Johnn’s finishing the last of the sleds for the Northern New England Trade Fair to be held October 1st & 2nd in Hopkinton, New Hampshire.
Meanwhile I’ve been custom staining ( I have Colonial Maple, Ebony, Dark Walnut and Sexy Pink colors all mixed on these jean shorts ! I’ve also been working on some quilted items to bring – like this just finished mini (11″ X 11″) quilted wall hanging.
Continue Reading »As we get ready for the Northern New England Trade Fair in Hopkington, New Hampshire the first weekend of October, the sleds we plan to bring there are piling up – and in my house. Inside being finished with poly is a Rising Star, a Star Lite and a Shooting Star.
Tonight the parts for our junior model, the First Star will be stained and put inside also before Johnn assembles it.
Continue Reading »Just re-finished a used Rising Star. The previous owner added may extras to this sled – tied basket, a bar brake, pro-bridle, QCR rails & plastic. We sanded and applied two new coats of spar polyurethane.
New this sled would sell for $515.00 with all its extra – we’re asking $ 400 for it used.
Continue Reading »","","0","","0" "Arctic Star Sleds Home.txt","Arctic Star Sleds Home","","Page Name Here (Home)
Sled builder Johnn Molburg and his family have been racing sled dogs for over
45 years. His mother, Cindy Molburg has been the editor of ""Team & Trail"" - a
mushers' monthly newsletter for over 40 years. Both his father, Dick and his
mother Cindy were instrumental members of the New England Sled Dog Club
and among the founding members of the International Sled Dog Racing
Association. As youngsters, Johh and his brothers and sisters all participated
in the New England Sled Dog Club's junior races. Three of them - Debbie, Joe
and Johnn all continued to run dogs as adults.
The prestigious Molburg family includes 4 ISDRA medal winners - his older
sister Debbie, wife Nancy and daughter Christina. Johnn himself has won 3
ISDRA Gold Medals and a Silver World Cup.
Johnn has raced trails in New England, the Mid-Atlantic States, New York,
Michigan, Minnesota, Colorado, several Canadian provinces and Germany.
The countless trails and various sleds Johnn has experienced are reflected in
the design and craftsmanship of Arctic Star Dog Sleds.
History is littered with hundreds of conflicts over the future of a community, group, location or business that were ""resolved"" when one of the parties stepped ahead and destroyed what was there. With the original point of contention destroyed, the debates would fall to the wayside. Archive Team believes that by duplicated condemned data, the conversation and debate can continue, as well as the richness and insight gained by keeping the materials. Our projects have ranged in size from a single volunteer downloading the data to a small-but-critical site, to over 100 volunteers stepping forward to acquire terabytes of user-created data to save for future generations.
The main site for Archive Team is at archiveteam.org and contains up to the date information on various projects, manifestos, plans and walkthroughs.
This collection contains the output of many Archive Team projects, both ongoing and completed. Thanks to the generous providing of disk space by the Internet Archive, multi-terabyte datasets can be made available, as well as in use by the Wayback Machine, providing a path back to lost websites and work.
Our collection has grown to the point of having sub-collections for the type of data we acquire. If you are seeking to browse the contents of these collections, the Wayback Machine is the best first stop. Otherwise, you are free to dig into the stacks to see what you may find.
The Archive Team Panic Downloads are full pulldowns of currently extant websites, meant to serve as emergency backups for needed sites that are in danger of closing, or which will be missed dearly if suddenly lost due to hard drive crashes or server failures.
","","0","","2" "Educational Seminars Arctic Star Dogsleds.txt","Educational Seminars | Arctic Star Dogsleds","","An experienced speaker, Johnn has presented seminars in New England, Pennsylvania, the mid-west, in Canada and has spoken at several ISDRA (International Sled Dog Racing Association) conventions. His fifty-five years of experience in the world of sled dogs,and twelve ISDRA medals on both snow and in dryland events give him a lot of material to discuss.
Seminars Johnn has presented in the past include :
Mushing 101 – Designed for beginners, this seminar covers the basics of snow sled dog equipment and includes tips for new dog trainers. Handouts include a listing of websites, books & publications to help the beginning musher.
Dryland 101 – Designed for those new to dryland training & competition. An emphasis is placed on safety gear for the musher and dog(s). Bikes, scooters, cani-cross and gig equipment is discussed. Handouts include listing of websites, books, publications regarding dryland racing and training.
Emergency Sled Repair – Discussion of what is likely to break on a sled and emergency sled repairs are discussed. Handout includes a listing of items each musher should carry for temporary emergency sled repair.
Johnn’s fee usually just is travel expenses. Please feel free to contact us if you would be interested in having Johnn speak at your event. Don’t hesitate to ask us about different topics for your seminar – training, conditioning – whatever your organization is interested in – we can probably accommodate you.
","","0","","3" "FAQs.txt","FAQs","","SLED TERMS DEFINED
Basket ??
All of the wooden pieces of Arctic Star sleds ( except the Rising Star) are joined together using mortise and tenon joints. Then the sled is hand tied together using nylon. This nylon webbing is the sled's basket.
Brake - Claw or Bar ? ?
All models of Arctic Star Dog Sleds, with the exception of the Rising Star, come with a bar brake as standard outfitting. The Rising Star model comes standard with a ""claw brake"" . We do offer an upgrade to a bar brake on Rising Stars. A claw brake works for smaller teams, but many mushers prefer the larger, stronger ( and easier to use) bar brake. There are photos of both the claw and bar brake on the Colors & Other Options page of this website.
Pro-Bridle ?
The sled bridle is the rope system under the sled which connects the dog team to the sled. Ideally, it contains shock cord. Except for the Rising Star mode, all Arctic Star Dog Sleds have a pro-bridle which uses the stanchions. It is constructed of 16 strand poly and features 3/8"" shock cord with brake attachment.
Runners ?? and what is QCR ????
Wooden runners are typically laminated (several piece of wood glued & compressed together to make it stronger) Most runners are 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick. The front of the runner is curved upward to allow it to slide over the snow and get over objects .Most runners are also cambered, as skis are.
The bottom of the runners of the Rising Star model are fitted with UHMW (ultra-high molecular weight) screw-on plastic. All other Arctic Star models have QCR mounted on the runner bottoms.
QCR stands for quick change runners. A slender aluminum rail is mounted on the runner underside. Interchangeable plastic is slid onto the aluminum rails.
Stanchions ? ?
The stanchions are the vertical pieces rising up from the runners. The number of stanchions varies depending on the style of the sled. Racing sleds typically have only two stanchions which allow more flexibility. Traditional sleds have three stanchions on each side.
","6934b3e5b5d62aea4e72cf38e3551c54","0","","4" "Sled Repairs.txt","Sled Repairs","","In addition to repairing Arctic Star Dog Sleds, we can replace parts on almost all sled models - runners, brush bows, handles and such. We have worked on sled built by Moody, Kimluk, Chatmac, Hall, McDonald, Waldman, Risdon, and some ""maker-unknown"" models.
If your sled could use a conversion from the ""old-style claw brake"" to a new bar brake, or you want to add a drag mat; Arctic Star can do that. Re-tie an old basket, switch out screw-on plastic to aluminum rails - all possible.
Pricing will vary - and we can't give an estimate until we actually see and examine the sled.
Arctic Star can refurbish your old sled with sanding, staining and applying three coats of marine spar urethane to give it new life. We like to schedule our repair/refurbish work in the spring and summer months and leave the fall and winter to build new Arctic Star Dog Sleds. Please keep that in mind when thinking of using us for your sled work.
Here's some photos of a three stanchion sled that needed not only a new stanchion and runners; but major re-finishing. Here's how Nancy works to match the original sled - step by step.
Crafting quality hardwood sleds by hand.
Sharing knowledge with mushers of all levels.
Maybe your group would like to hear about one of our sport's most famous mushers ? Nancy offers a powerpoint presentation about George Attla - from his humble beginnings, thru his reign on top of the sprint racing scene to the foundation he left behind to mentor young Alaskan mushers.
Interested in having Johnn or Nancy speak at your event? Fee usually are just traveling expenses. Don't hesitate to ask us about different topics for your seminar - training, conditioning - whatever your organization is interested in - we can probably accommodate you.
","588fe513d89341bd0489db69d8bbe371","0","","6" "» 2008» December.txt","» 2008» December","","What a great weekend ! We headed for the Dec 6 & 7 PSDC dryland race in Maryland with entries in the one dog bike-jor, 2 dog scooter and 4 dog rig. We knew it would be cold, but no-one predicted snow starting late Saturday afternoon and accumulating on the grassy trails.
But on Friday night Race Organizer Chris Bannister talked Johnn into also entering the 6 dog rig. I only allow Johnn to run 4 dogs on his light-weight, antique rig, so he ran 4 in the 6 dog class. 4 of our 7 racing dogs ran twice that day, but they didn’t mind. We’re currently training just over 5 miles so they took running the 3.4 mile trail twice very well.
Johnn (and the Super 7) won every class they entered. The two yearlings did fantastic ! Billie ran in both the 4 and 6 dog rig classes - back -to-back-; and was screaming to be hooked up the second time. Henry, the shyest dog on the truck, loses all shyness once he’s in harness. It’s quite a transformation to see.
The two yearlings - Billie & Henry - now have 4 races under their belt; and they are quite experienced with the dog lot experience, start chutes, loud count-downs, passing, traveling to events, etc. We feel this gives us a nice edge on the snow season. It will be almost like having 7 expert race dogs instead of five and two youngsters.
Our thanks to Chris & Jessica Bannister, Reggie Brown, and Doug & Joy Heitz for all their work organizing this fun event. A special tip of our hats to race officials - timers Dennis Joyce and John Gates who drove from snowy upstate New York as did the Race Marshall Chris Gates.
","","0","","7" "» 2008» November.txt","» 2008» November","","Why is it almost every so-called “dryland” event turns into “wetland” ? I’m almost done washing clothes, harnesses, etc - but I’m not a mud fan. I still need to wash muddy paw prints off the van.
Other than some wet weather, we had a great weekend ! Johnn won two classes ( 4 dog rig & 2 Dog Scooter) - beating out the multi-ISDRA medalist teams from the Dittmar kennel in Wisconsin. He and Rusty even placed second in the 2 dog Bike-Jor. Not bad for one dog and a 60+ year old musher.
The two yearlings from Ken & Lori Chezik’s kennel are progressing wonderfully. They both ran on the 4 dog rig team - with Henry running at lead both days. Attending these dryland races have given him lots of confidence and experience.
The Ohio Dryland race had 50 entries from Ontario, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, New York and, of course, Ohio. Because of the involvment of the Greater Clevland Siberian Club, we saw a real cross-section of sled dog people - from just beginning recreational teams to the pros like the Dittmars. A well organized, fun race.
Our next event will be the Fair Hills Challenge organized by the Pennsylvania Sled Dog Club in Fair Hills, Maryland on December 6 & 7. We are signed up as vendors, so contact us early for any sled deliveries. We will also have plastic and gift certificates (THINK CHRISTMAS) available there.
PS - I did not fall or get injuried in Ohio. I’m healing rather rapidly. We’ve been watching the black/blue/purple/now some yellow color just below my eyes - real attractive !
","","0","","8" "» 2009» January.txt","» 2009» January","","A mixed day! It started with super cold temperatures as we arrived at the race site - minus 22 Farenheit. The hounds’ coats got brought into the hotel the night before and they happily wore them most of the day. Sam, the not-quite 6 month old pup did NOT chew his coat today. More progress in Sam’s training.
Johnn left the start chute in the chilly ski-jor class and within 2 tenths of a mile, went down (rather than across) the first road crossing. Only one spectator saw as it’s situated behind a snack building. He was there while the next three teams left the chute. When he finally got back on trail, his skiis were badly scratched and Billie, the yearling on wheel, was badly tangled in his harness and ran the rest of the race that way.
The fastest ski-jor times of the day were captured by the Czech couple - Jana and Pavel Parulasky - 15 ;04. 98 qnd 14:58.84 respectively. I saw their 2 dog teams in the fields and they looked magnificent.Hopefully, Johnn will have a clean run tomorrow and we can see how he compares to them. The fastest 3 dog time was Jenna Dittmar at 15:45.99 and the fastest 1 dog time was claimed by Sadie Theriault at 18:13.02
Johnn had a much better run in the 4 dog class. He’s now sitting 5th out of 28 teams - 31 seconds out of first. He was quite pleased with the old man Carl (7) and the yearling Henry who ran beside him. It was Henry’s first snow race; but we feel the 4 dryland races he was in (3 of those in lead) really helped his confidence. He seemed quite pleased with himself after the team returned to the van.
Leading the 4 dog class is Jay Olmstead, followed by Sadie Theriault’s team (driven by Jason Sperry - Sadie got badly frostbite while skijoring) , then Patricia Hnatuik and Kenny Bernard. Ryan Fitch is only 5 seconds behind Johnn.
","","0","","9" "» 2009» January» 10.txt","» 2009» January» 10","","A mixed day! It started with super cold temperatures as we arrived at the race site - minus 22 Farenheit. The hounds’ coats got brought into the hotel the night before and they happily wore them most of the day. Sam, the not-quite 6 month old pup did NOT chew his coat today. More progress in Sam’s training.
Johnn left the start chute in the chilly ski-jor class and within 2 tenths of a mile, went down (rather than across) the first road crossing. Only one spectator saw as it’s situated behind a snack building. He was there while the next three teams left the chute. When he finally got back on trail, his skiis were badly scratched and Billie, the yearling on wheel, was badly tangled in his harness and ran the rest of the race that way.
The fastest ski-jor times of the day were captured by the Czech couple - Jana and Pavel Parulasky - 15 ;04. 98 qnd 14:58.84 respectively. I saw their 2 dog teams in the fields and they looked magnificent.Hopefully, Johnn will have a clean run tomorrow and we can see how he compares to them. The fastest 3 dog time was Jenna Dittmar at 15:45.99 and the fastest 1 dog time was claimed by Sadie Theriault at 18:13.02
Johnn had a much better run in the 4 dog class. He’s now sitting 5th out of 28 teams - 31 seconds out of first. He was quite pleased with the old man Carl (7) and the yearling Henry who ran beside him. It was Henry’s first snow race; but we feel the 4 dryland races he was in (3 of those in lead) really helped his confidence. He seemed quite pleased with himself after the team returned to the van.
Leading the 4 dog class is Jay Olmstead, followed by Sadie Theriault’s team (driven by Jason Sperry - Sadie got badly frostbite while skijoring) , then Patricia Hnatuik and Kenny Bernard. Ryan Fitch is only 5 seconds behind Johnn.
","","0","","10" "» 2009» January» 13.txt","» 2009» January» 13","","My apologies for not posting sooner, but we had van trouble on the way home from Warren. Just 20 miles north of the Can/Am border, a belt broke and we were stranded on the QEW. AAA actually responded fairly quickly and we were towed to the Peace Bridge. For some obscure government reasons, we couldn’t be towed across the border. So we were then unloaded into a waiting area and AAA arranged for an American towing company to get us into the country. We were then towed to a motel and towed again Monday morning to a garage for repairs. We finally arrived home Monday evening almost 24 hours after the initial break-down.
Anyway, Johnn’s ski-jor race on Sunday went MUCH better. He went out with Rusty single lead and made it across the road. He slowed a little after passing Ryan Behm, when the Uri got tangled . But he had the fastest 3 dog run of the day; and is seriously considering keeping Rusty single.
We were also thrilled to remain in 5th place in the 4 dog class. Carl taught Henry a lot this weekend. During this race, you could see other teams in adjacent fields, one thing the young dogs hadn’t experienced before. Carl was excellant on insisting Henry stay on trail, even though he could see teams that looked to be straight ahead.
Next weekend, Johnn will travel to Merrill WI with a family friend, Larry, assisting with the driving.
","","0","","11" "» Fairhill Challenge Answered !.txt","» Fairhill Challenge Answered !","","What a great weekend ! We headed for the Dec 6 & 7 PSDC dryland race in Maryland with entries in the one dog bike-jor, 2 dog scooter and 4 dog rig. We knew it would be cold, but no-one predicted snow starting late Saturday afternoon and accumulating on the grassy trails.
But on Friday night Race Organizer Chris Bannister talked Johnn into also entering the 6 dog rig. I only allow Johnn to run 4 dogs on his light-weight, antique rig, so he ran 4 in the 6 dog class. 4 of our 7 racing dogs ran twice that day, but they didn’t mind. We’re currently training just over 5 miles so they took running the 3.4 mile trail twice very well.
Johnn (and the Super 7) won every class they entered. The two yearlings did fantastic ! Billie ran in both the 4 and 6 dog rig classes - back -to-back-; and was screaming to be hooked up the second time. Henry, the shyest dog on the truck, loses all shyness once he’s in harness. It’s quite a transformation to see.
The two yearlings - Billie & Henry - now have 4 races under their belt; and they are quite experienced with the dog lot experience, start chutes, loud count-downs, passing, traveling to events, etc. We feel this gives us a nice edge on the snow season. It will be almost like having 7 expert race dogs instead of five and two youngsters.
Our thanks to Chris & Jessica Bannister, Reggie Brown, and Doug & Joy Heitz for all their work organizing this fun event. A special tip of our hats to race officials - timers Dennis Joyce and John Gates who drove from snowy upstate New York as did the Race Marshall Chris Gates.
","","0","","12" "» Home finally !!.txt","» Home finally !!","","My apologies for not posting sooner, but we had van trouble on the way home from Warren. Just 20 miles north of the Can/Am border, a belt broke and we were stranded on the QEW. AAA actually responded fairly quickly and we were towed to the Peace Bridge. For some obscure government reasons, we couldn’t be towed across the border. So we were then unloaded into a waiting area and AAA arranged for an American towing company to get us into the country. We were then towed to a motel and towed again Monday morning to a garage for repairs. We finally arrived home Monday evening almost 24 hours after the initial break-down.
Anyway, Johnn’s ski-jor race on Sunday went MUCH better. He went out with Rusty single lead and made it across the road. He slowed a little after passing Ryan Behm, when the Uri got tangled . But he had the fastest 3 dog run of the day; and is seriously considering keeping Rusty single.
We were also thrilled to remain in 5th place in the 4 dog class. Carl taught Henry a lot this weekend. During this race, you could see other teams in adjacent fields, one thing the young dogs hadn’t experienced before. Carl was excellant on insisting Henry stay on trail, even though he could see teams that looked to be straight ahead.
Next weekend, Johnn will travel to Merrill WI with a family friend, Larry, assisting with the driving.
","","0","","13" "» Jan 10 - Warren, Ontario.txt","» Jan 10 - Warren, Ontario","","A mixed day! It started with super cold temperatures as we arrived at the race site - minus 22 Farenheit. The hounds’ coats got brought into the hotel the night before and they happily wore them most of the day. Sam, the not-quite 6 month old pup did NOT chew his coat today. More progress in Sam’s training.
Johnn left the start chute in the chilly ski-jor class and within 2 tenths of a mile, went down (rather than across) the first road crossing. Only one spectator saw as it’s situated behind a snack building. He was there while the next three teams left the chute. When he finally got back on trail, his skiis were badly scratched and Billie, the yearling on wheel, was badly tangled in his harness and ran the rest of the race that way.
The fastest ski-jor times of the day were captured by the Czech couple - Jana and Pavel Parulasky - 15 ;04. 98 qnd 14:58.84 respectively. I saw their 2 dog teams in the fields and they looked magnificent.Hopefully, Johnn will have a clean run tomorrow and we can see how he compares to them. The fastest 3 dog time was Jenna Dittmar at 15:45.99 and the fastest 1 dog time was claimed by Sadie Theriault at 18:13.02
Johnn had a much better run in the 4 dog class. He’s now sitting 5th out of 28 teams - 31 seconds out of first. He was quite pleased with the old man Carl (7) and the yearling Henry who ran beside him. It was Henry’s first snow race; but we feel the 4 dryland races he was in (3 of those in lead) really helped his confidence. He seemed quite pleased with himself after the team returned to the van.
Leading the 4 dog class is Jay Olmstead, followed by Sadie Theriault’s team (driven by Jason Sperry - Sadie got badly frostbite while skijoring) , then Patricia Hnatuik and Kenny Bernard. Ryan Fitch is only 5 seconds behind Johnn.
","","0","","14" "» Nancy.txt","» Nancy","","A mixed day! It started with super cold temperatures as we arrived at the race site - minus 22 Farenheit. The hounds’ coats got brought into the hotel the night before and they happily wore them most of the day. Sam, the not-quite 6 month old pup did NOT chew his coat today. More progress in Sam’s training.
Johnn left the start chute in the chilly ski-jor class and within 2 tenths of a mile, went down (rather than across) the first road crossing. Only one spectator saw as it’s situated behind a snack building. He was there while the next three teams left the chute. When he finally got back on trail, his skiis were badly scratched and Billie, the yearling on wheel, was badly tangled in his harness and ran the rest of the race that way.
The fastest ski-jor times of the day were captured by the Czech couple - Jana and Pavel Parulasky - 15 ;04. 98 qnd 14:58.84 respectively. I saw their 2 dog teams in the fields and they looked magnificent.Hopefully, Johnn will have a clean run tomorrow and we can see how he compares to them. The fastest 3 dog time was Jenna Dittmar at 15:45.99 and the fastest 1 dog time was claimed by Sadie Theriault at 18:13.02
Johnn had a much better run in the 4 dog class. He’s now sitting 5th out of 28 teams - 31 seconds out of first. He was quite pleased with the old man Carl (7) and the yearling Henry who ran beside him. It was Henry’s first snow race; but we feel the 4 dryland races he was in (3 of those in lead) really helped his confidence. He seemed quite pleased with himself after the team returned to the van.
Leading the 4 dog class is Jay Olmstead, followed by Sadie Theriault’s team (driven by Jason Sperry - Sadie got badly frostbite while skijoring) , then Patricia Hnatuik and Kenny Bernard. Ryan Fitch is only 5 seconds behind Johnn.
","","0","","15"