With sub-zero temperatures and heaps of snow as far as the eye can see, this is as close as you can get to the natural habitat of Siberian Huskies, Alaskan Malamutes, and other Arctic dog breeds.

零下的气温和一望无际的雪堆组成了和西伯利亚哈士奇、阿拉斯加雪橇犬和其它极地犬种自然栖息地无比相似的环境。

More than 1,000 of them have gathered in Östersund, taking on the challenge of pulling their sleds and drivers – or 'mushers' – as quickly as they can on the Swedish trails.

超过 1000 只极地犬相聚在厄斯特松德，挑战用最快的速度拉着雪橇和它们的驾驶员，即 “雪橇手” 们，完成位于瑞典的比赛线路。

The sprint races range from roughly five kilometres in length up to 34, and drivers can enter into heats where the sled is being pulled by two dogs up 'til the unlimited class that allows for 14 dogs.

短程竞速赛分为从大约五公里到 34 公里的不同长度，而驾驶员可以参加不同的预赛类别，从两只狗拉雪橇到最高允许 14 只狗的无限制级别。

There's also Nordic style, where the drivers are on skis. Within sled-dog racing, there are also long-distance competitions going on for days, like the annual 1600-kilometre Iditarod Challenge in Alaska, taking the dogs and their drivers on a trail through forests, mountains, and even across sea ice, sometimes through snow blizzards.

锦标赛还包括北欧风格雪橇赛，这个项目中驾驶员穿着滑雪板比赛。在雪橇犬竞赛中也有持续多天的长距离赛事，比如每年在阿拉斯加举办的 1600 公里的艾迪塔罗德挑战赛，这一赛事中雪橇犬和它们的驾驶员需要完成途径森林、山地甚至海冰的路线，有时在整个比赛过程中还需要顶着暴风雪前进。

And for any skiers worried that 1000 dogs would leave a bit of a mess behind on the snow, the competition managers in Östersund have been cleaning up and gathering any dog waste, and it's being turned into biogas – a renewable energy source used to heat up homes and buildings.

而对于担心 1000 只狗会在雪地上留下不少粪便的滑雪者来说，厄斯特松德的赛事管理人员清理并收集了所有狗狗的粪便，并将其转化成了沼气——一种可以用来为住宅和其它建筑供暖的可再生能源。

词汇表

sub-zero （温度）零下的
heaps 一堆，大量
breeds （动物的）品种
sleds 雪橇
trails 雪道；野外的小径
sprint races 短程赛，冲刺赛
heats 预赛
snow blizzards 暴风雪
biogas 沼气，生物燃气