Polson girl sets sights on dog sledding

By MICHELLE LOVATO

Lake County Leader

Charmayne Morrison, an eighth-grade student at Polson Middle School, is in Iditarod training and hopes to participate in her first Junior Race to the Sky next year.

One day, Morrison wants to compete in the Iditarod.

But before she can do those things, Morrison has to complete a few preparatory tasks: She needs to train a team of sled dogs. She needs to prepare herself for the grueling Alaskan race conditions and she needs to turn 18. 

But the goal ahead for Morrison is not daunting enough to stop her from training for her dream. Every day she rides her mountain bike around to exercise her three-dog team.

Morrison is blessed. She had a natural interest in the sport of dog sledding, a perfect personality to set her mind to the task at hand and a teacher at Polson Middle School who came from Kasilof, Alaska, where dog teams, mushing and the famous Iditarod competition are a way of life.

Morrison held two demonstrations for her classmates just after lunch March 24. 

Since there was no snow on the ground for Morrison to use, she set up in the school’s library, where she started her demonstration, then finished it outside by showing students how to line up sled dogs. Finally, she ran the dogs in front of her bicycle to show other students how she is training. 

The demonstration was the final activity surrounding Polson Middle School teacher Amy Williams’ Iditarod curriculum for this year.

Williams began her education career in Polson during the 2012-2013 school year after teaching in Alaska for 10 years.When she arrived, Williams started an Iditarod-focused curriculum for her class. The following year, the entire school participated in the Iditarod educational outreach. This year, students from 10 classrooms representing all grade levels took part in the Iditarod event at Polson Middle School.

For Morrison, studying the Iditarod in her advanced studies class earlier this year sparked a new love for long-distance dog racing. That’s when Morrison’s teacher, Tamara Fisher, put her in touch with Williams. Williams in turn, contacted some friends in Alaska who volunteered the use of two of their ten-year-old veteran sled dogs for training.

“Kasilof is like the mushing capital of the world,” Willams said. “It’s part of everyday life. 

A teaching friend who was interested in seeing Morrison fulfill her dreams sent two experienced, decorated dogs to Polson.

“They are veteran dogs with several thousands of miles of racing under their collars,” Williams said. “She also has a puppy.”

Williams cared for the pair during the summer and Morrison took over in the fall. Morrison took it upon herself to study up on the sport, and contacted a Bigfork firm that helped her acquire the dog sledding equipment needed and helped the student get her future underway. 

“She just ran with it,” Williams said. “For the last four months she has just been putting her heart into it. She is a very motivated student.”

Part of that effort is in exercising her team, something she does perched from her mountain bike. 

Morrison, who is the middle daughter from a well-versed rodeo family, jumped right into the hard work of long-distance dog sledding.

“The dogs are a very high-energy breed and they need a lot of exercise,” Morrison said. “They can run up to 50 miles a day and be completely comfortable and fine.”

The older dogs are mentoring Cinna, Morrison’s five-month-old puppy, which was bred to become a long-distance runner. 

And the older dogs’ Alaskan owners are mentoring Morrison.

“It’s a lot of work and it’s not easy, but it’s rewarding at the end,” Morrison said. “For training you have to put miles on them and get them to know the commands so you can trust them with your life. It’s a 1,000-mile race with just the dogs.”

Morrison will be eligible to compete in Montana’s Junior Race to the Sky next year, which will take her on her first 100-mile race. After the junior races, Morrison will be eligible to compete in the Race to the Sky, which offers 100-mile and 300-mile races.

After that, it’s on to the Iditarod, Williams said. 

As part of their dog-sledding studies, middle school students tracked Jessie Royer, the only musher declared as a Montana resident. Morrison and several other fifth- through eighth-grade classes participated in the Iditarod segment that focused on tracking this year’s Iditarod event.

Students who participated each tracked different mushers who competed in the race by using global positioning satellite technology, daily musher tracking systems and charts to watch their individual musher’s progress along the trail. 

Students then logged their musher’s progress on an interactive bulletin board near the school’s front office.

Students also participated in a “read-in” in celebration of the Idita-read program.