Metsjöviddafjäll Race, 15-17 January 2022

The 320km Metsjöviddafjäll Race is always an important one as the Mushers get to see their teams in a real race for the first time in the season. Last year Matthias Schärer made the unthinkable possible and beat 6-time Champion Petter Karlsson on his own turf. In an epic 120km run to the finish line they battled it out hard but swiss newcomer Matthias put down a new record time and beat swedish superstar Petter by 5 Minutes.

Can Petter get revenge this year and will he reestablish the order in his kennel? Matthias, himself a handler of Petter and only in his 3rd year as a professional Musher, thinks his chances of winning again are slim. He says he wants to concentrate on working on his strategy for Femundløpet 650 and is not focussing on a win this year. Also Petter is saying he is more focused on testing out his dogs than winning the race. But don’t forget about Malin Strid who thinks it’s about time for her first win in this prestigeous race! She also says she focuses on getting the team ready for Femund 650, but with the other two top teams taking it easy it could be her year! Or will it even be one of the other Mushers that gets away with a top position? This year shapes up to be another exciting race!

This year there will also be some special prices in the mix. First team to the Danasjö 1 checkpoint will receive the “Golden Hamburger Award”, a certificate and 2kg of tasty Slussfors Naturbeteskött hamburger meat, sponsored by arcticadventures.ch. Everyone who ever got to taste one of those hamburgers knows why mushers want to get to the first checkpoint as fast as possible and get one of those tasty burgers!
Another price will be given out to the rookie of the year. There are six Mushers starting for the first time: Julie Lubin (FRA), Lars Johan Hovind (NOR), Elise Steen (NOR), Connor Van den Hulst (NL), Jonatan Öhman (SWE) and Bianka Magnusson (GER). The first rookie this year will recieve a box full of gear, sponsored by Axaeco.  Thank you very much for this kind donation!

The Race starts in Slussfors at the Kennel of Team Petter Karlsson. The teams head north into the beautiful Vindelfjällen Naturreservat, cruising over frozen lakes, tall mountains and through untouched forests. From Slussfors to Danasjö 1 it’s a 120km run, after about 60km there is a straw depot where teams can rest or take a bag of straw if they prefer to rest further down the trail. In the Danasjö checkpoint teams have access to their depot bags, straw and water and there is a veterinarian checking on all the dogs. From Danasjö 1 teams will do a 80km loop and end up back in Danasjö 2. From there teams take the same trail 120km back to the finish line in Slussfors. Also this year the race will be a wildernes race and the Mushers will have to sleep outside even when resting in the checkpoints.

The race starts on January 15th at 9am, the first teams are expected to cross the finish line on Sunday evening. Follow Team Petter Karlsson Sleddogs on Facebook and @petterkarlssonsleddogs on Instagram to follow the race action all weekend long and find out who will win the toughest 320km in Sweden this year! We will entertain you with plenty of awesome footage all weekend, day and night!

A big thank you to everyone who makes this race possible, and also to our sponsor for the awards:

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