Geir Idar Hjelvik, 59, was born in Molde, Norway and raised in the village of Hjelvik. He lived in Trondheim for 18 years working as an excavator operator. Fourteen years ago, he moved to the Norjordet to work, to mush and for dancing competitions. Geir has been a traditional log cabin craftsman for 20 years. He began mushing in 1987 because of a friend, Frode Holten. Under Frode’s mentorship, he began skijoring with a German Shepard and later Frode mentored him and introduced him to sleds and Alaskan Huskies. His first litter of Alaska husky pups was born in 1989, bloodlines from Susan Butcher and Jerry Austin. That sparked his original interest in the Iditarod and he began thinking seriously about the Iditarod after a couple of competitive finishes in the Femundløpet and the Finmarksløpet in the 90’s. Geir ran his first Iditarod in 2016, finishing in 26th place. He has finished the Iditarod twice, the Femundløpet nine times, and the Finmarksløpet three times. He maintains a kennel of 30 dogs in Norway, but is running a team from Dallas Seavey’s kennel in the Iditarod this year. When not mushing dogs, Geir is a competitive Norwegian folk dancer. He is the father of Mår, age 18. He is a member of the Femund Trekhund Klubb and Roros Folkdanislag. He lists his hobbies as Rorospols (Norwegian folk dancing), knife making and wood working.