(Lander, WY) – The 2026 Pedigree Stage Stop sled dog race wrapped up Saturday with its final stages on South Pass, as teams raced from the Louis Lake Road pullout along a 26.2-mile course through the Shoshone National Forest to close out the week-long event. Mostly clear skies with warm temperatures, right around freezing, greeted mushers and their dogs for the Lander Finale.
The scene of the starting line takes place through the lens of Ryan Beaber as he mushes his dogs off the startline. h/t Carl Cote A sled dog rests its head on the back of the kennel trailer as the musher assembles their team for the race. h/t Carl Cote 
The Oregon Buttes and the Red Desert landscape around them accumulates snow by February. h/t Carl Cote Stage Stop race fans gather at the starting line as the teams set off for the final stop Saturday. h/t Carl Cote
Defending champion Anny Malo held off a tight field to secure both the stage 7 win and the overall title, finishing the final stage in 1:45:34 and completing the race with a cumulative time of 13:31:27. The victory marks Malo’s seventh career Stage Stop championship, further cementing her as the most accomplished Stage Stop musher of all time. Remy Coste and Bruce Magnusson rounded out the podium, finishing within minutes of Malo after seven days of racing around the state of Wyoming.
2026 and now 7-time Stage Stop Champion Anny Malo gets her dogs moving on the last day of the race. h/t Carl Cote Aurélie Coste-Delattre gets a kiss from one of her and Remy Coste’s dogs before the race. h/t Carl Cote Former Stage Stop champion Remy Coste readies his dogs before Saturday’s race. h/t Carl Cote Mitchell Johnson yells at his dogs to get them going Saturday morning atop South Pass. h/t Carl Cote h/t Carl Cote
Magnusson had claimed the stage victory on the second-to-last day of racing, putting the top three of the pack in a tight race, but Malo responded in the finale, winning Saturday’s final stage to protect her overall lead and seal the championship. The top three places took home $26,000, $22,000, and $18,000 at this year’s race.
Michael Bestgen smiles as he puts a harness on one of his dogs for the day. The kennel trailers are a loud scene with excited dogs on race day. h/t Carl Cote Two dogs in the middle of a lineup are ready for race day. h/t Carl Cote Two dogs sprint off the startling line. h/t Carl Cote Bruce Magnusson gets a kiss before taking off on the final stage of the Stage Stop race. h/t Carl Cote Alix Crittenden poses for a photo with her son. h/t Carl Cote
Race director Dan Carter congratulated the teams, volunteers, and sponsors for another successful year. He noted the event’s continued tradition of bringing together some of the best mushers in the world to race on the winter trails of Wyoming.
“Congratulations to all race teams for another great Stage Stop! Thanks to all the race crew and volunteers. A special thank you to Pedigree and the Mars family for all you do to support this wonderful event. We can’t wait to do it again next year.”
The final two stages of the 2026 Pedigree Stage Stop dog sled race took place atop South Pass at the Louis Lake Road Pulloff. h/t Carl Cote 15-year-old German musher Leonie Tetzner puts booties on one of her dogs before Saturday’s race. The dogs spend hours running through the snow and some are more suseptible to cold feet than others. h/t Carl Cote A crew member smiles with a teammate for a photo. h/t Carl Cote A veterinarian checks a dog in a musher’s lineup to verify it is the correct dog. By scanning the dog’s code and checking it against the roster, the race vets make sure the mushers aren’t overworking dogs throughout the race. h/t Carl Cote All the way from Makwa, Loon Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada, Liam Conner gets off to the races during the Stage Stop in Lander. h/t Carl Cote Leonie Tetzner waits for the signal to start. h/t Carl Cote
