides ski along nearby to assist as needed.