The unique race saw 33 teams of Siberian huskies, Alaskan malamutes and Alaskan huskies from Australia and New Zealand compete on a five-kilometre village circuit.

Enthusiastic spectators cheered on the teams in driving snow and temperatures nearing minus 3 degrees.

The resort has been blanketed with more than 40 centimetres of snow since Friday.

New Zealand’s Peter Dobbs won two heats and the event’s six-dog Siberian Husky class.

“The weather was challenging, it was like an Arctic excursion, but luckily my dogs have raced here before so they knew where they were going,” Mr Dobbs said.

“They have a natural instinct to stay out of the powder and stay on the harder snow.”