Show C3 The Herald Journal Logan Utah Friday October 17 '2003 — - CS8T IMKiMsisEm :si j s© Omias toimsinni ®i? Albany NY when asked why she ipurchased the $39 tour "‘We love dogs” said Gerry Tucker of Miami Fla “We’ve had as many as five dogs all at DENAU NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE Alaska (AP)— Jeff King is ' one of the Iditarod’s toughest competitors Like other elite chammushers the three-tim-e sled pion of die 1100-mil- e dog race can be brutally sharp-edgwhen racing But King oozes charm as a host to tourists at his home and kennel eight miles south of Denali National Park and ! oaasfL After a brief welcome " tTl-- i King I i vW i k-- W- - -- took off to get some of his adult dogs ready for a training demonstration attaching them vehicle as to an they howled in excitement Tessa 17 the second-olde- ed j all-terr- : Preserve ttaK if- st of King’s dure daughters This is home to me and my family and we’re glad to share it with you tonight” said King standing atop a r boulder outside his log house instructed the visitors to walk down a gravel path to the nearby dbg lot where about 70 tethered canines barked a loud chorus As die tourists stood next to a puppy running on an exer- - v rise wheel Tessa spoke about the dogs’ training their diet the type of fur day have and how they instinctively know how to drag a sled “We put the dogs in harness at 6 months of age Just tike you don’t have to teach a r retriever to retrieve these dogs don’t need to be taught M to pull” she said her voice carried through a microphone ! headset Only 10 percent of the puppies end up staying with my father” Tessa said “It’s tike trying to place with the ? on a recent evening Crisp air and fading sun-- $ tight serf a chiti though the y crowd most of them cus-tomers of Princess the Los cruise tine Angeles-base- d More than 15000 tourists ' took in a Husky Homestead V Tour diis season according to King up from roughly 200 when the California native started selling tours a decade 7 ago Business is booming so " much that King quit Ins job as a contractor long ago and is expanding his fleet of shuttle buses He now makes his 7 ing primarily from tourism Corporate sponsorships and his wife’s art business round out die family income King said he has contracts with all die major cruise tines 'operating in Alaska as well as a slew of other tour compa-- ' : ' v !'£ C 7 APpt° j Jeff King talks to tourists at his home and kennel near the Denali Pdik and National Preserve Alaska last month and the rest is history “She’s in total control now” King joked : He talked about his racing career Besides his three Idi- tarod victories he’s finished in the top 10 every year since '5 LA Lakers 1992 He’s also won the Soon King pulled into the 300 a record seven Kusko run lot from a quick training times including die past three half a dozen dogs or so pulling an ATV Virtually all C years in a row King also won the tourists beamed and some the Kobuk 440 this year He ' Viiies-!Ki1::'-: :claimed victory in the 1000- -"applauded V 7 He isn’t alone Other Iditar-- § Next the group piled into a mile Viikon Quest in 1989 od mushers cashing in mi their 7 lecture hall King built next to V- “Some of the best moments and worst moments of my life fanv and lifestyle include - T ! his house! One of his Iditarod ft have been spent on the back Susan Butcher Mitch Seaveyf sleds and some gear like a 7 yi ' ’w ' Ar pnoto dog sled” said King who Linwood Fiedler Ubby Rid- - i cook stpve and a dog food vi' 'v' 'V r' sack were strewn about die 7 v figures he has logged more dies and Lynda Plettner ' Jeff King' holds one of his summer puppies while flanked by his than 150000 miles in his All work with tour compa-center of the room After daughter Tessa as he gives a tour of his kennels at his home near mushing career nies or market their own busi- - everyone got settled King Denali National Pjaik and Preserve Alaska! 7 & A couple hundred miles nesses The mushers showcase-- : launched into a talk about his ' : s®11 of King’s place on their kennels while teaching childhood in California his V ?mer torse trainer from Cali-7- 7 od Plettner teaches tourists tourists about racing tech-- : move to Alaska in 1975 and --v' Parks Highway Plettner also about mushing and takes them fomia and the operator of an spends the summers immersed meeting his wife Donna niques the history of the Idi- Iditarod boot camp for would- - ' for rides on wheeled carts middle-ofin sled dog tours A Gates after running into her' tarod and dog racing culture - ' 7 pulled by some of her dogs be racers ! musher who has run Guests get to cuddle puppies 7v literally in Denali park Her? yj Whmi she’s not training har!vAThe visitors get to horde and 7 and in some cases take dog 7V) f dog team got tangled with his y the Iditarod 10 times Plettner unhook dogs put them in har-team or others’ for the Iditar-is a proud grandmother a for- sled rides Glacier mushing runs about $350 10 times more than d :: : ffLETTHE-BDPINGBEGiNlfe-gdog sled ride 7 " Fiedler a Willow musher ' ipV who has run the Iditarod 15 is times and placed second in 1 2001 expanded his Alaska : liv-7- : -- - : 4 ’ 11 ‘ ' - - 1 " - - ' nesses and try their hand at : covering paws with booties j‘Everyone who comes here is ecstatic” she said The tours provide Plettner : with a portion of her income She also supports herself with the boot camp by renting rooms to mushers and by sell- ing meat and dog food Seavey of Seward a veteran Iditarod musher fourth in 1998 just fiii- - : -ished his 1 1 th season giving summer mushing tours and is considered a pioneer in the world of sled dog tourism His eldest son Danny 21 many! aged the family business this summer while his wife and three other sons helped out y " Not many others wen who-place- '' years ago - : ? Seavey But as tourism has grown and become more important in the state’s economy more'-'- ' j mushers are following' Seavey’s lead he said : the-pa- ck f a to I - ' a land-base- - : i-- ' available on October 9th at 9:00 am Phone lines willy be available Octoberll 9th at 5pmW!atcliS§i5 for the Auction Mania Guide in the VK'Sunday October 19th Herald Journal The Auction Mania website 7 jieli-Mus- h business this sum- - mer in response to demand & Fw several years he has been taking 150 dogs to Juneau where he sets up 7 camp on Norris Glacier and gives rides Over the summer he and his family ran 60 dogs ion a glacier above Seward for Aft first time said Kathy y Fiedler his wife 7 “We feel we’ve introduced die sport to a lot of people over the last five years It’s real exciting for us” she said With King’s operation visitors get picked up by one of his three shuttle buses that make the rounds at feast three times a day to hotels and other lodging near the entrance to Denali park After a quick ride down the Parks Highway the buses pull onto a (fort road and climb a mile-lon- g driveway to the King property perched on a hill overlooking Goose Lake with the Alaska Range providing a backdrop On a recent visit dog handlers greeted the guests with armfuls of Iditarod hopefuls The guests uniformly responded with “oohs and ahhs” as they cuddled the Alaskan Husky pup- jWV " r’ ' C’ - Ji1- - f4 V‘ ITS TIME TO BID ON HUNDREDS OF GREAT ITEMS & GET1 FANTASTIC BARGAINS FROM LOOM BUSINESSES! $ !-- V r ' ¥ CKOOSETROr1 OVER $500000 irj r:2C£C2ATJDISE8 pies “We wanted to pet the puppies” cooed Joan Booth of Tell The Herald Journal what you think and you'll be entered to win FREE groceries Take Hie Herald Journal Reader Survey at wwwpulseresearch comhjnews 53 nS5 Herald Arttkijournal ' a 4 tis 1 |