Reykjavík Grapevine - 02.07.2008, Qupperneq 31

REYKJAVÍK GRAPEVINE | ISSUE 08—2008 | 31
DESTINATION
There were five of them up on the Mýrdalsjökull
glacier: a journalist, a photographer, and three
former sergeants from the Danish army who by
some strange cosmic coincidence were all named
Christian. “Just this morning, we tried an 11-dog
team for the first time,” one Christian said as the
men walked over to a sled harnessed to 11 large
Greenland dogs resting in the snow. They pre-
pared for departure. One Christian stayed behind
while the other two strapped on cross-country
skis and grabbed a rope attached to the harness.
The other two men sat down on the sled. “Kom så
hunde! Kom så!” the two Christians yelled.
The Greenland dog is descended directly
from wolfs and doesn’t bark. It only howls. It is
a pack animal, and the dogs constantly fight for
position within the team. Pedro, the alpha dog,
was missing half of his right ear after a fight, but
for now the other dogs – Bacon, Frosty, Rudolf,
and Einstein – would follow his lead. But a fight
could still break out at any time, and if it did the
two Christians knew they had to be quick to break
it up. Once the dogs start fighting they won’t stop
until one of them is seriously injured, or preferably
dead.
“Kom så hunde! Kom så!”
The sled moved slowly across the glacier, ap-
proaching the turn-around point. Suddenly, faster
than a blink of an eye, a fight erupted. The dogs
piled upon each other, howling and biting and
yelping. Christian and Christian jumped off their
skis and grabbed two short rubber hoses and
started beating the dogs to submission. As soon as
the fight started, it was over. The dogs were lying
down, tails between their legs. “Did you see who
started it?” Christian asked Christian. “It was Ba-
con.” Christian walked over to the dog to deliver
a punishment. “It looks bad, but if we don’t beat
them down to stop the fight, they will kill each
other,” he explained to the two passengers.
The company reached the turn-around point
and stopped. The four of them patted the animals
and admired the view from the glacier. They talk-
ed about the difference between training soldiers
and training dogs, life in Iceland and life after the
army. But mostly they just admired the view from
the glacier – alone in nature, alone with 11 dogs.
www.dogsledding.is
Tel.: 487 7747
Glacial Dogs
By Sveinn Birkir BjÖrnSSon
Fly and discover
airiceland.is
/ tel. 570 3030
Air Iceland destinations
NARSARSSUAQ
Greenland
FAROE ISLANDS
REYKJAVÍK
AKUREYRI
EGILSSTAÐIR
WESTMAN ISLANDS
ÍSAFJÖRÐUR
VOPNAFJÖRÐUR
GRÍMSEY
KULUSUK
Greenland
NERLERIT INAAT
Greenland
NUUK
Greenland
Get your action-packed day tour brochure
at hotels, airports or any travel agent.
ÍS
L
E
N
S
K
A
/S
IA
.I
S
/I
C
E
3
47
52
0
4
/0
7