Pep Parés’ life changed when he met Txao, a purebreed dog. It was then when he began to be excited by the idea of this sleddog cross-racing. His readings of Jack London “The Call of the Wild” or “White Fang”, feed his fascination by this world of nature and dogs. And therefore Pirena began, a dream which turned out to be a great event with 20 years of history began.

Pep Parés, with a past of actor, scriptwriter and director of theatre and television, discovered the goddess PIRENA when he adapted for the epic theatre the poem of Jacint Verdaguer, L’ATLANTIDA. The White Route of the Pyrenees takes then the name of the goddess.

Mushing has ancestral origins because the sleds with dogs already were used as a vehicle. The birth of mushing as a sport overcomes to 1925, when the city of Nomen, in Alaska, suffered from a serious epidemic of diphtheria and it was incommunicated by a strong storm.

Then only a sled with dogs could arrive to take necessary medicines there. In order to commemorate this was created the IDITAROD, a race on the same itinerary, and that is the most important sleddog race of the world because of the long distance that it crosses (1,700 kilometres) and the hardness of the snow routes of Alaska.

Since then mushing has been extended everywhere, also arriving at Spain, where the fans of this sport is on the increase thanks to the enthusiasm of mushers and to the work developed by the organisation and the sponsors of PIRENA, during the seventeen editions disputed until now. All that has become PIRENA-Grand Prix Affinty Advance one of the most important sleddog crossing race in Europe.