One saturation diver and his dogs - Underwater Contractor Magazine

Alan Stewart and a member of his sleg dog team.

One saturation diver and his dogs
Earlier this year Alan Stewart, a professional saturation diver for 24 years, took part in one of the world's most extreme sled dog races high in European Alps. Alan recounts the trip for UCI.

The Alpen Trail is one of the most intense sled dog events in the sled dog racing calendar. Held high in Europe's Alps mountain range, teams from across the globe gather to pit themselves against extreme conditions, crossing heights of up to 2200 metres.
I had led the very first UK team to race and complete the Alpen Trail in January 2001. The experiences gained from this outing led me to start preparing for a return to the event three years later.
My lead dogs would be Buster, a seven-year-old German Shorthaired Pointer, and Chagall, an eight-year-old Alaskan Husky - both veterans of the 2001 trip and many adventures during the intervening three years. Travelling with them would be six three-year-old brothers bred for me by Joe Runyan, one of the very best sled dog racers in the world.
The weather plays a huge part in sled dog racing training in the UK, and last year around two months were lost as it was simply too hot to train. We followed a training programme which got the dogs working at pace for approximately 30 miles around my base in Scotland's Cairngorms. Unfortunately, a lack of a decent snowfall meant that I would be competing with six dogs in my team who had no snow experience.
All eight dogs were checked by a vet the day before we were due to leave on the three-day journey to Switzerland - the longest road trip the six brothers would have done in their short lives.
The next morning, at 3.30am, John Boyle and I put the team into our Links Motors-sponsored truck and made our way to Edinburgh where we were to meet Roger Blackburn. Both John and Roger were deep diving colleagues of mine for more than 16 years and they were to be my helpers during the Alpen Trail. From Edinburgh we headed for Hull and a ferry bound Holland.
The most expensive elements of a venture like this can be the ferry crossing, fuel costs and the race entry fee. Fortunately, P&O Ferries covered our crossing costs and the team's entry was financed by John Milne, manager of Pan Ocean Aberdeen and an ex-ops manager to many of the diving jobs I had worked on. Once docked in Holland it was not long before we were on route to the Alps and the race's first stage area, a two-day drive.

First Stage - Zernez, Switzerland
Arriving in Zernez, a graceful little town in the Lower Engadine approximately 15 miles from St Moritz, we were greeted with very bad news. An avalanche had damaged the first stage trail and more avalanches were forecast for the area. The organisers had been forced to cancel this part of the race, a severe blow to us as it I knew this 36-kilometre section would have been ideal preparation before heading high into the mountains. Myself and two Austrian teams hooked up our dog teams and ventured up the trail until we got to the avalanche - an awesome sight, the trail simply stopped at a wall of snow which stretched as far as the eye could see.

Second/Third Stages - Lü, Switzerland
The next two stages of the Alpen Trail were to start from Lü, a small village high in the Swiss Alps. The village sits 1600 metres above sea level and the air there is thin. It would get much thinner along the trail. These were the stages I was not looking forward to - a 55-kilometre trail climbing to heights of 2200 metres. Although I was sure I had a better team this time around, Lü had not been a stage in 2001 and racing at such high altitude would be a completely new experience. And we would have to do the trail twice!

The Alpen Trail, held in the European Alps, crosses heights of up to 2200 metres.

I made the decision to start with six dogs. Having set off well, things soon began to deteriorate. I experienced being "off" on a downhill section and found myself in very deep snow. For a while I could not breathe. In the world of deep diving I had been used to pacing myself at depths of around 180 metres for five hours at a time, but now I was having trouble trying to breathe at altitude. With no "time" at this height, I began to realise that I could be in serious trouble.
I had also made a wrong footwear decision. I had worn Mukluk moccasins, which are warm but have very little grip. It was a slow, zig-zagging climb up the mountain. Getting to the top was very satisfying but the feeling was short-lived as a horrendous drop on the other side came at the team at speed. We finished the stage but had lost a huge amount of time.
The next day the teams had to do the same trail again. I was extremely pleased to see the back of Lü as we headed out of Switzerland and into Italy. The race had now become a challenge to complete as a number of teams began to drop out.

Fourth Stage - Etappe/ Cortina/Etappe, Italy
After a rest day, my team started to pick up on the fourth stage, a 62-kilometre roundtrip. We set off well and arrived in Cortina in a good time - fifth at the halfway stage. All the dogs were looking great and, for the first time, I had started to really enjoy the 2004 Alpen Trail. The views above Cortina are truly breathtaking, a very special place to be with your dogs.

Fifth/Sixth Stages - Sexten, Italy
The area around Sexten played host to the final two stages of the Alpen Trail. Both 36-kilometre stages were mass starts. 40 dog teams were split into two starting groups of 20, with each group taking it in turn to spread out along one long starting line - not only an incredible sight, but also a truly amazing event to be involved in. With the drop of a flag, the teams sprinted to a bridge only wide enough to take two dog teams at a time approximately two miles away. A steady climb over two alpen passes followed. We completed both of the stages in a good enough time, crossing the finishing line on the final day to bagpipe music played over the PR system.
Although we hadn't won the competition, we had completed the Alpen Trail and neither myself our any of my dogs had thrown in the towel. The members of the Alpen Trail Committee were kind enough to present me with a wonderful trophy. Taking into account we had gone over mountains twice as high as any of those in the UK and finished with fit and healthy dogs, they said I deserved it.
For me the Alpen Trail is more than a sled dog race. I am unable to train in snow or at high altitude in Britain and the sport in the UK is around 15 years behind Europe in everything from kids competitions to simply having vets in attendance at race events. The event is a gathering of sled dog racers who, for two weeks, enjoy each other's company and test themselves and their awesome canine athletes in extreme areas where very few venture.

Alan Stewart spent 24 years as a deep saturation diver, 18 of those as a member of a close six-man team. Now living in a remote part of one of the oldest Highland estates in Scotland at the foot of the Cairngorm mountain range, he runs the only sled dog centre in the UK with his wife Fiona.
Details - Alan Stewart, Cairngorm Sled Dog Centre, Aviemore, Scotland, Website: www.sled-dogs.co.uk