A musher’s life with Violaine Girard Grau [Portraits of Valais women] [Portraits de Valaisannes
In this special episode of the podcast, I welcome Violaine Girard-Grau, a passionate musher with an impressive track record who organizes activities for the general public with her pack of huskies.
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Episode summary
Musher and founder ofAlpes’ Huskies, Violaine Girard-Grau devotes her life to her dogs and to passing on her craft. In this episode, she looks back on her career, her daily life with a pack of twenty huskies, her training, her competitions and the many activities she offers around mushing in the Vallée d’Illiez.
A passion born at an early age
As a child, Violaine dreamed of snow-covered worlds and sled dogs as she read Jack London. She began skiing with her first dog, equipped with a harness made by a shoemaker, and then her grandfather built her a small wooden sled. She made a promise to herself: “one day, I’ll have real sled dogs”.
This dream came true when she moved back to Morgins. She adopted two huskies and took part in her first races. She soon set her sights on the
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In 2019, she left her job as a police commander to devote herself entirely to dogs. She creates Alpes’ Huskies a few months before the health crisis, a complicated period, but she perseveres. “You have to know how to dare.”
A multi-faceted and demanding profession
In Switzerland, there is no dedicated training course to become a musher. So Violaine learns on the job and takes on a whole host of responsibilities: looking after the dogs, ensuring safety, welcoming customers, communicating, managing the business and her team. She works every day of the year, summer and winter, to keep her business viable.
Her days are organized around the animals: feeding, caring for, observing and training. She knows each dog perfectly, its character, strengths and weaknesses. “I have a story with each of them.”
Training a pack
Training varies according to the season. Violaine uses karts, quads, bikes and scooters to keep the pack in shape, constantly adapting distances and intensities. She may take several outings in a day, with a different dog each time, so as to understand how they work and put together her race teams.
Choose Champéry
Violaine settled in Champéry for a very simple reason: it’s a place that’s particularly well suited to Nordic-type dogs. The climate is cold, the environment mountainous, the training areas shady. Today, she works with around twenty Siberian Huskies, a breed she appreciates for its versatility, robustness and ability to cope with difficult conditions.
A versatile musher
Violaine competes in several disciplines : snow sledding, scootering, canicross, skijoring and off-snow karting. She can sometimes take part in two events in the same day. She has an impressive list of achievements, including a World Champion skijoring title.
Dog management is central : knowing which duo to put in the lead, identifying those who still have energy or those who need protecting, keeping a reserve for the following stages. She explains that racing requires complete commitment, both physical and mental.
Beyond the sport, Violaine insists on the strong bond she has with each animal. They are her partners, not tools.
Alpes’ Huskies: passing on your passion
With Alpes’ Huskies, Violaine’s main aim is to share her world. She offers carriage-driving outings, cani-rando, educational workshops on Nordic dogs, mushing lessons and a museum space where she tells the story of the breed.
She also assists owners who wish to learn to harness their own dogs, sometimes works with children or people with disabilities, and runs a very limited family breeding operation.
Her business is run by a small team: her son, her husband, a full-time employee and several seasonal reinforcements. This enables her to reconcile competitions with day-to-day management.
A message for sportswomen
Violaine encourages women to get involved in outdoor sports and in professions still dominated by women. “Dare. You have to find something that matches your physical strength, be creative, and above all be passionate.”
