Despite stopping on course to switch the order of his dogs, musher Joel Nelson of Clearwater, Minn., won the six-dog championship at the Atta Boy 300 World Championships Saturday, posting a combined time of 4 hours, 34 minutes and 51 seconds during the two-day competition at Mount Bachelor ski area.

Shortly after coming off the 27-mile course on Saturday, Nelson expressed disappointment with his run. He said his time was slow because he had to stop midway through the course to swap the positions of two of his dogs because a team leader wasn’t pulling as expected.

Additionally, the heavy snow that was falling made the going difficult for his team, Nelson said.

”Being from the Midwest, we’re used to hard and fast trails,” Nelson said. ”This is a lot slower, perhaps to the benefit of all of the mushers from mountain country.”

Mushers were not told of their final placings until an awards banquet Saturday night.

Nelson stood in second heading into Saturday’s race, where he posted a time of 2:22:21, which was seven minutes longer than his Friday pace.

Kate St. Onge of Millville, Utah, had a fast go Saturday to capture second place. She entered Saturday’s race in third place, but posted a time of 2:19:31 for a two-round total of 4:35:08. Third place went to Peter Dobbs of New Zealand, who had a cumulative time of 4:37:01.

”It was a very challenging course,” said Onge. ”I was blistering for a long way but I wasn’t blistering at all on the long hill coming back.”

The out-and-back course took competitors approximately 14 miles downhill from the Mount Bachelor Nordic Center to Elk Lake, then back uphill for 13 miles – a climb of 1,500 feet – on the return to the Nordic Center.

St. Onge owns and operates Galloping Husky Ranch with her husband, Rick, a fellow six-dog competitor WHO FINISHED ???…………………………………. The 45-year-old registered nurse said after her race on Saturday that she wasn’t expecting to finish high.

”Coming here, if I could have gotten in the top five, that would have been thrilling,” St. Onge said. ”If I did better, that would be great. If I’m still third, that’s fine with me. The dogs did the best they could.”

Heading into Saturday’s race, Canadian Dylan Salvisberg, 11, was leading the pack. He wore the yellow ”race leader” number Saturday and put in a strong showing to finish fourth overall. His dad, Michael, who will compete in the 12-dog race today, was impressed.

”I think he (did) awesome,” Michael Salvisberg said. ”We’re just thrilled.”

Dylan, who has been racing since he was 2 years old, is in the sixth grade in Bear Creek, Northwest Territory. He said he enjoys playing floor hockey, basketball and soccer – and, oh yeah, he likes sled-dog racing like his dad.

To start Saturday’s race, teams left the Nordic Center at three-minute intervals beginning at 9:30 a.m., in reverse order of standing. The home stretch was lined with approximately 70 spectators cheering the teams on, despite the heavily falling snow and chilly temperatures.

”This was wonderful,” said Jerry Scdoris, race organizer and announcer. ”What a race we had today. The snow must have been slick because the trail was definitely deep and soft.”

The six-dog championship is over, but the sled-dog action is just getting started.

The 12-dog championships gets underway today at 9:30 a.m. at the Nordic Center. Teams will depart, again at three-minute intervals, on a 44.8-mile loop that crosses Dutchman Flat, goes through a small culvert underpass on the Sunriver Highway, and up the east side of Kwolh Butte, which features a 1,300-foot climb in four miles. The teams will come down Kwolh Butte and climb for 18 miles back toward Mount Bachelor, racing by Elk and Sparks lakes before finishing at the Nordic Center.

The order of go for today’s race is based on a random draw, Scdoris said. Teams are expected to average between 10 and 13> mph today.

Scdoris said several hundred volunteers were expected to work through the night Saturday and into the early hours today to ready the 12-dog course. He added that spectators who enjoyed the six-dog action should get even more of a thrill from today’s race.

”Bigger teams slamming at their harnesses, raring to go, and several nations represented,” Scdoris said. ”It’ll just be bigger, stronger and faster.”

Among the nations represented in the 12-dog competition are the U.S., Canada, Argentina, France and Switzerland. In the six-dog race, there also were competitors from Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and South Africa.

Scdoris said he was thrilled with the international turnout and that U.S. mushers provided several foreign competitors with teams of dogs to race.

”We achieved what we wanted to achieve,” Scdoris said. ”Thanks to Lloyd Gilbertson providing three teams to three of our international mushers, and thanks to my daughter, Rachael, for providing five teams to international mushers, we had a legitimate international event.”

The temperature was slightly warmer on Saturday than it was for Friday’s first-round action in the six-dog race. However, the snow was falling much harder Saturday, and there was lots of fresh powder covering the groomed surface. Michael Salvisberg said heavy snow won’t be a problem for any of the 12-dog teams.

”That’s what our sport is all about,” Salvisberg said. ”It’s perfect, actually.”

Libby Riddles, who made history in 1985 when she became the first woman to win the legendary Iditarod Sled Dog Race in Alaska, agrees that the more snow there is, the better the 12-dog race will be. Riddles is the race marshal for the Atta Boy 300.

”Oftentimes, the biggest problem racing here is it’s too warm and rainy. This really looks like dog-racing weather,” said Riddles, who hails from Homer, Alaska.

Riddles greeted the 35 teams that crossed the finish line Saturday, patting each of the dogs and chatting with the mushers – not because that was part of her race-marshal duties, she said, but because she loves the sport and its athletes.

”I know a lot of these people,” Riddles said. ”I like to give them encouragement.”

Among those looking on at the finish Saturday were Raven Tennyson of Bend and her daughter, Luna Fagan, 9. Tennyson said she braved the chilly temperatures on Saturday, after attending the race on Friday, because it was so much fun and she wanted to share it with her daughter.

”I was cold by the time I left (Friday) but I felt very enthusiastic,” Tennyson said. ”This is great. We love winter sports. This is a nice combination of winter sports and dogs. I feel delighted that Bend is able to support this.”

Dallas Finn can be reached at 541-383-0393 or at dfinn@bendbulletin.com.