Mats Pettersson, 49, was born and raised in Kiruna, Sweden. He worked as a paramedic for 15 years and was a professional ice hockey player (goalkeeper), but a bad snowmobile accident made him give that up and he then focused completely on the dogs and since has has worked full time with his sled dog company, Kiruna Sleddog tours. He ran Norway’s Finmarkslópet seven times and this will be his seventh Iditarod. He loves being outside in the nature, fishing, and is also interested in sports. He and his wife, Charlotta, are the parents of Linnea, Clara, Tilda, and Zeb, 7 and Freja, 3. He is a member of Kiruna Kirunasleddogtours.I have worked with animals and dogs all of my life and my passion is with it and my family and all musher friends around the world that helped me to make this possible. Matts currently lives in Kiruna Sweden which is Europe’s ‘musher mecca’ and has a tour business there; Kiruna Sleddog Tours in Europe’s last wildnerness where he runs daily tours and tours up to 10 days.