SIOUX LOOKOUT – A race-winning brand of dog sleds will soon be made in Northwestern Ontario.
Gatt Sled, a Yukon-based manufacturer of top-quality dog sleds is welcoming a new owner.
After years of hand-crafting the sleds, and winning big races with them, Hans Gatt is passing the reins to Jesse Terry of Sioux Lookout.
Gatt and Terry met last winter, where talk began about the continuation of the business.
“My wife and I operate a kennel of Alaskan huskies called On the Land Sled Dogs, and we travel and race, primarily in mid-distance formats right now,” said Terry.
Gatt Sled is currently located in Whitehorse, Yukon where Gatt resides and once Terry’s apprenticeship is done, it will continue in Sioux Lookout.
“We came up to Yukon and raced in the Yukon Quest this past winter. We have a used Gatt Sled that we've had for a while, and we needed to get some replacement parts for it," said Terry.
"Hans had already been out of building sleds for a couple of years at that point, but he still was helping people to repair the sleds and get replacement parts for sleds that were out in the world, so that people can continue to use them and enjoy them.”
Terry said he reached out to Hans for parts, which is how they met.
“He very graciously allowed us to train our dogs on our final training runs from his home trails. We got our dog sled parts, and at that time, after meeting him and chatting with him, the idea came about that it would be really cool to continue his operation — if he was willing to pass on the knowledge required to do that.”
It all came about with a very informal question, Terry said.
“We continued discussions throughout this spring and came to an agreement earlier this spring, and I'm presently up at his place and in the process of learning how to build a sled,” he said.
Terry said this is a really big thing for him.
“It is something that I feel is very important for the longevity and the well-being of mushing as a whole, that someone is making quality dog sleds for people to purchase.
“There are many mushers who aren't interested or able to make dog sleds, and they want to buy a dog sled. If there's nowhere for them to buy those, it leaves them without having a sled to use for these races,” he said.
"I feel like it's, it's essential for the continuation of, of mushing as a whole, and somebody who is a musher for over 30 years of my life, I'm very passionate about, about, about sled dogs and sled dog sports," he said.
“It's a really magical thing what we do with our dogs.”
It is important to have the sleds in production once again, Terry said, and it's important to him to share the passion of dog sledding with his community in Sioux Lookout.
“If that kind of thing is a spark to get one new young person into mushing, that's absolutely the best thing in the world to me. Because what we do with these dogs is too special not to share with other people,” he said.
“I'd just like to thank Hans, for trusting me to take over this operation and to continue building his sleds. I know that there were other people inquiring about this. He had a choice of who he passes this business on to.
“It's an honour to be the one to do that.”