The Happy Trails Kennels Athletes

From a photo by Melissa Laggis - "The Picture Lady"

Born in Winterthur, Switzerland in 1958, Martin Buser became fascinated with sled dogs while still a teen. He came to Alaska in 1979 to enhance his knowledge of care and training of sled dogs. He began working and training with long-time Alaskan mushers Earl and Natalie Norris and ran his first Iditarod in 1980. Martin, wife Kathy Chapoton, a teacher, and sons Nikolai and Rohn (both named after Iditarod checkpoints), reside in Big Lake, Alaska, where the family owns and manages Happy Trails Kennel.

Martin spends a large percentage of his personal time speaking with youth on the humanitarian care of animals and the spirit of the Iditarod. A favorite celebrity of the children of Alaska, Martin treats them with surprise visits from his dogs during many of these appearances.

Martin runs the race each year with his dogs to test the success of their breeding, training and physical endurance. He regards his racers as true competitive athletes and prides his team on their longevity and spirit of competition. Says Martin, "I run the Iditarod to prove that my dogs, bred, trained and raced by Happy Trails Kennels, are the best amongst the world's long distance athletes."

Martin's 2002 team currently holds the record for the Fastest Iditarod by completing the race in 8 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes and 2 seconds. As tribute to his treatment of his racers, Martin was awarded the coveted Leonhard Seppala Award in 1988, 1993, and 1995 and again in 1997 for the most humanitarian care of his dogs. The award was named for the most famous Alaskan musher who ran the longest and most dangerous stretch of the 1925, 674-mile diphtheria serum run from Nenana to Nome, which saved hundreds of lives.

Following Martin's 2002 Iditarod victory, the process for his becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States was completed under the burled monument. Upon completion of the 2005 Iditarod after a woodworking accident 4 days prior to the race start resulting in the amputation of a part of his finger, his fellow mushers awarded him both the Sportsmanship and Most Inspirational Awards.

In the summer, Martin and his family give tours of their working kennel. The tour begins with a DVD trip from Anchorage to Nome narrated by Buser and includes his unique anecdotal stories gathered over 23 Iditarods. Visitors are offered a glimpse of a mock up of the Cripple Checkpoint complete with campfire and wall tent. Veterinary and dog care topics are discussed and of course, there's the cuddling of puppies. The tour ends with a riotous symphony of dogs barking as a team is hooked up and taken on a demo run to show folks the dogs in action.

Martin began running the Iditarod in 1980. He currently holds the record for the most consecutive runs (23 and counting ) and is second only to Rick Swenson in total finishes:

CONSECUTIVE Iditarod Finishes:
Buser, Martin ----- 23
Osmar, Tim ----- 21
Swenson, Rick ----- 20
King, Jeff ----- 18
Cotter, Bill ----- 15

Total Number of Finishes:
Swenson, Rick ----- 30
Buser, Martin ----- 25
Jonrowe, DeeDee ----- 24
Osmar, Tim ----- 22
Mackey, Rick ----- 20

Martin is a member of Mush with Pride and The Explorer's Club. His hobbies are carpentry and woodturning.

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Nikolai Buser is our oldest son. He became an integral part of the kennel in 2000 and has helped train dogs since then. He ran four Jr. Iditarods with his best finish in 2003, third place. Nikolai is quite adept at handling a sled. When he was six years old he learned how to drive a sled by being towed in his kid's size sled behind his dad and team. He watched dad and imitated his movements in the turns. Nikolai graduated with a Merit Diploma from Wasilla High School in June, 2006. He now attends the University of Washington in Seattle. GO DAWGS!!! His interests are reading, snowboarding, and paintball.

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Rohn Buser is in his fourth year of dog driving and is quite a keen observer of each dog's performance. He's gaining confidence finding his way around the trails, often coming home a different route than prescribed yet he always makes it home first. Hum! Better watch those short cuts. Rohn's first JR Iditarod was the 2004 race. He came in second in 2005 & 2006. Rohn completed the 2008 Iditarod during his senior year in high school. He is becoming a very serious runner, finishing the Mayor's Half Marathon in June 2007 in 30th place overall, first in his age group. He also completed the Seward Mount Marathon Race in 2008, in one hour and 12 minutes! Rohn attends Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

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Leader Snakeriver From a photo by Kent Harrington

The Dogs of Happy Trails Kennels! We can say without exaggeration that the dogs of the Iditarod are the greatest athletes the world has ever seen. Their accomplishments are legendary. And the dogs of Happy Trails are the best of the best! We wish that you could meet every single one of these dogs, who are truly the heart of what we do here at Happy Trails Kennels, and of all our racing success.

We are busy working on a Happy Trails "Hall of Fame" to introduce you to some of our most accomplished and beloved athletes from two and a half decades of running the Iditarod. Others will appear in our future picture galleries. And of course, we invite you to come to Happy Trails from April to October for a tour, and meet the current team in person!

Here is the varsity squad that took 4th place in one of the toughest races in Iditarod history!
The Happy Trails 2007 Iditarod Team Gallery

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