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Francine is a veteran but didn't run in 2008 or
2009 from Trapper Creek, AK, USA
Bio
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Contact: www.saltydogkennel.com
Bio
Francine Bennis, 52, established the Alaska
Snowdancers Dogsled Tours & Freighting, in
Chugiak, Alaska, in 2002 to provide opportunities
for dogsled tours. The company moved its base of
operations to Trapper Creek, Alaska, in 2006 to
take advantage of better snow conditions. Francine
grew up (the first time, she says) in Niagara
Falls, New York, and came to Alaska on a whim when
she was 18. She'd always loved animals and remote
wild places. The mountains, glaciers, clean air,
and dog teams of Alaska captivated her completely.
She knew Alaska and the dogs were the life for her.
She still loves and savors every minute of it after
almost 30 years. While earning a BS in
Biology/Geology at the University of Alaska,
Fairbanks, Francine embarked on a career of
commercial fishing that spanned twenty years.
Commercial fishing took her to the waters of the
Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska for salmon, herring,
cod, halibut, and crab. In the early 1990s, she
began working in fisheries conservation promoting
healthy Alaskan oceans. Francine started running
dogs in 1978 when a friend went 'Outside' (outside
Alaska) for the winter and left her his four
leaderless dogs to run. She ran the dogs for fun
and by the next year she had a few of her own dogs,
In the summer of 1980 while looking for a Bristol
Bay salmon fishing job, she had the good fortune to
meet Joe Redington, Sr. Joe encouraged her to 'go
Iditarod' and in 1984, after a fantastic salmon
season and with a lot of help from Joe, she did
just that. She ran the 200 mile Knik to Skwentna
and back race (called Don's Iditarod 200 back then,
now called the Knik 200) to qualify for the
Iditarod. Afterwards, she continued to run dogs for
fun. Joe Sr. passed on in 1999. Francine got one of
the last puppies he named Raven, a descendent of
Joe's famous Roamer and Feets. Raven fathered his
first litter of nine pups, born June 24, 2005, on
the sixth anniversary of Joe's passing. They share
the company of about 30 other dogs and pups. For
two summers, Francine worked on glaciers giving
dogsled rides to tourists. Recently she began
developing summer dogsled ride operations in the
Talkeetna/Trapper Creek area. She has her private
pilot's license and loves to fly every chance she
gets. Flying, wilderness and dogs are her quite
compatible passions. "I just love being in the
wilderness of the North, whenever and however I
can-running the dogs, hiking, boating , flying,
picking berries and other wild edibles. I also love
gardening, reading, photography, music, playing a
good game of cribbage, and of course, living with
the dogs."
Results
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