Martha and Rod Taylor, owners of Uncommon Journeys, first flew to the Inuvialuit village of Holman on the west shore of Victoria Island in the Arctic Archipelago of Canada in 2002 with the goal of launching dog sledding trips in this remote area. Visiting with the Inuvialuit people that live in Holman, Rod and Martha made a presentation to the community about the benefits and opportunities of becoming involved in high-end tourism. In April of 2003, Martha and Rod returned to Holman and, travelling by dog sled and snowmobile on land and frozen Arctic Sea with a group of Inuvialuit guides from the village, secured their services for the historic launch of Holman’s first commercial dog sledding trip in 2004.
A journal entry from the first Holman dog sledding trip…
“The weather was magnificent, -15C with winds that reached a maximum of 40 mph on the third day of the trip. The Inuvialuit guides hunted to feed the dogteams. Herds of muskox and caribou were seen on the nearby hills and many seals could be seen resting near their respective blow holes. At one point Rod’s dogteam ran right up to within 10 feet of a large seal and it refused to dive down it’s hole, blowing threateningly at the dogs who just sat and stared in bewilderment! We returned to Whitehorse with a frozen Char that weighed over 15 pounds! It was truly like stepping back in time and was a trip of a lifetime.”
Holman is an incredible community, well known as being one of the most vibrant aboriginal communities in the North. The people there are incredibly friendly and inquisitive. The Holman print shop has produced Inuit prints that can be found on the walls of some of the most prestigious galleries in the world. The island is a wildlife oasis. On our Holman dog sledding adventure, we see herds of Muskox and caribou as well as arctic fox and several species of seal. The ice fishing is excellent with Arctic Char being the fish of choice.
Dogsledding out of Holman is a fascinating mix of Eastern and Western arctic traditions. The sleds are traditional Eastern komatiks but the sled dogs run in the Western tandem style, (two dogs side by side) as opposed to the fan hitch (each dog on a separate lead) of the East. On our Holman dog sled trip we will have two dog teams with two guides. One guest will ride on a sled with the guide. Additional guests will drive a snowmobile pulling komatiks with all the gear and food. Every day the guests will change, one day on a machine, one day on a dog sled. The machines tend to drive well ahead of the sled dog teams making camp for when the dogs arrive. This also ensures that the serenity of traveling with the dogs is not disturbed.
We sleep in modified mountaineering tents that have small stoves that we can turn on for a few hours at night and in the morning to relax and dry any gear that may be damp. The food is prepared by the guides and we eat in a large cook tent if the weather is at all blustery outside. Every day sees us dog sledding over different terrain, from sea ice with open leads and seal blowholes, to overland in hilly areas where the muskox are often found. The scenery is truly incredible on this pioneering dog sledding adventure in one of Canada’s most remote and culturally fascinating areas!
PREPARE TO GO:
