Iditarod Musher Profile

In 2004 Justin and his wife Rebecca packed their worldly belongings into a truck and trailer (complete with a rocking chair strapped to the top) and moved to Willow, Alaska to follow a job offer, and more importantly to chase down a dream of running dogs.

It was a quick journey from having a couple of dogs and handling for other mushers to establishing and running a kennel of their own, and then setting the goal to prepare for and race in the Iditarod. Today, they operate their own kennel, Snowhook Kennel, comprised of 30+ dogs-some are rescues, some procured form other mushers, and others are the result of the Snowhook Kennel recipe.

Growing up in Southeast Idaho, Justin has always sought out adventure including mountaineering and whitewater kayaking. Mushing and the Iditarod is a natural fit for Justin's sense and need for adventure-pulling the snow hook is what he and the dogs live for. Justin's racing career includes a 3^rd place finish in the 2008 Don Bowers 300 mile race and a second to last place finish in the Knik 200 (thank you, stomach flu.)

Justin earned his degree in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism with an emphasis on experiential education from the University of Utah in 2002. Driven to help others his career path has been focused on working with youth at-risk. To support his dog habit, Justin currently works as a program director for Camp Fire USA Alaska Council.

In addition to running dogs, Justin enjoys reading, woodworking and restoring their 59 year old homestead with his wife.