Avannaata Qimussersua, Greenland’s Main Dog Sledding Race, Finds an Uncomfortable Spotlight

During Usha Vance’s planned visit to Greenland this week, the second lady and one of her sons will attend one of the world’s most foremost dog sledding events, called the Avannaata Qimussersua, according to the White House.

The visit, which comes amid the backdrop of President Trump’s vow to make Greenland part of the United States, has catapulted the dog sledding event into the global spotlight, and organizers of the competition do not seem happy about it.

“We did not invite them,” the organizers of the race said in a statement on Sunday, referring to Ms. Vance, the wife of Vice President JD Vance, and their son, adding that “they may attend as spectators” because the event is open to the public.

Avannaata Qimussersua, which translates to “The Great Race of the North,” is an unlikely venue for geopolitical tension.

It started in 1988 and is in effect Greenland’s national championship in the sport. The annual event is a roughly 26-mile race across ice and snow that brings the toughest mushers — also known as dog sled drivers — and the hardiest dogs together on some of the most punishing terrain imaginable.

Dog sledders spend years raising and training their huskies for a competition that Greenlanders cherish as a high point of their Arctic culture. Organizers call it “a challenging event that highlights the bond between humans and their dogs.”

The 2025 edition takes place on Sunday in Sisimiut, on the west coast of Greenland.

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Greenland is home to the Arctic’s largest remaining sled dog population and has a long tradition of dog sled culture. More recently, the sport has been under threat by a warming climate.

The race consists of about 37 mushers and 444 dogs from across Greenland. Each team is made up of 10 to 14 dogs. Sleds must be of traditional Greenlandic design and cannot include foreign components such as ski runners or plastic parts, according to the official rules.

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The history of dog sledding in Greenland is more than 4,000 years old and has played a key role for generations of Arctic peoples, including the Thule, predecessors of the Inuit, according to Qimmeq, a research project about sled dogs at the University of Copenhagen.

Organizers of the Avannaata Qimussersua emphasized as much in their statement on Sunday about the visit by Ms. Vance, which seemed to include a tacit message to Mr. Trump.

“We as a people, and as a country,” it said, “will not shy away from showing and defending that our way of life, our culture and our identity are not for sale.”

Maya Tekeli and Jeffrey Gettleman contributed reporting.