A frosty morning heralded the start of the Dog Powered Sports Association of the Yukon’s local Twister Race series.

Eight sled dog teams and two skijorers lined up to race on the track, freshly groomed by a member of the Klondike Snowmobile Association.

The flat, wide Copper Haul Road is a good place to start the season out, said skijorer Adam Robinson.

“No real stress. Passing is easy because the trail is so wide, so the dogs get their first little exposure to passing on a nice, easy trail,” he said. “It’s a really great spot to start the first race of the season.”

Robinson, who started first in the late morning sun, as the temperature hovered around -25 C, crashed in the start chute, getting tangled up.

He finished the 10 mile course in second, behind Cynthia Corriveau.

“My team did good,” he said. “First time on skis for me, so I’m a bit tired.”

Armin Johnson won the 10-mile sled race by two minutes and 59 seconds.

“The dogs did good ... I was really happy with them,” he said following the race. “It was actually on the edge of being too cold for mine, but it warmed up and it’s not windy.”

Following the competitive class, a few recreational sleds went out on the course (no times just for fun) as a kids race took place on a slope a few dozen metres away.

“We’re trying to get kids involved because it’s a really Northern thing to do,” said Johnson, who organized the kids race. “A lot of people up here run dogs and a lot of us have kids.”

Next weekend, the Yukon Dog Mushers Association is hosting a “Learn to be a Musher” event at the old YDMA tracks in the Ibex Valley.

The DPSAY Twister Race Series calendar is light this year, thanks to a wealth of other local races available to mushers, said Johnson, who is a director on the DPSAY executive.

Next weekend, Magnus Kaltenborn will host the two-day Mt. Lorne Christmas Classic at Mt. Lorne.

In the new year, DPSAY will host its Carbon Hill Race on Jan. 15.

The Yukon Quest 1,000 and 300-mile races kick off in Whitehorse this year on Feb. 4.

During the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous in February, the YDMA will host its Babe Southwick Race Days, which Johnson hopes will attract some Outside teams.

The DPSAY Middle Distance Race (which used to be known as the Cinnamon Bun Run) will have a new location this year, likely to be in the Fish Lake Trail system on Feb. 25 and 26.

The Silver Sled will take place on March 4, followed by the other Twister Race on the calendar, March 19 at Muktuk Adventures.

The season will wrap up with the Percy DeWolfe Memorial Mail Race on March 23.