Moonlight Ladies
DogSledding
TAKASU City near Asahikawa, Hokkaido, JAPAN
TOUR AND PRICES
We have two sessions a day, in the morning and afternoon. At each session we take only one reserved group.
This can be from 2-5 people. Only your group will be here during that session so you have our undivided attention. (note: This schedule is depending on the dogs- We give top priority to our dogs' health.）
Session Starting Times
December 12~ February 21
AM Session: 10-12 AM
PM Session: 2-4 PM
March 1~ March 10
AM Session: 9-11 AM
PM Session: 3-5 PM
The languages of instruction are Japanese and English, it does not take a high athletic ability to dogsled, but it does take alertness, balance and an ability to understand the instructions, both in the instruction room and on the trail. We have an instruction video in Chinese but an ability to understand a shouted command in English on the trail may save you , the dogs and us from an unpleasant situation.
Example in a group of four, one person is riding the dogsled, three are riding in a passenger sled pulled by the snowmobile ahead of the dogsled team. We rotate positions as each rider travels their portion of the trail. The persons riding in the passenger sled are facing backward, so they can observe and photograph the rider.
NOTE- Sorry, but we cannot take single persons. We have calculated that over their lifetime we feed a dog fourteen times for each day that they run. This includes puppies, off season, days off, and retirement. A solo ride would not even pay for the dog food.
Our sled has a mounted Go-Pro that swivels so that half of your ride it films you and half it films the dogs, as well as Kyoko takes many single shots. All photos and videos taken on the day of the tour will be downloaded at a later date using a free data transfer service. In some cases, due to climate or other factors, there may be problems with the recording.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
We deal with many different combinations and situations. Please read the Misc. Notes as there may be important information that applies to your situation.
For 2 people
Two people split the 7 km trail into 2 sections.
@¥33,000 x 2
For 3 people
Three people split the 7 km trail into 3 parts.
@¥27,000 x 3
For 4 people / For 5 people
Split the trail into 4 / Split the trail into 5
@¥20,000 x 4 / @¥16,000 x 5
For just watching the dogteam & friends
If a member of your group does not want to ride the dogsled, they may still come on the trip as a passenger. Observation only applications are not permitted.
@¥3,000-
For Disabled persons
We have developed a special dogsled that can be ridden sitting down and can be self-ridden even by any one used to using a manual powered wheel chair. We have a range of accessory equipment to make it easy to move a handicapped person to and on and off the sled. We do require one able bodied person to accompany and assist a handicapped person under 60 kg. in weight and two persons for a someone over 60kg.
Inquire for details
For Large KIDS GROUPS
We can offer a self-ride dogsledding experience for school aged groups on a case by case basis. (Maximum of 10 children)
Inquire for details
＊These prices are subject to change without notice.
Misc. Notes
＊FIVE PERSON GROUPS
We can fit 5 persons on one trip, with one person riding as a passenger on the snowmobile. We prefer not to do this, as a 5 person split of the trail is not as full an experience as we like to provide. However, there are situations where we will do so, such as a family with two adults and three children or a group of five for the PM session that is a little late arriving and there is not enough time before sunset to run two trips.
＊CHILDREN RIDING
The size of a child self riding depends on the weight of the largest rider on that trip. They must be able to stop the size of a team that can pull the heaviest rider. Children more than 35kg lighter than than the heaviest rider will have Kyoko ride with them. Children under 75cm tall can come on the passenger sled for free.
＊SESSION TIME CHANGES
Our season runs from around the winter solstice ( 9 hours of daylight ) to the spring equinox
( 12 hours of daylight ) The temperature also rises during this time with the session times changing to have your dogsledding at when conditions are best. If you have a problem arriving at the suggested time, contact us to see what we can arrange. One thing we do not control is when the sun goes down, if you cannot arrive at least 90 minutes before sunset for the PM session we cannot provide your ride.
＊MARCH TOUR PRICING
＊TOUR PRICE INCREASE AND LOWER WEIGHT RESTRICTION
The last three winters have brought us lots of a kind of snow that was very rare in the 12 years before that. It was very dry and very difficult to compress into an easy running trail. In spite of spending a lot more time working on the trail, for the last two years we have had to put on an extra one or two dogs to pull the same weight at the same speed that we had in all previous years. The result was we had to increase prices as well as lower our weight restriction to 85kg.