Late last week, the annual Wanaka Sled Dog Festival took place at Snow Farm, near Cardrona.
The event this year also doubled as the New Zealand sled dog championships, teams vying for the top title in different grades.
There were entrants from around the country with a couple of competitors coming from the North Island and the rest from all parts of the South Island.
Though there were plenty of huskies there, lots of other breeds such as pointers and Border collies also made an appearance.
More than 80 different types of dogs were on the mountain, lapping up the snow and enjoying getting away from the usual forests and sand tracks.
It was the one opportunity in the year when the sled dogs could do what they were bred for — tow sleds.
Usually they race along forest trails and over rough terrain, pulling wheeled carts.
But on the white stuff it is just dragging the sled along on the snow, which is considerably tougher for the dogs.
The event at Snow Farm went ahead in good weather, which was a contrast to last year when rain and wind forced the event at Snow Farm to be cancelled.
The races started at 7.20am to make the most of the cooler weather for the dogs and when the snow was harder. The longest race was 8.6km and the quickest team of dogs did that journey in just over 19 minutes.
