Photos: Racing Beringia's Chukotka Huskies

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One of Mikhail Telpin's Chukotka huskies at his dog lot in Willow. His dogs are very different from normal Iditarod dogs, with thicker hair and a more stout build. Feb 17, 2013

The team behind Racing Beringia is a small, close knit crew of two mushers and an educator, looking not only to compete in three of the world's longest and most challenging sled dog races, but to tell a larger story. One that goes back thousands of years, involving international cooperation, science, history and even mathematics.

That's because Racing Beringia is an education experience. What happens on and off the trail is compiled and compressed into lesson plans for students across the globe.

The set-up seems simple enough. Two racers -- Joar Leifseth Ulsom and Mikhail Telpin -- compete in three long-distance sled dog races -- two in Alaska (the Yukon Quest and Iditarod) and one in Russia (the Nadezhda) -- over a two-year period.

Full story: 'Racing Beringia' plots an international path toward Iditarod

The project is the brainchild of Mille Porsild, an educator and longtime adventure enthusiast. Porsild, with her team of thick coated, 100-pound freight dogs, has traveled across the Arctic -- from Scandinavia to Greenland, Canada and Russia, along the way creating a free learning program educators around the world can apply in their classrooms.

The goal with Racing Beringia is to connect learners across the world to established learning concepts through events happening in society today -- namely through the high-stakes, ultimate challenge of dog sled racing.