Shane Blumentritt founded Cold Start Kennel in 2019 after discovering a passion for racing sled dogs.
He first ran a full team in 2016, learning from experienced mushers Tim Osmar and Monica Zappa.
What began as a desire to simply run dogs in the mountains soon became a competitive ambition.
Shane and his wife Lydia now care for 32 race dogs at their off-grid home in Alaska’s Caribou Hills. Surrounded by challenging mountain, river and timber trails,
Shane has built his kennel around raising, training and racing his own dogs from birth to the finish line.
What is your full name?
Shane Blumentritt
Do you have a kennel name?
Cold Start Kennel
How old are you?
Age 30
Where do you live?
Caribou Hills, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
How did you get started?
I started Cold Start Kennel in 2019 with one goal: runs dogs. I didn’t get into dogs to race competitively.
Truth is, I just wanted to run them in the mountains behind our cabin. That changed after my first race in 2018. Once I lined up at a starting chute, that competitive edge I didn’t know I had came howling out. Haven’t been able to put it back since.
I ran my first full dog team in 2016, learning from my neighbors Tim Osmar and Monica Zappa.
When I decided I wanted in, I didn’t overthink it. I just started showing up at their house every morning, bucket in one hand, shovel in the other, ready to scoop poop and feed dogs.
In exchange, Tim and Monica let me run their teams and filled my head with trail stories from the Iditarod, Yukon Quest, and every race in between. I’m forever in their debt. Tim was my rookie Iditarod reference. When I called and asked him for it, he didn’t even hesitate: “I’d love nothing more than to watch you suffer for ten days.” That’s Tim. He’s the musher | look up to most, and the best dog driver I could’ve asked for as a mentor. I still go over to their house regularly just to pick their brains for random advice or dog questions.
By 2019 I knew racing other people’s dogs wasn’t going to cut it. I wanted to raise my own from the day they’re born all the way to a finish line. My dogs are my kids. Today, my wife Lydia and I have 32 race dogs. I met Lydia in spring 2025. She fell in love with the dogs just as fast and just as hard as I did. Watching her fall for this life – the 2am feedings, the mud, the miles, the adventure – is one of the many things that made me fall for her. We got married in May 2026 after dropping the dogs at Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau for their summer season of tours. Lydia ran her first race in April 2026, the Freddie’s Midnight Run, and came home with a solid third place. I’ve never been prouder.
We live off-grid in a dry cabin in Caribou Hills – no electricity, no running water. It’s the same community I grew up in, and it’s where we run Cold Start Kennel. My parents didn’t want me moving far away to find good trails, so they gave us the family property to keep us close.
Most of our family lives on or near the Kenai Peninsula, which means family visits double as handler help and pit crew. This place is perfect training ground: we’ve got mountain climbs that’ll break your legs, flat miles for speed work, river and water crossings when they’re safe, plus tight single-lane timber trails that twist like spaghetti. We also have wide groomed trails when we need them. You can train for almost anything without leaving home.
People say we sacrifice a lot for this.
Vacations, holidays, sleep. But I don’t see it that way. We put every penny into the kennel and the dogs. We don’t always get to take fancy trips, but l’d rather be here anyway. Sleep is about the only thing we give up.
What races have you competed in?
2017: Freddie’s Midnight Run 100, Caribou Hills
2019: Idaho Sled Dog Challenge,
Mid Minnesota 150,
Michigan UP 100
2021: Two Rivers 100, Fairbanks – 3rd place
T-Dog 2026: Copper Basin 300,
Su Dog 300 – 4th place
What’s your greatest achievement so far?
Starting Cold Start from the ground up is my greatest achievement so far – besides convincing the best woman to marry me. We live it, breathe it. Our dogs are our life.
Has it always been a dream to run the Iditarod?
The Iditarod dream started way before I had a driver’s license. The Tustumena 200 used to run literally through our backyard. As a toddler I’d walk the trail after the teams went through and pick up old booties for fun. By 8 years old I had my hunting dog in a harness pulling me on skis or a snowboard around the cabin. Dog power has been in my blood since I can remember, even though I grew up in a farm family, not a mushing family.
What made you decide that this year would be the year to sign up for the race?
My original plan was to run Iditarod in 2025, but life had other plans. Dogs, money, timing – it didn’t line up. This year, everything did. The signs were too big to ignore. The universe said 2027 is our year, and I’m listening. There were too many to blow off this time.
What can you tell me about your team?
Our team is the people who watch the dogs that don’t make the race crew, who give advice at midnight, lend equipment, handler for us at races, feed us on the road between races, give us a roof and a bed when we’re traveling, pre-make my drop bag meals so I don’t eat like garbage on the trail – thanks Mom and Dad – and cheer the loudest whether we win or come in last. It’s the people who believe in us and our dream enough to help carry it. I can’t thank them enough. It truly takes a village, and it’s a beautiful thing to have these people in our life.
Do you have sponsors?
Our sponsors include Megawatt Electric, Frank The Tank, Arctic Chiropractic, Homer SLP Alaska, Jenwar Towing, Poppy Ridge Adventures, Ray’s Plumbing, San Diego Odyssey Family Practice, Reliance Heating & Air Conditioning, Savley’s – with more coming this season. But sponsors aren’t measured in dollars alone.
What’s the best advice you have received regarding mushing?
The best advice I ever got didn’t come from a musher. It came from a mountaineer whose name I wish I could remember. He said, “one step at a time.” If you stare at the summit, you’ll think there’s no way you make it. But you can always take one more step. And steps make miles.
That’s the mantra for Cold Start Kennel: One step at a time. You always have one more in you. On the trail, in the kennel, in life.
Do you have any friends who are also dog mushers?
Friends in mushing: Most of mine are mushers. When your whole life revolves around dogs and fishing, it’s hard to talk about anything else. We live, eat, breathe dogs. It’s hard to find a “social normal” when all you know how to talk about is dogs or river levels.
Is there a certain part of the Iditarod trail you are looking forward to? Like maybe the beautiful scenery from the Yukon River or the food from Takotna checkpoint?
I’m most looking forward to McGrath. I won’t have time to stop and chat, but knowing friendly faces and family friends are there halfway will be a huge morale boost.
Is there any part of the Iditarod trail you are nervous about like the Bering sea coast or the Steps?
I’m most nervous about the coast. Our dogs thrive on tight, twisty, single-lane trails where they have something new to look at every few meters. The wide-open Bering Sea coast will be a mental test for them – and for me.
If for some reason you don’t make it to the finish line in Nome, will you try again?
If we don’t make Nome? That’s not an option unless something catastrophic happens. We’re getting our tails there. And win, lose, or scratch, you’ll see us back for years to come. This isn’t a one-and-done dream.
What is your favorite food / drink?
King crab – I only buy it for my birthday, so it’s a once-a-year meal. Chocolate milkshake.
What’s your favorite film?
The Great Alone about Lance Mackey. No exaggeration, I’ve seen it over 300 times. I’ll put it on before bed and fall asleep to it, and my dogs will sit up on the couch and watch it closer than you’d think a dog would.
What’s your favorite book?
Anything by Gary Paulson, from Hatchet, the first big book I read in first grade, to his stories about learning to run dogs.
What’s your favorite city?
I don’t have one. Any town with more than three stoplights, I’m just passing through. I don’t like cities. Give me a village with a decent restaurant, post office, fuel station, and a bar with karaoke and I’m good.
What’s your favorite item of clothing?
My mittens, hat, or boots. Some of your most important gear, PERIOD.
