MUSH MON MUSH! - JAMAICA TOURIST ISSUE 12
Jamaicans know no limits; the more extreme and original, the better. As geographically distant from winter climes as The Yukon territory is from the beach, this small island first stunned the world by entering a bobsled team in the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. And so, the formation of a winter Jamaican Dogsled Team should not come as too much of a surprise. No snow? No problem mon! Just change the runners for some wheels and you have a brand new tourist attraction with a tropical island twist.
In their inimitable fashion, the Jamaicans have added their own, magic touch even to the traditional realms of dogsledding. While the word ‘mush’, an abbreviation of ‘mush on’ deriving from the French word ‘marchons’ has been used to urge on the dogs during a dogsled journey for as long as anyone cares to remember, the Jamaican Dogsled Team has added its very own twist to the term by interspersing the patios word ‘mon’, creating the unique motto ‘mush mon mush’.
The idea of a Jamaican Dogsled Team was conceived when Danny Melville visited Canada to shop for dune buggies for a new adventure in 2005. At a manufacturing shop in Edmonton, the imaginative CEO of Chukka Caribbean Adventures came across a dogsled with wheels. When the shop owner explained to him that it was a dogsled used for training when there was no snow, Melville got excited. “I was told that in Scotland, they used the sleds for tourist excursions so I felt if they can do it in Scotland, we could do it in Jamaica,” he explained.
The owners of the shop encouraged Melville to contact renowned dogsled coach Alan Stewart of the Cairngorm Sled-dog Adventure Company near Aviemore in Scotland and before long, the ingenious Melville had devised a plan equally as cunning as that of the Jamaica Bobsled Team. Soon, Chukka’s very own resident Dr. Doolittle, Devon Anderson, was on his way to Scotland equipped with winter clothes to get a crash course in how to run a dogsled team. The Scottish dogsled trainer soon found Devon to be a natural. “The dogs would do absolutely anything for him,” says Melville.
Explains the Chukka CEO, “The idea of the Jamaica Dogsled Experience was to train our mushers, race abroad and more importantly, create an actual tourist experience.”
Back in Jamaica a few weeks later, the Scottish coach was promptly outfitted with flip-flops and shorts and put on a mission to make Melville’s dream of a dogsled team a reality. Joining forces with famous Minnesota dogsled trainer Rick Johnson, the duo recruited spirited mutts from the Jamaican SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and started training for the team’s first winter race.
But sponsorship was still missing. Thanks to the support of Jimmy Buffet, a personal friend of Melville who took a liking to his wild idea, Margaritaville came on board as sponsors and made the launch of the imaginative concept possible. Later Westjet Vacations, Columbia, Annamaet Petfoods, Alpine Aviation and Yukon Harley-Davidson also became sponsors.
Thus, the Jamaica Dogsled Team was officially launched in 2006, when Devon Anderson made massive waves in the UK media by being the first Jamaican sled dog racer to compete in Europe’s largest husky racing event in Aviemore, Scotland. Following in the footsteps of the island’s first ‘musher’, several individuals at Chukka Cove have made temporary transfers into the arctic cold on an ongoing basis. A veteran in the extreme sport, Damion Robb counts several successful races to his portfolio, including 1st place in the 2007 East Meets West Dryland Challenge in Brainerd Minnesota.
It is Newton Marshall though, after having joined Chukka as a gardener in 2002, who has become the most famous member of this one-of-a-kind group of persevering arctic adventurers. Handpicked by supervisor Devon to look after a trio of dogs in 2002, Newton was astonished to find that the mutts responded to him when hitched to a three-wheel cycle. The same year, he left sunny Jamaica for the first time to train with huskies in the Minnesota snow. Says Newton, “I did not know what I was getting myself into. I thought the cold could be compared to a rainy day in Jamaica, but I quickly found out that I was very naïve thinking that.”
In 2008, Newton placed 7th in the 210-mile Percy DeWolfe Memorial Mail Race. He also received the Sportsmanship Award from fellow ‘mushers’ for the race from Yukon’s Dawson City to Alaska’s Eagle and back before landing a 13th place in a field of 27 starters in the 300-mile Alaska’s Copper Basin race.
Newton got his big break when lead musher Devon Anderson, who was scheduled to leave Jamaica to train for the 2009 Yukon Quest, changed his mind at the thought of leaving sunny Jamaica for an extended period in the freezing, arctic winter. Little did he know that the adventure would catapult him into the stratosphere of media attention two years later.
Arriving in Yukon’s freezing Whitehorse in November 2007 to begin his long distance training with three-time Yukon Quest winner and tough task master Hans Gatt, Newton had to deal with sub-zero temperatures and 100-mile dogsled runs, learning basic dog care and camping skills for himself and fourteen dogs for periods of 10 - 14 days in the freezing dead of winter.
After two years of preparation, the 26-year-old tour guide from the St. Ann Parish was ‘ready’ for the world’s toughest dogsled race, which takes mushers and their dogs the 1,000 miles from Whitehorse, Yukon to Fairbanks, Alaska in the middle of the Arctic winter. Recalls Newton, “You are on your own with everything, and have to take care of the dogs and yourself. No one can help you. At one point, I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish.”
Armed with a good dose of Jamaican stubbornness and a small mountain of chocolate bars, Newton made it through the brutal cold of winter to cross the finish line of the gruelling 2009 Yukon Quest in Fairbanks, Alaska becoming the first Jamaican, as well as the first black man to enter and finish this international challenge.
Says Newton remembering the 12 days and 284 hours of sledding, “It was not easy to make it through to the finish line and at times, I felt like uttering some good Jamaican curses.” Adds the musher, “I brought warm thoughts to the dogs and myself by singing one of my favorite Buju Banton songs, which helped immensely.”
The rookie ‘musher’ placed 13th out of 29 participants, but you would have thought he was the winner, judging from the amount of attention by the world’s media, who found the idea of a tropically born Jamaican unfamiliar with cold climates competing in an extreme winter sport absolutely irresistible. States Newton with pride, “In the beginning, my family thought I was crazy, but now that I have showed them what I can achieve, everybody thinks it’s great.”
This major coup in extreme sports is described in the documentary ‘Sun Dogs’ produced by Chris Blackwell and directed by Andrea Stewart, which showcases the evolvement of this incredible undertaking and is set to appear on the big screen soon. Be sure to stop at the gift shop for a copy of ‘Sun Dogs’ or any other cute gifts, the proceeds from which help the less fortunate dogs at the Jamaica SPCA. Says the charismatic Melville, “What we are doing is very good for the sport because of the outrageousness of this whole thing. We’re probably exposing dogsled racing to more publicity than it has had in a long time because we are a Jamaican team.”
Hear the amazing stories of the Jamaica Dogsled Team members first hand at Chukka Adventure Tours. The fun filled encounter starts with a thorough briefing on the history of the team, snippets from the ‘Sun Dogs’ documentary, a walk through the museum and kennels and finally a thrilling ride on the wheeled dogsled pulled by 13 mutts. The Jamaica Dogsled Team and attraction is located at Chukka Adventure Tours, Chukka Cove Farm, St. Ann. Call 972-2506 or visit www.jamaicadogsled.com and www.chukkacaribbean.com.
In their inimitable fashion, the Jamaicans have added their own, magic touch even to the traditional realms of dogsledding. While the word ‘mush’, an abbreviation of ‘mush on’ deriving from the French word ‘marchons’ has been used to urge on the dogs during a dogsled journey for as long as anyone cares to remember, the Jamaican Dogsled Team has added its very own twist to the term by interspersing the patios word ‘mon’, creating the unique motto ‘mush mon mush’.
The idea of a Jamaican Dogsled Team was conceived when Danny Melville visited Canada to shop for dune buggies for a new adventure in 2005. At a manufacturing shop in Edmonton, the imaginative CEO of Chukka Caribbean Adventures came across a dogsled with wheels. When the shop owner explained to him that it was a dogsled used for training when there was no snow, Melville got excited. “I was told that in Scotland, they used the sleds for tourist excursions so I felt if they can do it in Scotland, we could do it in Jamaica,” he explained.
The owners of the shop encouraged Melville to contact renowned dogsled coach Alan Stewart of the Cairngorm Sled-dog Adventure Company near Aviemore in Scotland and before long, the ingenious Melville had devised a plan equally as cunning as that of the Jamaica Bobsled Team. Soon, Chukka’s very own resident Dr. Doolittle, Devon Anderson, was on his way to Scotland equipped with winter clothes to get a crash course in how to run a dogsled team. The Scottish dogsled trainer soon found Devon to be a natural. “The dogs would do absolutely anything for him,” says Melville.
Explains the Chukka CEO, “The idea of the Jamaica Dogsled Experience was to train our mushers, race abroad and more importantly, create an actual tourist experience.”
Back in Jamaica a few weeks later, the Scottish coach was promptly outfitted with flip-flops and shorts and put on a mission to make Melville’s dream of a dogsled team a reality. Joining forces with famous Minnesota dogsled trainer Rick Johnson, the duo recruited spirited mutts from the Jamaican SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and started training for the team’s first winter race.
But sponsorship was still missing. Thanks to the support of Jimmy Buffet, a personal friend of Melville who took a liking to his wild idea, Margaritaville came on board as sponsors and made the launch of the imaginative concept possible. Later Westjet Vacations, Columbia, Annamaet Petfoods, Alpine Aviation and Yukon Harley-Davidson also became sponsors.
Thus, the Jamaica Dogsled Team was officially launched in 2006, when Devon Anderson made massive waves in the UK media by being the first Jamaican sled dog racer to compete in Europe’s largest husky racing event in Aviemore, Scotland. Following in the footsteps of the island’s first ‘musher’, several individuals at Chukka Cove have made temporary transfers into the arctic cold on an ongoing basis. A veteran in the extreme sport, Damion Robb counts several successful races to his portfolio, including 1st place in the 2007 East Meets West Dryland Challenge in Brainerd Minnesota.
It is Newton Marshall though, after having joined Chukka as a gardener in 2002, who has become the most famous member of this one-of-a-kind group of persevering arctic adventurers. Handpicked by supervisor Devon to look after a trio of dogs in 2002, Newton was astonished to find that the mutts responded to him when hitched to a three-wheel cycle. The same year, he left sunny Jamaica for the first time to train with huskies in the Minnesota snow. Says Newton, “I did not know what I was getting myself into. I thought the cold could be compared to a rainy day in Jamaica, but I quickly found out that I was very naïve thinking that.”
In 2008, Newton placed 7th in the 210-mile Percy DeWolfe Memorial Mail Race. He also received the Sportsmanship Award from fellow ‘mushers’ for the race from Yukon’s Dawson City to Alaska’s Eagle and back before landing a 13th place in a field of 27 starters in the 300-mile Alaska’s Copper Basin race.
Newton got his big break when lead musher Devon Anderson, who was scheduled to leave Jamaica to train for the 2009 Yukon Quest, changed his mind at the thought of leaving sunny Jamaica for an extended period in the freezing, arctic winter. Little did he know that the adventure would catapult him into the stratosphere of media attention two years later.
Arriving in Yukon’s freezing Whitehorse in November 2007 to begin his long distance training with three-time Yukon Quest winner and tough task master Hans Gatt, Newton had to deal with sub-zero temperatures and 100-mile dogsled runs, learning basic dog care and camping skills for himself and fourteen dogs for periods of 10 - 14 days in the freezing dead of winter.
After two years of preparation, the 26-year-old tour guide from the St. Ann Parish was ‘ready’ for the world’s toughest dogsled race, which takes mushers and their dogs the 1,000 miles from Whitehorse, Yukon to Fairbanks, Alaska in the middle of the Arctic winter. Recalls Newton, “You are on your own with everything, and have to take care of the dogs and yourself. No one can help you. At one point, I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish.”
Armed with a good dose of Jamaican stubbornness and a small mountain of chocolate bars, Newton made it through the brutal cold of winter to cross the finish line of the gruelling 2009 Yukon Quest in Fairbanks, Alaska becoming the first Jamaican, as well as the first black man to enter and finish this international challenge.
Says Newton remembering the 12 days and 284 hours of sledding, “It was not easy to make it through to the finish line and at times, I felt like uttering some good Jamaican curses.” Adds the musher, “I brought warm thoughts to the dogs and myself by singing one of my favorite Buju Banton songs, which helped immensely.”
The rookie ‘musher’ placed 13th out of 29 participants, but you would have thought he was the winner, judging from the amount of attention by the world’s media, who found the idea of a tropically born Jamaican unfamiliar with cold climates competing in an extreme winter sport absolutely irresistible. States Newton with pride, “In the beginning, my family thought I was crazy, but now that I have showed them what I can achieve, everybody thinks it’s great.”
This major coup in extreme sports is described in the documentary ‘Sun Dogs’ produced by Chris Blackwell and directed by Andrea Stewart, which showcases the evolvement of this incredible undertaking and is set to appear on the big screen soon. Be sure to stop at the gift shop for a copy of ‘Sun Dogs’ or any other cute gifts, the proceeds from which help the less fortunate dogs at the Jamaica SPCA. Says the charismatic Melville, “What we are doing is very good for the sport because of the outrageousness of this whole thing. We’re probably exposing dogsled racing to more publicity than it has had in a long time because we are a Jamaican team.”
Hear the amazing stories of the Jamaica Dogsled Team members first hand at Chukka Adventure Tours. The fun filled encounter starts with a thorough briefing on the history of the team, snippets from the ‘Sun Dogs’ documentary, a walk through the museum and kennels and finally a thrilling ride on the wheeled dogsled pulled by 13 mutts. The Jamaica Dogsled Team and attraction is located at Chukka Adventure Tours, Chukka Cove Farm, St. Ann. Call 972-2506 or visit www.jamaicadogsled.com and www.chukkacaribbean.com.
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