Gaynor Leeper
Adventurer, Writer, & Arctic Dog Musher
Arctic Dog Musher
In 2010, Gaynor quit her life in London and moved to Swedish Lapland to become a Dog Musher*. Along the way she found a loving husband, a love for dog sledding and, perhaps more unlikely, a love for the dark, harsh winters in the far North. She settled in a remote forest approximately 250km inside the Arctic Circle and here she still lives with around 45 Alaskan Huskies, and her husband Milos, whom she met whilst dog sledding in Lapland.
*Dog Musher – someone who drives a sled (or other vehicle such as a cart) powered by a team of specially trained dogs.
Kennel Owner
Together, Gaynor and Milos run a tourism and racing kennel called Lapland Sleddog Adventures just outside of Kiruna, Sweden. They specialise in small group private tours that can last anything from 1.5 hours to several days. Guests can stay overnight with them, enjoying the Lapland wilderness from the comfort of a luxury lodge style apartment on their property, where if you’re lucky, you may even get to see the magic of dancing aurora in the night sky.
Racer
When time permits and dedication to training prevails, Gaynor enjoys racing with the best dogs in her kennel. She takes part in non-stop, long distance races on snow of between 300km and 600km, usually in Scandinavia.
Writer
In her spare time, Gaynor loves to write! She is currently working on her first book about her journey from London to Lapland. Sign up here if you’re interested to know when Gaynor’s book is available to buy!
Adventurer
Gaynor has always loved adventure travel and has explored places like Alaska, Canada, Guatemala, Belize, Nepal, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Russia, Slovakia, Tanzania and South Africa. She has climbed Kilimanjaro, hiked to Everest Basecamp and white water raft on the Zambezi. In 2009, she was part of a team who completed a world record walking 500km unsupported along the Skeleton Coast of Namibia.
A familiar face?
You may have seen Gaynor before. She met with Ben Fogle to film an episode of Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild, for Channel 5 (distributed worldwide via the BBC). Season 4, episode 4 can be viewed from the UK at channel5.com Ben Fogle New Lives in the Wild
Podcast Interview
Tune in to hear Gaynor on Nicky Campbell’s podcast Different (released 2nd November 2022)
