Safety first

For us, safety comes first on tour. It starts with our highly experienced guides: all tours are led by the owners, Anne and Morten. Both speak fluent Norwegian, English and German, making it easy to communicate with guests and other people in the region at all times. Anne and Morten work full-time on the farm, have known all the dogs since they were puppies, and understand their strengths and weaknesses. They know the routes, accommodations and weather conditions inside out, and have extensive experience of where and in what conditions it’s best to travel.

With almost 40 years of experience, the husky farm has established routines, in-depth knowledge and the right equipment to run multi-day dog-sledding tours professionally and safely. We are one of the few dogsledding operators whose main business is multi-day tours and who offer guided trips throughout the winter. As a result, our operations are well practised, and we know the snow and ice conditions throughout the season. We also stay in close communication and share experience with our partner Huskyfarm, Bardu Huskylodge.

An essential part of every tour is the mandatory preparation day at the farm. It is one of our most important safety measures we got.

The day begins with a hearty breakfast. Then you’ll head outside with the other participants and your guide for a thorough introduction to dog sledding. Everyone gets to know their dogs and their sled. After the theory comes the practical part: together with the guide, each participant takes their own dog team out for a practice run. This gives you a chance to put what you’ve learned into practice, avoid mistakes and ease any initial nerves.

After the practice run, plenty of questions usually come up. We take our time answering them over lunch in the restaurant. Next comes a detailed safety briefing, so everyone knows what to do in an emergency and which routines to follow in bad weather. Then we go over the route, and the guide checks each participant’s clothing and equipment. If anything is missing, our well-stocked clothing room is there to help. We want everyone to stay warm and enjoy their time in the mountains.

To finish, we pack the sleds together, distribute the shared equipment and go through everything once more, so everyone knows where things are.

On tour, we’re a team: everyone pitches in, and we reach our destination only by working together.

The preparation day ends with a delicious dinner shared together.

In the mountains, we’re often out of reception and exposed to the weather and wind. That’s why we always carry two tents and the equipment needed to set up an emergency camp. If the weather suddenly turns, we can make camp at any time and wait for it to pass safely—without getting unnecessarily cold or taking unnecessary risks.

For emergencies and reliable weather updates, we carry a satellite phone, a PLB (personal locator beacon) and a Garmin inReach device. We also always bring two GPS units and plenty of spare batteries.

A comprehensive first-aid kit is, of course, always part of our equipment.