Spirit of the Wind: The Story of George Attla, Legendary Sled Dog Sprint Champ

by Lew Freedman

This is the biography of an extraordinary man whose uncommon strength, agility, speed, and endurance are the stuff of champions. It tells the fascinating story of how he and his sled dogs became champion sprint racers.

224 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2001

Reviews

[Stephen Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good little book. Wow, what a tough childhood. What he accomplished in spite of difficulties was amazing. I think anyone who wants to feel well rounded with books on dogsledding should include this one. He ran Sprint racing, winning the 2 big races; the Fur Rendezvous World Championship, and the North American. Those races are 3 day races with 20 miles each of the first days, and 30 on the 3rd day with the winner having the highest combined time. He only did the Iditarod twice (included is some some interesting information on the first Iditarod that he also participated in. ) So, there is not the same long story on a single race to survive and finish. Instead it is the race of his life, from what made him start in spite of/or because of, a crippled leg, to winning races spurred on by rivals. The book does a great job of keeping the pace of his life and accomplishments.

What I didn't get enough of in this book was a greater sense of personality of the dogs. Often the names are ticked off the list, with only a few dogs really highlighted. There was not a whole lot on his training methods that made him so successful. Even though I am 100% positive I will never attempt at breeding and training sled dogs for racing, I still would have liked to read more about training and breeding. For these reasons the book does not go to the top of my favorite books regarding dogsledding, but as I said before overall still a very good book that I would recommend.

[Jenreiter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book about a fascinating man... I got a little confused a couple of times in terms of the timeline of his life, but I would definitely recommend it!

[Joey · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, in full disclosure, I have a personal connection to this book, and so it probably resonated with me on a higher level right from the start. Nevertheless, the story of George Attla is PHENOMENAL. I loved this book. For someone who lives in Alaska, I am not a real outdoorsy kind of guy, and I know nothing of traplines or sled dogs... but Attla's journey was fascinating, engaging, inspiring, and beyond entertaining.

Hospitals, village life, mushing, races, it all came to such vivid life. Had Mr. Attla's story been written as a novel, I would have said it was too fantastical to be believable. Knowing that everything I read really happened, that he really lived the adventure I was reading, just took the book to a whole other orbit.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was hugely recommended by my sister but it was really somewhat tedious, so I didn't finish it. I imagine it would be more interesting for people involved in raising and/or racing sled dogs.