Written by
Corinne Platt

Photographs by
Joanna B. Pinneo

She stands, each foot perched atop a narrow runner, holding tightly to her sled.

Out in front, fourteen Alaskan huskies run as fast as they can, pulling her over snowy trails and mountain passes.

Suddenly the dogs disappear down a steep hill, around a corner, and now the sled, following, begins to skid across the ice flow at the bottom of the hill.

With the grace of a ballerina, she holds on, shifting her weight foot to foot, crouching low. She makes the turn but the sled behind her skids and the musher spills over on the slippery ice. "How did you make that corner?" the downed musher asks later. "It was easy," she says, "I didn't see it coming."

Sixteen-year old Rachael Scdoris is not being smug in her answer. She never sees what's coming because Rachael is legally blind. Born with congenital achromatopsia, a non -degenerative eye condition that limits her vision to 20/200 at best, Rachael can often see nothing but shadows. But she's never let that stop her from doing what she wants to do. "I was the most teased person in every single class I had," she says. "I went out for track and cross-country in middle school. I decided to get competitive so they'd stop recognizing me as the cute little blind girl and start recognizing me as just another kid."

Rachael lives in Bend, Oregon, and splits time between her mom's and dad's. She and her dad, Jerry, run sled dog tours in the winter and Rachael credits her love of sled dog racing to growing up surrounded by puppies. "I love the dogs and how excited they get every time it's time to go for a run. And I love taking care of them." Taking care of them is no small task. Her kennel of 90 dogs has to be fed, watered, and run several times a day. Rachael also has to train herself for racing. To train for the 450-mile Wyoming Stage Stop, Rachael ran all summer and competed in cross-country races. She took a weight lifting class and coached herself through hill training workouts and lifting sessions. She also took her dogs on 30, 40, and 50-mile runs, with an occasional a 70-mile day.

"Sled dog racing is very mental as well as physical, especially when you are not really sure where you are on the trail," she says. "For me, I just believe in my dogs. I take care of them in the kennel and they take care of me on the trail. Most blind people, if they are lucky, have one seeing eye dog. When I am racing, I have had as many as twelve guide dogs!"

Last year, Rachael received a bronze medal in a women's exhibition 400-meter run at the USATF Olympic Track and Field Trials in Sacramento, California. And this June, Rachael represents the U.S. in the Pan-American Games in Spartanberg, South Carolina, in the 1,500k; the 5,000k; and the 10,000 k. In addition to being an incredible athlete, Rachael is an honor roll student.

Rachael credits much of her success to her parents. Her dad, a veteran sled dog racer, is her biggest support. He is her mentor, coach, and role model who she says has taught her to accept the good things that happen to her with dignity, humility, and grace, and to move on from disappointment without a loss of enthusiasm.

Rachael, "My dad and I have a great relationship. He and mom split up when I was 3. I'm a full-blown daddy's girl. If I have a problem daddy will fix it. If I want something daddy will pretty much get it for me. Basically my dad's my best friend."

"You know I kind of live as a sighted person more than a blind person. A lot of people tell me that I have so much better hearing than other people. And you know I don't really think so. I think there are some advantages. If there is something horrible that you really don't want to see … well I can't see it so but I don't think it's slowed me down at all."

"I've spent 16 years trying to function as a blind person in a sighted world and then I think the last ten years in school trying to fit in and not be seen as the little blind girl just to be seen as another kid. This is really easy compared to stuff I've had to deal with before."

"If there's a problem in my team I can't always see it. If there's a major problem I can see it but I can't always see little things like if a dog is has her leg over a line or if a dog isn't working as hard cause it isn't feeling well, I can't always tell and there are certain obstacles in the trail I can't always see."

"I have a team of mostly pups I'd say. More than half of my dogs are under four years old. For the long runs I brought a few 7-year olds and we have 3 dogs on loan from our friend Dan MacEachen. They were his leaders last year - Johnny, Copper and OJ, and they've been really good. The veterans aren't quite as fast as our 1 to 3 year olds but when the going gets tough they're all the way and all my younger dogs have that really fast top end speed of 20-something miles per hour."

"I banged up my knees quite a bit. It's not too bad to fall. It's not like I think I'm going to get seriously hurt. It's just a pain to hold on so long and wait for the dogs to drag to a stop. I just held on and managed to dig my elbows in and the dogs felt it and stopped and I got my sled up and started running again."

"I am so competitive. I said I was just going to come here and do my best and have a good time and not worry too much about the competition but I say that about every race I go to. I always end up finishing each leg totally exhausted. Whenever I get passed I stay on their tail and have them pace me and whenever I pass someone I just sprint up the next few hills to get that distance between us so they can't catch back up."

"A lot of people when you say Alaskan husky they'll think big Siberian husky or Alaskan malamute with the bright blue eyes and the pretty little mask, nine inch coats and the big curly tail but really those dogs are big and slow and they overheat. They don't have the willpower to do this. Alaskan huskies are really hearty, healthy dogs that weigh usually between 40 and 55 pounds. They're a lot stronger than they look."

"A lot of people will look at these dogs think, they're tiny or they're too skinny. But really they're like the human athletes you see in the Olympics. There's not an ounce of fat on them because fat just slows them down makes them tired. They're really lean, muscular dogs and just like big people are good for throwing shot puts but not very good at running, big dogs are good at contests and being lapdogs but they're not very good runners. That's what this is."

"These days a musher has to be just as in shape as their dogs. You can't just expect to stand on the back of a sled. You're dogs are pulling and you're constantly figuring out ways to lighten their load. Pumping takes weight off for a fraction of a second but that really helps over 500 miles."

"Sled dog racing is a sport where a teenager like myself can compete against a 40-year old veteran. I'm lighter I can run up all the hills and think of new ways to do stuff. They know how to pace themselves. I don't. Really, it's an even playing field."

"I'd say the my fondest memories of the race are making it down some of those passes, camping out, and the parties at the campouts. Really I thought it was all good, even the bad stuff."

"I admire Marla Runyan more than anyone on the planet, I also admire Libby Riddles, She was the first woman to win the Iditarod."

"I want a really big tattoo that covers my whole arm. That will get me lots of attention. People will walk by and go oh god."