Monthly Archives: October 2022

5 — Tim Thiessen from Leadville, Colorado. Age 39. Tim has run the Stage Stop every year since 2019. His passion for dog sledding began in 2003 when he began working for a Breckenridge, Colorado dog sled tour company. He soon began competing in his local race circuit with his own team. Tim and his… Read more »

4— Bruce Magnusson from Newberry, Michigan. Age 59. 2023 marks Bruce’s eighteenth consecutive year running the Stage Stop Race — more than any other competitor in our 28-year history — and his twentieth year of mushing. He lives and trains in Newberry, in the upper peninsula of Michigan. “The Stage Stop is always the primary focus of… Read more »

4 — Geneva Lyon from Brightwood, Oregon. Age 47. Geneva lives in Brightwood, Oregon on Mt. Hood with her husband Tim Snail, 7-year old daughter Shade, and their 16 dogs. Born and raised on a small farm in rural southern Oregon, she grew up snowboarding, then discovered skijoring, and fell in love with driving a… Read more »

3 — Dennis LaBoda from Grand Marais, Minnesota. Age 64. Sled dogs were a neighborhood activity when Dennis was growing up in Minnesota. His older brother, Dale, started mushing as a teenager, and raced the IPSSSDR in the early years of our event. Following his brother’s “footsteps in the snow” Dennis started mushing as a… Read more »

2 — Al Borak from Newberry, Michigan. Age 63. Al is a detail man who’s learned to read dogs, and how to take care of them. His special talent is preparing young dogs to be world-class racers, something he plans to do this year with a talented group of youngsters from Magnusson’s kennel. “Any dog… Read more »

1 — Randy DeKuiper from Hesparia, Michigan. Age 75. Randy is a proud native of Michigan, and, in his spare time, he’s grandfather to 13. He’s raced dogs for 53 years — New Hampshire, New York, Wyoming, Alaska, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio. And let’s not forget Canada—Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec. “I look forward to… Read more »