Four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King of Denali Park always loved Jack London's tales of the Last Frontier when he was growing up in California. King came to Alaska in 1975 for a summer job, discovered sled dog racing, and has lived in Alaska ever since. Husky Homestead Kennel has been King's home for more than 30 years. He's raised three daughters, was married for 26 years, started a thriving dog sled tourism business, and trained for 22 Iditarod races from Husky Homestead, located just a mile from the entrance to Denali National Park.
King entered his first Iditarod in 1981, finishing 28th, but did not enter again for a decade. By 1993, he had his first victory. On the way to claiming more than $852,000 in Iditarod prize money, King has compiled 18 top-10 finishes in his 23 starts. "The race allows me to make a living doing what I love to do, and what the dogs love to do, and what I'm good at," said King.
He's also won the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, the Copper Basin 300 and is the winningest musher in the history of the Kuskokwim 300, the world's premier middle-distance race.
Watch all of the videos from our musher profile series, see slideshows from the trail and more on our Iditarod multimedia page. See this video on Vimeo or YouTube, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more great voices from the Last Frontier. Contact Alaska Dispatch videographer Tara Young at tara(at)alaskadispatch.com.