Leader of the Pack
- Jodi Brunner
- 14 hours ago
- 5 min read
By Jerrica Andrews • Photos Provided
Dog sledding can be traced back to as early as 6,000 BC. It was the ideal transportation in
northern regions for indigenous people. The dogs’ light muscular frame, high energy and endurance made them perfect travel companions for native people and later explorers on treks where larger animals could not go.
The first dog team came to the North Country in 1910 with famous Alaskan Musher William F. Cooper (AKA Caribou Bill). With his team of Alaskan Malamutes, he offered rides on Broadway in Saranac Lake and rented the team and equipment to movie producers.
Around 1915 Cooper left the area and those same movie producers encouraged professional dog trainer, Jacques Suzanne, to take his place. Suzanne, renowned for his animal expertise, had driven a dog sled over 5,000 miles across the North Pole. He assisted the Army in WWII with dogs, sleds and training. At a filmmakers’ urging, Suzanne established a dog ranch in Lake Placid, creating a headquarters for mushers, dog sleds and a variety of dogs. Many a movie was filmed there in the 1920s and 30s. Suzanne and his team became an attraction at the Lake Placid Club, and they could be seen taking couples for rides around Mirror Lake.
In the 100 plus years since Suzanne and his team were making trips a lot has changed, but couples and families can still enjoy dog sled rides around the lake. Today those rides are offered by two different sled teams. Mike Arnold Dog Sled Rides and Thunder Mountain Dog Sled Rides. The businesses consider themselves friendly competitors, working opposite ends of the lake, but it’s clear they share the comradery of the sport.
Mike Arnold tells the story of his first dog and how he got into sledding. “A dog was left on my doorstep,” he chuckled. Though he finds humor in it now, he was left with little choice at the time when the dog’s owners abandoned it and returned to Alaska. Arnold took the dog in and soon found himself with eight pups when the dog made itself at home with the neighbor’s Husky.
Arnold was an avid winter camper and saw an opportunity to train the animals as freight dogs, pulling gear on winter camping trips in the surrounding peaks. Five years later his pack had grown to 15 and Arnold transitioned into professional work to help cover the dogs’ expenses. He began working with another musher on the ice, but after about a year the man disappeared and left the market wide open. That’s when Arnold established his own business. He’s been offering professional rides for 45 years now.
John Houghton of Thunder Mountain Dog Sled Tours has a little bit different history. He also started with one dog which he tragically lost. “So, of course, I went out and got two more,” he quipped in an effort to lighten the mood of the story. “Soon I was experimenting with harnesses and having the dogs pull blocks. Eventually I got a sled.”
Houghton, who learned mushing through practical experience, noted, “The only way to truly learn it is to be on the sled doing it.” In the early 1980s he started racing, and by the end of the decade he had a healthy pack of about 20 dogs and was doing runs on Mirror Lake. That is when he struck out on his own.
A Family Affair
On a sunny Sunday morning when I met with the Arnold and Houghton families in Vermontville, I was reminded of a family gathering. There I was with the two old timers, swapping stories of their past escapades and making jokes about their current injuries as the families sat around and listened, interjecting here and there. I learned both families are now second generation and are bringing the third generation into the business.
Arnold’s two boys, AJ and Chris, grew up on the sled and are a large part of the tours now since Mike’s knee surgery. Similarly, Houghton’s daughter, Emma McCuin, grew up in the business and plans to take it over with her husband Connor. Houghton recalled a time when, “Emma would climb in the dog houses with the puppies.” When asked when they planned to retire, both men chuckled, offering similar statements, “Not as long as I can stay on the sled.”
The Dogs
The Arnolds run mostly Siberian-Samoyed mixes while the majority of Thunder Mountain dogs are the sleeker Alaskan Husky — some with Iditarod blood lines. Sled dogs were bred for speed, endurance, strength and a strong work ethic, along with inherent traits like resistance to cold, teamwork, intelligence, trainability, and docility. Their coats are suited to low temperatures and they have an innate determination and cooperative attitude that are crucial for pulling heavy loads over long distances in harsh conditions.
The dogs will run for an average of ten to twelve years and generally don’t retire. “It’s really what they live for. They are never happier than when they are on a run,” McCuin explained, “We don’t stop bringing them with us to the ice. We let them get in the number of runs they want and then we swap them out with another team member.” Houghton went on to explain that not every dog works out in every position, sometimes personality determines where each ends up.
The Ride
The teams take off from opposite ends of Mirror Lake. The loop is roughly a half a mile and takes about five minutes. The sleds can hold up to six passengers and the average team size is seven to eight dogs. Rates are charged per person and while larger parties are their favorite, the average trip is two passengers and one musher. Both businesses are walk up and your wait will depend on the length of the line.
Their season starts the day after Christmas and continues through February, weather permitting. They run mostly weekend hours, other than the week between Christmas and New Year’s and Presidents’ week, which are their busiest times of the year. If there is no ice or snow in those weeks, it can be a huge loss for Arnold and Houghton.
“The ice is becoming a big concern,” shared AJ. “We need at least four inches to run. When I was growing up it could be as thick as three feet, but we are seeing warmer temperatures in the region now, leaving thinner ice. Currently, by mid-February the ice averages only 13-18 inches.”
There have been times when they have set up at a local race track when there was snow, but no ice, but the snow doesn’t hold up to the runs the way the ice does.
The Future
The second generation of Arnolds and Houghtons have a clear hold in the business and you are just as likely to have Emma, AJ or Chris as your musher as you are to have Mike or John. Both families are looking toward the future and have explored different options — possibly groomed trials and longer rides in the event they lose the ice, but for now, they are proud to offer a fun and affordable experience and do something they all enjoy.
Mike Arnold Dog Sled Rides
South end of Mirror Lake
(Behind Golden Arrow Hotel)
Lake Placid, NY 12946
(518) 323-7622
Thunder Mountain Dog Sled Rides
North end of Mirror Lake
(Behind Player’s Sports Bar)
Lake Placid, NY 12946
(518) 891-6239