Martin Buser

Martin Buser (born March 29, 1958 in Winterthur, Switzerland) is a champion of sled dog racing.

Martin Buser began mushing at age seventeen in Switzerland. In 1979, Buser moved to Alaska to train and raise sled dogs full time. His training operation, Happy Trails Kennels, is located in Big Lake, Alaska.

He entered his first Iditarod in 1980, and has run every race since 1986, his third Iditarod. In twenty Iditarods, Buser has won the event four times, in 1992, 1994, 1997, and 2002. On sixteen occasions, he has finished among the top ten finishers. He is the runner-up for fastest finish time in Iditarod history; his team completed the 2002 race in 8 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes, and 2 seconds. He entered his first Yukon Quest in 2009 and finished in fourth place, earning him "Rookie of the Year."

His sense of humor and positive outlook have made him a fan favorite. In 2008, he caused quite a stir among fans worldwide when he gave his GPS unit to a pilot who was transporting dogs and equipment to and from a checkpoint.

Married to educator Kathy Chapoton, Buser named his sons, Nikolai and Rohn, after Iditarod check points. Upon completion of his fourth Iditarod victory in March 2002, Buser was naturalized as a citizen of the United States under the burled arch in Nome that marks the race's official finish line.

Buser and his Happy Trails Kennels were featured on an episode (premiering April 12, 2009) of the Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs program as well as on the seventh episode of Sarah Palin's Alaska.