From January 11 to 23, the legendary Grande Odyssey returns for its 21st edition. In total, 65 mushers and their 600 athletic dogs will leave from Megève, in Haute-Savoie, for 13 days of racing in the heart of the Alpine landscapes.
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It is one of the biggest sled dog races in Europe. The 2025 edition of the Grande Odyssey will take place from January 11 to 23, for 13 days and over 11 stages across the Alps.
Between Megève, Valmorel, 7 Laux and Villard-de-Lans, the athletes and their dogs will compete over nearly 400 kilometers and 12,000 meters of cumulative elevation gain, in the superb landscapes of the region. Here are five things to know about this legendary race.
In twenty years, the Great Odyssey has established itself as one of the major events in sledding sport. Since 2005, the event has brought together more than 50,000 spectators each year in twenty resorts, towns and villages in the region.
65 mushers are participating in the 2025 edition.
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© FX. Repelled
Some 65 international mushers and their 600 athletic dogs will compete in the Northern Alps. This year, a new category is offered to them: the duo category, allowing two mushers to take turns driving the team from one stage to the next. “It therefore allows two mushers to join forces to field a complete team and share the competition.” specify the organizers.
With veterinary teams, participating dogs are treated like high-level athletes. The teams are mainly made up of three breeds of dogs:
- Scandinavian Hounds, short-haired dogs, rather thin, muscular and very fast. They can maintain an average of 22 to 25 km/h on a stage despite the steep slopes they climb.
- Alaskan Huskies, crosses of Siberian huskies, Indian village dogs, hunting dogs and wolves. They combine speed and endurance. “During the race, they tolerate the cold, but a coat and bale of straw are necessary for their night in bivouac in order to save energy“, emphasize the organizers of the event on their website.
- Siberian Huskies, these traditional sled dogs close to the wolf. Less fast than Hounds with an average of 10 to 15 km/h, they are more enduring and know how to take care to cover very long distances. The colder it is, the better the husky fares compared to its competitors, hence its penchant for night trials.
Huskies are the ultimate sled dogs.
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© FX. Repelled
Every day, the public will be able to follow the race live on a map. GPS tracking will be accessible from a computer or smartphone.
This live monitoring will also allow the organizers to ensure the safety of the race. Each of the sleds will be equipped with a box specially developed for extreme cold including a GPS positioner and a device for triggering an alert to the Race PC in the event of an emergency.
During the Chapelle d’Abondance stage of La Grande Odyssée, on January 13, and that of January 21 at Collet d’Allevard, children will be entitled to their own sled race.
Eighteen young mushers, trained by professionals, will operate under the same conditions as the athletes: same infrastructure, same start and finish sites. They will set off with teams of three dogs over 4 kilometers.
Departures are planned in waves from 2 p.m. at La Chapelle d’Abondance and 10 a.m. at Collet d’Allevard.
