Title: Climate change and dog sledding: Resilience insights from the Finnmarksløpet

Abstract

It is without doubt that the impacts of climate change on winter conditions are becoming increasingly visible, even in the Nordic countries. Events that rely on winter-specific features are being confronted more frequently to unstable weather, compromising the quality, safety, and consistency of these events, and even sometimes threatening their cancellation. Long-distance dog sledding races such as the Finnmarksløpet are no exception, as they rely heavily on stable snow and ice conditions, making them particularly vulnerable to the unpredictability of weather patterns. Previous research on the vulnerability of dog sledding to climate change is scarce but does exist, acknowledging that the threats towards this activity are real and that climate projections are not optimistic. For this reason, previous research has suggested the need to further explore adaptation strategies and resilience as key approaches to help dog sledding withstand upcoming environmental challenges.

Therefore, this research aims at diving into the ways that a long-distance sled dog race, the Finnmarksløpet, perceive and respond to upcoming climate-related challenges, as well as analyzing the factors influencing these responses. The main research question is the following: How does the Finnmarksløpet community demonstrate resilience in the face of climate change? To answer this question, a methodological approach is selected, and the empirical data collected through semi-structured interviews and observations.

The findings of the research showed that the Finnmarksløpet’s resilience is currently mainly based on reactive and coping processes, which could become insufficient in the long run if climate change continues to intensify. While mid-term adaptive strategies are starting to be considered, deeper transformative changes are still largely absent from current planning, due to a combination of uncertainty about future climatic conditions, attachment to tradition, and the complex logistical and financial implications such changes would entail.