Bio

After growing up on a cattle ranch in Montana, Jessie Royer worked on ranches as a horse wrangler and horse teamster. Even now, her hobbies are horses, hunting and mounted shooting. Jessies got her first sled dogs when she was 15. She started learning about sled dogs working with Doug Swingley for a couple of years. In the spring of 1998, seven years after she got her first dogs, she moved to Alaska. She won Montana’s Race to the Sky when she was only 17, and has won it many times since. She was also the winner of the invitational La Grande Odyssée in France in 2005. Jessie has raced in 20 Iditarods, earning nine top ten finishes, and numerous Special Awards, including the Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award and Most Inspirational Award.

How did your kennel get its name?

How did you get started running dogs?

As a kid

What do you love most about running dogs?

The dogs

Please share with us some stories or facts about your dogs that will be running in the 2025 YQ450.

Don’t know who I am taking yet

Are you a member of any other organizations involved in sled dog sports?

No

Why did you enter the 2025 YQ450 and what are your goals for the race?

Have always enjoyed the Quest

What music do you listen to on the trail?

How did your dogs get their names/How do you choose names?

Share a quick story about one of your indispensable Handlers.

Tell us about your favorite experience with a volunteer on the trail.