Like many top athletes, Sultana trains hard and has no time for the shenanigans of younger teammates. But you won’t find her in a stadium. Sultana is a sled dog born and bred to work in the punishing winters of Alaska’s Denali National Park and Preserve, and she’s gearing up for another season on the trail.

Right now, sled dogs around the world are busy preparing for the upcoming racing season or for jobs hauling equipment or tourists. Premier events like the Iditarod, the Yukon Quest, or the International Pedigree Stage Stop kick off over the next couple of months, drawing as many as 1,300 dogs and thousands of people to frozen places from Alpine, Wyoming, to Nome, Alaska.

Like Sultana—a trailbreaker who

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