Funding made possible in part by Blind Institute of Technology.

Blind Institute of Technology supports companies that invest in people with disabilities.

Providing Salesforce employment training, staffing, services and accessibility consulting.

The talent is there.

More at blindit.org Funding also made possible in part by Choice Magazine Listening.

Choice Magazine Listening is a quarterly collection of magazine writing professionally recorded for the blind and print disabled, a nonprofit on the web at choicemagazinelistenening.org or 1-888-7CHOICE.

Funding for Blind Adventures with Ron Walsh and friends made possible through Creative Saskatchewan's feature film and TV production grant.

Canadian film or video production tax credit Anthony J. Towstego Philip Doerksen, EWest International Distribution Film one.

(music) RON: There's nothing better than the great outdoors.

I'm a blind person that likes to get out.

I don't get stopped very easily.

I do what I can to work the way around the blindness.

I can participate just like anyone else.

Whether it's fishing, canoeing, cross-country skiing, backpacking all year round, I love it all.

People that are blind can do a lot more than they think.

The biggest thing is people hold themselves back.

Don't get in your own way.

My name's Ron Walsh.

I'm completely blind.

Get ready for Blind Adventures with Ron Walsh and friends.

RON: We're going to do some dog sledding today.

I'm going to be traveling with my guide and friend, Ashlyn George.

Super excited about this, Ron.

What do you think?

You want to go meet some dogs?

- I'm in!

- Ya ya - Always on your adventures.

- I'm always in.

(Ashlyn laughs) - Yes.

I got to go to Sun Dogs.

I got to talk to them.

I got to get some instructions.

I got to figure out how to do it.

It's that process, right?

Learning as you go, figuring it out step by step to get through it.

So once you go to, ah, Sun Dogs, then the next step would be the Canadian Challenge.

And that's a couple of hundred kilometer race.

- Right - And then then you would want to do a bigger race after that.

- What's next?

- Yes-- Ah.

Either the Yukon Quest or the Iditarod.

I'd be just absolutely over the moon to do either of those.

And those are big international races.

- Biggest in the world.

- Biggest in the world?

- Yeah.

- You know what though?

- This is serious.

I think you could do it.

It's that step by step process, right?

I'm going to go there and check it out to see if I can actually do it.

RON: And the temperature today is nice.

It's going to be, I don't know, maybe around -20, something like that, which is perfect for the Canadian North RON: 4x4'n a little bit to get in here?

ASHLYN: It's not too bad they've got the roads plowed really nicely.

We just turned off the secondary highway and we're almost like a one car lane and the forest is really enclosed in around us.

There's Spruce and Jack Pines and they're almost reaching into the road.

Their boughs are full of snow.

Big, snowy ditches.

It's-- its absolutely stunning.

Like this is going to be a good adventure today.

ASHLYN: There's two cabins here.

Um, there is an outdoor campfire here, just to your right.

RON: Oh, I can smell it now.

ASHLYN: Yeah.

So be able to warm up there.

- I'll come around that side Ron.

ANDREA: Hello.

RON: Hello.

Good morning!

ANDREA: Welcome to Sundogs.

RON: Alright.

Thank you.

-Andrea Nelson - Andrea, how ya doing Andrea?

Ron Walsh.

Hi Tanja Tabel - How ya doing Tanja - Good!

-Brad Muir BRAD: Welcome to Sundogs We'll start with the first three rules of mushing, which will encounter again later on.

But the first three rules are.

BRAD: Hold on.

ANDREA: Hold on.

TANJA: Hold on.

And never let go.

(laugh together) Oh, we've got someone else joining us here.

Gaetano Aramini and Kara Aramini - Hey!

- Hey guys.

And they just joined our cross-country ski club.

So, uh, we thought, hey, they need more adventure than just skiin'.

I'm partially blind.

I'm technically legally blind, but I'm labeled partially blind, so I still have some vision.

Um.

What is happening right now is I'm losing my peripheral, so I'm getting that tunnel vision, but I'm very thankful for the vision I still have.

- Awesome.

- Yeah.

What is a really, really cold day here?

Like, how cold does it get?

Minus 58!

(laugh together) -Okay.

TANJA: In one race, it was -60.

Right.

ANDREA: But we might, I don't know, we would still mush and -30.

What about animals?

Like other animals on the trail, like elk and moose and -- I imagine there's all kinds of animals out there.

BRAD: One of the things you don't want to encounter, uh, or have to deal with would be a moose.

- Yes.

- I heard that.

That-- that's-- yeah.

So there are, of course, horror stories for mushers that, um, they come around the corner and there's a moose and the moose is-- is defending itself and sometimes that's being proactive.

And they could walk straight down a team and kick their whole way down the trail.

- That's terrifying.

- It is terrifying.

I should have read more fine print on this.

(laughing together) Well, let's go get dressed in our warm gear and, uh, -Go meet some dogs.

-Yeah!

(cheers) - Let's do this.

- Sounds good - Alright Okay.

(dogs barking) (music) ASHLYN: A lot of these dogs, I'd say, would be a little bit, well, they're medium sized dogs.

And, so just to the left, I'll turn us so we're facing it and there's a sled directly in front of you.

How long is this thing?

Probably six feet in length.

So that is the brush bow.

We kind of bounce off it, off uh off say a tree trunk or something like that.

Okay, so that's like a little bumper sticking out there Yeah.

Yeah.

You're passing the basket, you've got your hand-- Yes!

You caught that handlebar perfectly.

So then you swing around and you're on the runners.

RON: Yeah.

ANDREA: Nice.

ASHLYN: You look like a natural.

I'd pop in here and go for a ride with you!

(Overlapping speech) Hop on in!

(indistinct speech) (laugh together) (indistinct speech) Ashlyn, pull me for a ways.

(laughing together) ANDREA: So once you have-- stopped the team by dragging and using the foot brake to get it in there, RON: Oh, that much?

ANDREA: Yeah.

Then you're going to reach down with your right hand.

You're sliding down until you grab a hold of the snow hook.

And you feel that pointed handle.

And the snow hook is kind of like the parking brake or kind of like throwing an anchor.

RON: Yeah, but if we're going to change the hook.

ANDREA: Oh, yeah.

RON: Okay.

ANDREA: So you place it down and then trace your hand to the left Can you-- right there.

That's called the stanchion.

And it is connected to the handlebar.

So you'd ride up your hands on the handlebar and then I would bring your right foot forward until you hit that same piece of wood.

Yeah.

And then you would stomp the hook.

Stomp.

Very nice.

RON: Okay.

And so you push that snow hook probably about two or three inches into the snow.

- Yeah.

RON: So I take my foot off the break?

ANDREA: No, you want to keep that foot on the brake, then you grab your snow hook.

At this point, the dogs are likely starting to pull you.

- Okay, - That's a little bit unnerving (Andrea laughing) for the first time.

Ya.

--Um But just keep your composure.

You've got your snow hook.

RON: Yeah ANDREA: You stand up.

RON: Yeah.

ANDREA: And then-- RON: The snow hook goes where?

ANDREA: There's a crossbar just below the handlebar and we're hanging it on the crossbar.

Feel-- just come back on the hook.

RON: Gotcha.

Okay, Yukon Quest, let's go!

(laugh together) I'm ready?

ANDREA: Then you would remove your foot from the foot brake.

The thing is, the moment you step off of this.

- I'm going again!

- It's going again.

(laughing together) ANDREA: Back on the runners and they're off.

ASHLYN: How does it feel?

- I'm ready.

ASHLYN: You're ready?

- I'm ready.

ASHLYN: It feels all good?

- Yeah.

ASHLYN: You look good on it.

I'm ready-- I'm ready for the first turn.

(indistinct speech) (laughing together) ASHLYN: Hold on!

Hold on!

Hold on!

RON: Yes-- yes.

Okay and then we have the basket of the sled.

We kind of glanced over that, went straight for driving.

But this is where we'll start from.

So, Kara, you can come join us, too.

RON: Yeah.

Kara: ‘Kay.

Kara, you saw our brave.

- I got a passenger.

Are you ready?

- Ready!

Right now we got some human power dog team.

It's ah-- It's the best I can get.

(laughing) Let's go!

Hang on Kara.

Andrea and Tanja, Gaetano and Ashlyn, are my human powered dog team.

They're there to give me the sensation of what it's like to be pulled on the sleigh without having the complications of the dogs there.

RON: Gee!

ANDREA: Ha ha ha!

There is no turn.

RON: Not yet-- not ready yet?

(Andrea laughs) BRAD: So down about 200 meters, make a turn call.

You come back.

RON: We're just about to the Yukon, keep goin'.

ANDREA: We're heading South Ron.

RON: Okay.

BRAD: You learned about hold on, hold on, hold on.

Well, if your sled goes over, you're holding on and then there's a log sticking out in the middle of the trail.

You've got to figure out, can I stop this team from the side?

Now we have to do a dry run for a tip and drag.

Kara: Oh!

BRAD: Tilt the sled over on its side.

Great.

Now stretch your body out-- gently.

ANDREA: Okay, so then Ron, you would feel what it'd be like to fall off of the trail.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, wwwhhhooooaaaa And we'll be right back with more Blind Adventures with Ron Walsh and Friends RON: Why dog sledding?

Rachael Scdoris from the USA.

That's why.

I consulted with her before filming I had a great conversation with her.

She truly inspired me for this episode.

ASHLYN: Rachael Scdoris was born in Bend, Oregon with congenital achromatopsia, an uncorrectable visual disorder Growing up, she trained to be a dog musher and cross-country runner, and she entered many dog sled events.

Rachel carried the Olympic torch for the 2002 Winter games.

In 2003, the Iditarod Trail Committee approved her request under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 for special accommodations to compete in the much longer and more rigorous Iditarod.

In 2005, she started the Iditarod in Anchorage, Alaska.

She eventually had to quit the race because her dog showed signs of sickness.

In 2006, she became the first legally blind person to complete the 1049 mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across the U.S.

state of Alaska.

Blind Adventures with Ron Walsh and Friends.

If you let go, the dog team is just going to take off?

Yeah.

So you're trying to avoid those kinds of situations.

So if I tip it over, I just grab on both sides, like here.

(overlapping speech) - Yeah, yeah.

- Okay.

- Okay, ready guys?

Tip it.

- Oh!

BRAD: Whoooooaaa!

Ha ha ha.

BRAD: K. Whooooaaa.

That's what you don't want to happen.

RON: Okay.

ANDREA: We're going to bring six dogs out.

Then you can approach the dogs.

You can pet the dogs, and we'll show you how to harness.

You ready?

- You ready for it to get a little louder?

- Yeah.

(laugh together) Okay.

we'll bring them down.

ASHLYN: They're all chained to their each individual, uh, dog house.

RON: Yeah.

And so they can kind of run circles around it.

But now they've all come out, they've all jumped up.

You can hear them.

(dogs barking) Um, yeah, they're pretty excited to go.

Andrea just came down with a dog and there's this chain on these posts and she's just linking it to their collar.

I think they have treats and snacks.

RON: Hello.

Yeah.

What a good guy.

So now there's three dogs down here, and they're all chained up.

Just waiting.

RON: Hey Murphy.

Hello, buddy.

ASHLYN: Murphy is the biggest on He's like a-- he's kind of like the size of a retriever.

And then the two dogs next to him, they're a little bit smaller.

ANDREA: So this is called an X-Back harness.

And that's because there's webbing that forms an X across the back of the dog.

And you put one hand on one side of the collar.

So right here.

RON: Yeah.

ANDREA: And your other hand kind of up.

RON: On this side.

ANDREA: Yeah.

And then you'll walk up and she'll stick her nose out and you're just goin' a-- place it-- RON: Drop her nose in here?

ANDREA: Yeah.

Drop her nose and it'll come out.

Aero RON: Aero, come here buddy.

There you go.

That a good girl.

Oh, yeah!

(Ahh in the background) Oh, that's nice.

ASHLYN: Okay, so I'm going to run you through all the dogs, their names and what they look like, so you'll know.

So the first one here is Brimpton.

- Brimpton - Yes.

Hello Brimpton.

ASHLYN: He's dark.

He's got a little bit of caramel color eyes down his neck and into his paws, but he's a darker colored dog.

Next we have Aero, like the chocolate bar.

RON: Hi, how ya doing Aero?

ASHLYN: And she kind of looks like a German shepherd.

Some of that caramel brown color mixed with a darker brown as well.

She's a little bit smaller.

Around the corner, we have little Nutmeg.

-She's the smallest of the six.

- Hello Nutmeg.

And she's perfectly black with just a little bit of a white streak on her toes.

And right behind Nutmeg, we got Sandy and actually we got Sandy and Murphy.

And both of them look quite similar.

-They're that-- -Hi Sandy.

- golden colored, almost like a retriever, but they have more of that husky look to them.

- And Murphy, who you are petting right now-- - Yeah, hi buddy.

is one of the biggest dogs of the six.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, wow.

This is McKenzie and McKenzie, actually has a little more husky look to him.

He's got lots of dark fur - and again-- - Where is he?

- those caramel-- oh, just right in front.

ASHLYN: There we go --has that a (overlapping speech) RON: How ya doing buddy?

Hello.

ASHLYN: Caramel circles around his eyes and then the lighter underbelly and legs lighter brown, but darker on top.

So you got four darker colored dogs and two golden dogs.

- So that's your team of dogs you are going to run with!

- Yeah, alright!

That's my team.

- Yeah.

- Wow.

ASHLYN: They all look ready to go.

Can you hear ‘em too?

(dogs howling) - Oh, I am ready too.

- Yeah.

ASHLYN: They're pretty excited.

Tails wagging.

Yowling.

(laughing) We know, we got to go pretty quick.

Hello.

Hello.

So what do you think?

Are you ready?

Ready to go?

- I'm ready.

- Yeah, awesome.

- Absolutely.

- I guess-- - If they're ready, I'm ready.

They're all harnessed up.

And now I guess the next step getting them over towards the sled.

Well ladies and gentlemen.

Let's go running.

So when we actually take off, that's when Andrea will be standing here at the back and you'll be sitting.

- Yup Um, and then you'll be doing a loop.

I-- I think the driving for you happens later on the little pond behind the house here.

- After they kind of quiet down.

- Yeah.

And if they tip, you just force it back down to the ground.

- Just try to keep the balance.

- Yeah.

He was wondering how much of a chance he has to tip over.

I think it's possible in this tight like in-- when you are driving.

I think it is actually-- Well, I'll just kind of expect it and keep trying to keep it flat.

- Ron, you can get it and we're going to hook up.

- Okay.

(dogs barking) Right on your left here.

There's these thin probably 5mm lines right there.

That's for holding on to.

RON: Okay.

- You're ready to go.

- Yes Oh I'm excited to see this.

- It's going to be good.

- Yes.

You're going to get out driving the dogsled yourself.

I am going to drive.

Yeah.

(dogs barking) Let's go!

(dogs barking) And the barking stopped.

Ha ha, I know.

- And we are off.

- And we are off.

RON: Going down the trail.

When it gets kind of quiet, all you can hear is a little bit of the snow under the sleigh.

Hard to hear the dogs, maybe a little bit on their feet now and then.

And they don't bark.

They don't hardly make any barking noises.

So they're nice and quiet and it's just so peaceful going down the trail and little bit of a bump here and there.

And it's-- yeah, it's very, very relaxing going for a ride on there.

ANDREA: We'll warn you as much as we can if there is an oncoming willow or a little tree or something like that, and that's where you would bring your arms in front of your-- of your face.

Okay, there's some-- there are some branches on the right here.

Yes.

Excellent positioning.

RON: When you switch over from driver to driver, the person in the front rolls out to the left and the person on the back has the brakes on.

- Okay - Change Yeah, let's switch.

ANDREA: Okay, so Ron, Okay, so you're going to work your way to the right.

RON: When you do switch the person that is, uh, exiting the driver's seat, they have their foot on the brake.

While I switch my foot to hold that brake, they step off.

I'm going to hop in the sled.

- And then you - Grab the anchor.

- Keep holding on.

Okay.

Now, I take one foot off.

No, I got to be in the sled first.

Okay.

You're in the sled.

Okay.

Okay.

- So I am now seated in the sled - Okay Dogs are ready.

They're all straight out.

So when you're ready, you're going to lean down.

Grab a hold of the hook.

RON: Without my foot on that brake, those dogs are going to fly.

And we'll be right back with more Blind Adventures with Ron Walsh and Friends ASHLYN: Coming up in future episodes, Ron, John and I head up north to hike to the historic Gray Owl's Cabin.

RON: I think history is very important from an adventure standpoint because they were there first.

We're going in there with state of the art equipment, but they went in there with nothing, when it was axes and knowledge and the hardships they went through to to actually survive and make it to the future.

The future is not always, exact for people that come out here in the middle of nowhere.

And yeah, it would have been a tough go at times.

Yeah, it's a totally different way of doing things.

When are you going in with very little resources and just the knowledge.

And if you make a mistake, you don't make it.

Yeah.

Like Grey Owl, I'm pretty sure he would have walked in here like in the spring, in the fall.

ASHLYN: To the right RON: And the ice is a little rough And he needed some groceries.

Yeah, that's kind of amazing to be able to, ASHLYN: To the right.

RON: Be a part of history like that.

ASHLYN: Yep.

RON: And it's nice to be able to come in here with the canoe.

JOHN: Here we go.

ASHLYN: We go.

RON: Cabin?

ASHLYN: Yeah.

JOHN: Grey Owls Cabin.

ASHLYN: This is Grey Owls.

Like were here.

So we we canoed and portage and then canoed and then hiked, (Ron laughs) and then canoed and four times and canoed.

And now you got a tiny little hike to get in.

RON: Yeah.

RON: Yesterday, It looked kind of bleak.

ASHLYN: Yeah.

(laughs) RON: All that hiking, and I was pretty tired, but yeah, we are here.

ASHLYN: You know what?

ASHLYN: You pushed through and you persevered, then we did it.

RON: Well I didn't do it by myself.

We did it.

We did it.

That's the real original paddle.

JOHN: Thats what it looks like ASHLYN: December 10th, 1937 Grey Owl.

RON: Isn't that something?

Blind Adventures with Ron Walsh and Friends.

RON: So now Andrea hopped back in the front of the sleigh, I take my anchor.

The second that anchor starts lifting, I take my foot off the brake and the dogs are gone.

They are ready.

There's like whiplash almost when you start.

I got on thinking it's going to be a little bit wobbly and a little bit, uh, unsure.

Not at all.

Aw, it was just like skiing or just, I don't know, my skiing experience.

And it just seemed to be completely natural.

ANDREA: So now we're going on a tight little trail.

It's quite pretty.

And then we'll spin out onto the lake.

When we got, like, onto the pond and you were taking those turns, I can feel that you were taking those curves.

And so describing-- okay, so we're moving to the left.

It was obvious how you were pinning the runner and how you were you were rotating.

And so we're curving to the left now.

Oh, it's super soft in here.

RON: To be able to actually steer it, to actually do that.

That's very empowering.

I'm not just standing there hanging on.

I'm doing more than that.

I'm actually steering.

I'm actually doing what I'm supposed to.

And that was from instructions.

The training was excellent.

After they kind of explained everything, there was no mystery.

It was great!

I had the confidence and also going with people that absolutely know what they're doing.

Having a conversation with somebody like Rachel Scdoris, who has done the Iditarod twice.

She's done many, many, many races and she's blind.

So the fact that somebody blind has already gone out and done it first, means that she's opened the door.

Maybe with a little help and a little of experience, maybe I can do it.

Maybe other people can do it.

ANDREA: When you're on the trail and all the dogs are lined out and it's like smooth and it's easy and you're on a lake and it's beautiful.

And-- and then everything can just kind of descend into chaos really, really quickly.

RON: We're heading down the trail.

I'm driving.

Andrea, she's in the front of the sleigh and things are going good.

Until all of a sudden-- ANDREA: Brake, brake, brake!

(dogs growling and barking) RON: All I can hear is roar of the dogs going at ‘er There's two dogs or more fighting.

I have no idea what's suddenly going on.

ANDREA: So the dog has slowed down, the gangline kind of tucks around and then someone steps in it and then it's tangled around them and then another dog gets tangled in that dog.

And then suddenly we have a whole pile of fur and lines.

Then be a dogfight.

Okay and then brakes back on.

RON: I apply the brakes.

Andrea jumps out, grabs the dogs.

Boom!

She's in there, calmly straighten them out and we continue down the trail.

For me, not knowing what's going on, was more than a little scary.

ANDREA: It felt natural for me as a passenger that-- that you were taking that weight really easily Get your foot ready on that dragmat.

They come in full speed here.

Put your right hand on the foot-- or on that snow hook and unhook it.

Look at him go.

(indistinct speech) Its like he's been doing this the whole time.

ASHLYN: Ron!

(cheering) RON: Whooaaa!

ANDREA: And hook.

(Ron laughing) ASHLYN: Oh man, Ron!

All right!

ASHLYN: Look at that!

ANDREA: You're a musher now.

(cheering) ASHLYN: You looked amazing out there.

Wow!

Wow!

That was-- I did it!

I did it!

ASHLYN: You just came flying her around the corner.

That's off the list.

ASHLYN: It's like you have been doing this for years.

(laughing together) Wow Wow.

Thanks to the athletes.

ASHLYN: Yes.

They were hustling ... too.

(overlapping speech) Yeah.

- How did he do?

- He did awesome.

Yeah.

He's a natural.

Like, really is -- really a natural.

ASHLYN: Like, coming around the corner, honestly, it was so cool to see you.

just like come flying in and the dogs are just running.

You look so good Ron.

We're going fast.

Yeah.

And it was good on all the turns?

You didn't have a worry about falling over?

No, no, no.

No, it was nice and smooth.

Yeah.

A little bit of finesse around the corner.

It went great.

- You are welcome.

- Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

- You are welcome.

Wow.

Wow.

Thank you.

Who who's going next?

Kara: Me!

(Cheering and overlapping speech RON: K, alright.

Don't take her by the cliffs.

(laugh together) Kara: It is a huge adventure.

It's something I've never done before.

So it's totally out of my comfort zone, but it's something that-- I'm really loving.

You know get onto that dog sled and just go!

(Kara laughs) I've suffered from a lot of anxiety and depression in the past, and that has really pulled me back from from doing things that maybe I never felt comfortable doing before.

How are you doing?

Kara: I'm good.

(cheering) For other people who are blind to try this, it's totally possible.

Like, if I could do it, they can do it.

I thank everybody from Sundogs, they couldn't have done anything more for us.

That was obviously fantastic.

The idea is to take people out and empower ‘em and-- give them a chance to try things that they maybe wouldn't try.

Now we've got this out of the way.

What's the next adventure?

There's always something with you Ron.

(Ron laughing) (Indisint speech) (laughing) Where are we going?

What are we doing?

- Where are we going, Ron?

- I'm going to go on a 52 kilometer cross-country ski race.

So, we're going to ski 26 K, then we're going to sleep overnight.

Got my winter tent.

No blind person has ever done that race before.

- So that-- - Wow.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- You'll be the first.

- I'll be the first.

And you're going to break a record then too.

- Yes, yes.

- The fastest time-- fastest time Fastest time ever for a blind guy.

I got first, second, third.

(laughing) Funding made possible in part by Blind Institute of Technology.

Blind Institute of Technology supports companies that invest in people with disabilities.

Providing Salesforce employment training, staffing, services and accessibility consulting.

The talent is there.

More at blindit.org Funding also made possible in part by Choice Magazine Listening.

Choice Magazine Listening is a quarterly collection of magazine writing professionally recorded for the blind and print disabled, a nonprofit on the web at choicemagazinelistenening.org or 1-888-7CHOICE.

Funding for Blind Adventures with Ron Walsh and friends made possible through Creative Saskatchewan's feature film and TV production grant.

Canadian film or video production tax credit Anthony J. Towstego Philip Doerksen, EWest International Distribution Film one.