LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - Megan Bertrand was hooked as soon as she stood on the sled and urged the dog team forward.

Corey Ryan and his passenger Phoenix Martineau strike a pose while driving a sled dog team around the Fort Simpson Territorial Campground. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

The rush of adrenaline when you first take off is addicting, said Bertrand.

"I think it's absolutely amazing," she said.

Bertrand was one of the Thomas Simpson School students who had the chance to try dog sledding last week.

The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs funded a week-long visit by well-known musher Grant Beck of Yellowknife from March 7 to 11 in Fort Simpson.

Beck spent the week teaching both junior and senior high students about dog sledding.

Students started with the basics, helping Beck feed and water the 40 dogs he brought to the village as well as clean up after them.

With the morning chores done, Beck showed the students how to harness the dogs and hook them up to the sleds in teams of four.

By Thursday most of the students were able to hook the dogs up without assistance, Beck said.

The students were then able to drive the sleds around the road loop in the Fort Simpson Territorial Campground, taking turns being mushers and passengers.

It's the perfect track for beginners because it's closed and the dogs can't go anywhere, said Beck while taking a break from giving pointers to the students.

The youths were nervous about driving the teams for the first few days but not anymore, he said.

"They don't want to stop," said Beck.

While Beck spoke in the campground shelter students filtered in and out. They came to warm up by the fire before returning outside and waiting for one of the six sleds to come around the corner so they could trade on.

On Wednesday, in addition to running the teams, Beck hosted question-and-answer sessions with the students. Many of them had good questions about dog care and feeding and how to start a small dog sledding business, he said.

Bertrand said she'd like to do more dog sledding but is not sure if she wants the responsibility of owning a team.

During the week Bertrand said she learned never to let go of both the brake and the handle on the sled at the same time and how to harness the dogs. Some are more difficult to harness than others because they're still being trained, she said.

Shaylynn Moses was also hooked.

"It's fun. I like it," she said.

"I can see myself doing that."

Moses, who had never been dog sledding before, said she learned sled dogs need a lot of care.

You have to feed them well before they go out running, she said.

Moses said handling the sled came naturally to her.

She equally enjoyed driving the sleds and riding in them.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.