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Refusing to give up on winter was a driving factor behind this past weekend’s copper dog activities. Friday night saw a couple of hundred people fill up 5th Street to take in the warm March night, and howling huskies. Despite CopperDog canceling the full race formats the snow track returned to Calumet for a brand new event the CopperDrag. In the style of a classic drag race, two dog sled teams shot down the first two blocks on 5th Street.
“A great turnout for mushers, kids that were running it. That was a lot of fun. We had a good crowd in the evening for our block party and our fireworks. So Friday was extremely successful. Saturday with the dog poll, that was very new to us.” – Doug Harrer, Chairman, CopperDog Board of Directors
The fun of Friday night ran into Saturday with the start of the W3PO weight-pulling tournament. Dogs with the encouragement of their handlers pulled incredible weight across the line in under a minute. From the smallest terrier that pulled over 300 pounds to Greenland dogs pulling close the 700 pounds, spectators enjoyed a new competition.
“Of course, it’s a big letdown when we can’t have our race. But we refused to give up because you know our whole thing is we do it for our community. We want to bring business to the area. So we were very surprised to see how many out-of-towners came, musher-wise, to compete in some of the events today. Even right now during the dog pull, even a couple of students from Michigan Tech are out there pulling with their dogs.” – Doug Harrer, Chairman, CopperDog Board of Directors
CopperDog’s organizers were grateful for the snow that stuck around, and the many residents, volunteers, visitors, and teams who traveled to Calumet to share in the fun. While it’s always difficult to know what snow will show up in 2025. Organizers will start working on next year’s races, CopperPull, and Dash events shortly. Those who were unable to enjoy CopperDog’s events or want to check out some photos from the weekend below.
