Missed the ice hotel, but dog sled worth it

Richard P. Taylor

Over the years, the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holidays

have been special family occasions, and 2002 was no exception. We

highlighted this year’s festivities by hosting our three children and

their six children for a festive Christmas Day at our Newport Beach

Home. It was a wonderful family day.

As with all wonderful occasions, there is a large amount of effort

that is expended to assure success.

We had, during the summer, decided that we would reward ourselves

with a special New Year’s event.

Some time ago, we had heard about the Scandinavian Ice Hotel --

remember the latest James Bond epic? We did a bit of research and

discovered that there is a similar ice hotel built every year in

Quebec, Canada. Our research found it at www.icehotel-canada.com.

Several telephone calls later, we devised our plan for our special

New Year’s event.

The plan: leave for Quebec on Dec. 27 and return Jan. 3. Stay at

the Chateau Frontenac Hotel in old Quebec City. Stay one night in the

ice hotel. A New Year’s Eve Gala at the Chateau. Go dog sledding.

The ice hotel was to be the “piece de resistance,” but alas,

winter set in late, and the ice hotel was still under construction,

not scheduled to open until Jan. 11. We did, however, get a private

tour of the construction site and a great picture of us in front of

one of the completed sections. Next year, we will return to Quebec

later in January to celebrate our wedding anniversary and stay in the

ice hotel.

Even without a stay at the ice hotel, our special New Year’s event

was great! Old Quebec City is charming. The chateau and their News

Year’s Eve gala were everything you could ever expect from a

world-class hotel. The dog sledding easily became the high point.

Everything is so close in and around Quebec City that it is very

easy to enjoy a great variety of activities. The dog sledding venue

was Aventures Nord-Bec (www.aventures-nord-bec.com), just 30 minutes

outside of Quebec City.

When you arrive at their site, you see the kennel area, where each

of their 200 purebred malamutes has a doghouse. You are greeted by

half a dozen guides, each holding the most beautiful 5-week-old ball

of fluff puppy you have ever seen.

The arrangement is that you will go out on two-person sleds and

take turns driving. You will be out for three to four hours on the

most beautiful trails you have ever seen.

When they check you in, they see to it that you either have your

own especially warm clothing or they supply you. They also have you

fill out and sign a waiver. In my case, I’ve had bypass surgery and

both knees replaced. As a result of this, they put me in a sled with

one of their guides and never let me drive. They did the same thing

with my wife, but did let her do some of the driving.

When you are all warmly dressed and ready, they take you outside

to explain the sleds, dogs, driving and what you will be doing and

then harness the dogs to the sleds. The guides have a harness in each

hand and run out among the 200 dogs, which start jumping, barking and

generally going crazy. My guide told me that the Malamutes love to

run and pull the sleds so when they see the guides with the

harnesses, they are all barking “pick me, pick me!”

We finally took off, about 15 sleds, to a marvelous choir of

barking Malamutes. About 20 minutes out, my guide is having a problem

with one of the two lead dogs of our four-dog team; he keeps stopping

to lift his leg. My guide decides to stop and swap the “leg lifter”

for a dog out of the team right behind us. As he is putting the

replacement dog in the harness, the dog is so eager to get going he

lunges forward breaking free and runs down the trail ahead. We

finally get started and eventually catch up with the sleds ahead who

have caught our runaway.

Later on in the run, the guide calls my attention to the fact that

one of the two lead dogs, a female, is not pulling, she is just

keeping pace with the male lead dog next to her. A while later, he

points out that now she has had her little rest and is now pulling

again.

My guide is one of the guides that lives at the facility and was

sharing with me some of the things that guides are responsible for.

He said that frequently, at 2 or 3 in the morning, when the

temperature is 30 degrees below zero, they will hear the dogs begin a

big barking commotion to let the guides know one of the dogs is

loose. He said that it is usually an alpha female that is in heat and

is going to the alpha male. One of the guides has to get up, go out,

find the two lovers and get them back to their own dog houses.

All of the people were so tuned into what they do and were so

eager to share with you their love for the dogs, nature and the work

they do. My guide is a carpenter in the off season, as his father and

brothers are, and feels he has the best possible life. The beautiful

malamutes and carpentry allow him to work year round in one of the

most beautiful outdoor areas of the world.

We are already making our plans to return, this time for a special

anniversary event.

* RICHARD P. TAYLOR is a Newport Beach resident.

* TRAVEL TALES runs on Sundays. Have you, or someone you know,

gone on an interesting vacation recently? Tell us about your

adventures in about 400 words, accompanied by a couple of photos to

choose from that do not have the Daily Pilot in them, and send them

to Travel Tales, 330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; or e-mail

coral.wilson@latimes.com; or fax to (949) 646-4170.