SUBLETTE COUNTY – Jess Moore grew up in Jackson and often visited her family’s property on Granite Creek Road, where Jackson Hole Iditarod has its base camp for sled-dog tours that run back and forth to Granite Hot Springs.

“I would always see the dogsleds going up and down the road,” she recalled. It piqued her interest so she applied to work for Frank Teasley’s renowned winter operations, where Bondurant musher Alix Crittenden got her start.

Crittenden began working with Teasley’s pups, trying to train at least one racing team, mostly by herself.

Her first year, Moore was a guide. The two women, both with Bondurant connections, quickly became friends. “After a year, Alix approached me about me being part of the race team.”

Usually they switched off and on.

Over the past half-dozen years, Crittenden or Moore worked with the dogs – seldom both at the same time. This past year, they had more help at the JHI kennels and finally the two of them were able to train while racing two teams side by side – or in some cases, neck and neck, Moore said.

“It has been really nice this year to be able to do two teams at once and it’s fun for the dogs,” Moore said this week. “They need to learn about passing another team – that’s a pretty important skill for the Stage Stop.”

Still, until very recently, Moore did not plan to be any more than Alix Crittenden’s racing partner and assistant – and now she’s starting the Wyoming Stage Stop on Friday as the JHI musher.

When a seizure forced Crittenden to be life-flighted to Salt Lake City and undergo brain surgery at the University of Utah last week, she thought she might have to give up her slot in the soon-to-be underway Wyoming Stage Stop Race, after taking second place last year.

The renowned dogsled stage race started out in 1996 as the International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race (or IPSSSDR), with two stages in Sublette County, and is a magnet for international and American mushers. Teasley and former Teton County Public Health Nurse Jayne Ottman conceived the first race and he still works each stage.

Each stage averages 30 to 35 miles on national forest lands.

With Crittenden home after her surgery, her family and her friends are keeping a close eye on her during this time, helping Crittenden rest and heal. They are very protective of her health, of course.

Teasley broached the thought that his crew might think about carrying on with the race, Moore said.

“It is his team; he makes all of those decisions,” Moore recalled after Crittenden’s very recent seizure and surgery blindsided them. “He said, ‘You know, we’re going to get a good night’s sleep and chat tomorrow.’”

He said she and Crittenden had put so much time into training the dog teams – but he didn’t want to pressure Moore to become lead musher. Moore decided to step up, calling on their JHI handlers and friends.

JHI trainer Doug Cutler, who works with “the yearlings,” will climb aboard as will Jessie Pearson, Crittenden’s sister, a physical therapist in Jackson who has helped out for years with massage and stretching the racers,

Moore’s boyfriend Steven Lea said he’d drive the JHI truck and trailer so Moore can get some sleep while on the move, and Crittenden’s parents Barry and Andrea Pearson will also be here for the race week.

“We’re going to move forward – we’re going to make it happen,” Moore said.

Moore hasn’t seen most of the stages’ actual trails, so she “definitely looks forward to seeing new country.”

Wednesday was the big day for the dogs’ final training run and while Moore has her favorites from the team she’s trained, she is already looking ahead at weather and temperatures to fill the final four positions. For the most part, she and Crittenden agree on what dogs will do best where and when.

Moore will be wearing Crittenden’s Bib No. 8 and knows how much the Big Piney students coming out to the Middle Piney stage have encouraged Crittenden on with their handmade signs.

“They can still wave a sign for Alix,” she said. “They don’t need to make any new ones.”

Crittenden told the Roundup’s Joy Ufford, “Jess is gonna drive my team and kick some ass. She’s amazing. She is a good friend a great dog musher. This will be a big race for her and she’s going to do really well.”

Crittenden is recovering from brain surgery and awaiting the results of a biopsy. The surgeons “couldn’t get everything, but we will find out what is is they took out and then make a plan after that,” Crittenden said.

“I’m sad I’m gonna miss the race but I’m so lucky to have amazing dogs and amazing people to carry on without me. It will be a good week of racing,” Crittenden added.

The Wyoming Stage Stop Race begins Friday, Jan. 26, with a ceremonial start in Jackson. The Pinedale stage starts on Jan. 29 in Kendall Valley and the Big Piney/ Marbleton stage at the Middle Piney parking lot on Jan. 30.

For more about the upcoming race schedule, stages, and standings go to www.wyomingstagestop.org or the Facebook page.