After a fifteen-year career as a sled dog racer, musher Dave Olesen turned his focus away from competition and set out to fulfill a lifelong dream. Over the course of four successive winters he steered his dogs and sled on long trips away from his remote Northwest Territories homestead, setting out in turn to the four cardinal compass points - south, east, north, and west - and home again to Hoarfrost River.

His narrative ranges from the personal and poignant musings of a dogsled driver to loftier planes of introspection and contemplation. Olesen describes his journeys day by day, but this book is not merely an account of his travels. Neither is it yet another offering in the genre of ""wide-eyed southerner meets the Arctic,"" because Olesen is a firmly rooted northerner, having lived and travelled in the boreal outback for over thirty years. Olesen's life story colours his writing: educated immigrant, husband and father, professional dog musher, working bush pilot, and denizen of log cabins far off the grid. He and his dogs feel at home in country lying miles back of beyond.

This book demolishes many of the clichés that imbue writings about bush life, the Far North, and dogsledding. It is a unique blend of armchair adventure, personal memoir, and thoughtful, down-to-earth reflection.

Prizes

Winner of NorthWords Prize 2015 (Canada)

"Dave Olesen's four midwinter dogsled journeys project struck me as a wonderfully sane choice of place- and self-exploration, reminding me of how Thoreau walked many days across thickets and swamps exploring his homeplace. But what a vast landscape Dave lives in! And what mindful and sympathetic attention it took to pack and plan for not just himself but a whole team of tough and dedicated dogs. I understand why he did it, but the details of how is an education in itself. The book's back matter on winter camping, and on the care of dogs, alone is worth it. The relaxed but steady frame of mind in which he packed and travelled is the key. I salute this man and his passion, and his family for giving him space to explore it. An old Inupiaq Eskimo once said to me as I set out in a canoe on a September river, 'Don't have any adventures!'" -- Gary Snyder, poet; professor of English, UC Davis
"'Kinds of Winter' is a chronicle of the beauty, the lore, the why, and the dog sled adventure of travelling across the Barren Lands. It is written by a master of winter travel by dogteam. To anyone who loves the north or who has a curiosity about living in the cold this is a must-read." -- Will Steger, polar explorer and educator; www.willstegerfoundation.org
"This is a wonderful book, telling the story of four incredible journeys by a remarkable man." -- Kathleen Coskran, author of 'The High Price of Everything'
"A vivid armchair traveler experience like no other, Kinds of Winter is highly recommended." -- Midwest Book Review
"Working animals were once a staple of town and country life: pit ponies, sheep herders, warehouse mousers. All lesser mammals were bred for chores or meat. The main thing to remember, says a friend who's spent a lifetime with horses, is that they don't care about your feelings.... To watch huskies scrap with each other, or to watch dogs go after a teammate who has for some reason become a scapegoat, is sobering to anyone who tries to mold dogs to a human model or to elevate them to a preconceived notion of furry nobility, Olesen writes. They are physical, and we must relate to them on that level.... Olesen's book is a crisp account of a world now gone in urban Canada, when animals worked as hard as their owners." -- Holly Doan -- Blacklock's Reporter

Dave Olesen has a B.A. in Humanities and Northern Studies. A veteran dog musher, he finished the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race eight times. Olesen has lived since 1987 on the northeast tip of Great Slave Lake with his wife, Kristen, and thirty huskies. He works as a bush pilot and guide. Kinds of Winter is his fourth book. His 1994 collection North of Reliance was re-published in a 2016 edition by Raven Productions of Ely Minnesota.