BIG SKY — For 29 years in Big Sky, Montana, one family has been bringing tourists and locals a great source of entertainment: dog sledding.
Spirit of the North Sled Dog Adventures has been around since 1994, and for families like the Boyds, it’s another great way to enjoy their vacation.
“I think the dogs are just beautiful. They are a lot of fun and it's another way to be outside in this beautiful place," says J'Nell Boyd. "This has always been on my bucket list of something I've always wanted to do.”
Jim Sperry says this business all started with his oldest daughter.
“Jesse started this, the oldest daughter. She was racing and she had to have a place to run dogs and stuff and came up when they were building the Moonlight Ski Resort,” says Sperry.
Spirit of the North owns about 105 dogs and is Sperry’s full-time business in the winter. He says they don’t raise the dogs, but in a way, rescue them.
“Most of them come out of Alaska and they come from people that race and they do a lot of long-distance racing and they don't make their race teams for various reasons,” says Sperry.
Sperry emphasizes that these dogs are used for more than just a fun sleigh ride.
“We kind of look at this as an educational thing because America's love affair with dogs is growing and growing and growing. And it's kind of unreal,” says Sperry.
For families like the Hindiyehs, they say this is a highlight of their trip to Big Sky.
“It was a must-do when we planned this trip,” says Usama Hindiyeh.
