LA RUTA BLANCA DE LOS PIRINEOS      LA RUTA BLANCA DELS PIRINEUS      THE WHITE ROUTE OF THE PYRENEES

Mushing and purebred dogs are concepts that can not be separated.

It is true that nowadays the most part of sleds run with teams composed by Alaskan dogs. In spite of that, everybody still associates purebred dogs with sleddog sports.

That is fair because for years sleds from the Tundra and the plains in North America were trained by purebred dogs.

Therefore Pirena has got a special class for them: In order to keep the tradition essence and to promote the care over those breeds.

 

?To enter this class all dogs competing in a team must be purebred?, explains Jesus Martinez, who is participating with one of the most beautiful teams. This musher has got 25 dogs from the line Polar Speed coming from Finland and from the line Anadys from Alaska.

In Pirena five purebred teams are competing: three Spaniards, Lázaro Martínez (Lazaro?s Team), Jesús Martínez and Jaime Pou ( Huesca La Magia) and two Germans, Torsten Pelz ( Nieve de Aragón) and Tamara Schlemmer (Agua de Veri).

 

In the general table for purebred class Tamara Schlemmer, whose dogs are very fast, is the leader. Far from her comes Lázaro Martínez, two hours after, and Torsten Pelz and Jesús Martínez, more that three hours after Schlemmer.

 

In this stage sleds climbed the Peak Orri (2.440 m. high). An important part of the 27 kilometers trail ran through the Natural Park of the High Pyrenees, where very nice wild animals can be seen.

 

The champion was again Tom Andres (Gaes), after him arrived Monika Frauchiger and Pavel Pfeifer ( Andorra).