The Grand Mesa Summit Challenge Sled Dog Race is the highest international sprint sled dog race in North America on the earth’s biggest flat top mountain.

40 teams from across Colorado are accelerating across the snow in the 6th annual dog sled race.

The races are sprints between 4 to 12 miles involving teams of 4,6, 8 or 10 dogs.

This is the highest elevation where dogs compete in sled races in the nation.

The event also helps the local economy as well.

"The race is currently the highest in the nation, possibly in the world at 10,300 feet and for the Western Slope it brings a lot of people up through Cedaredge , and up through the Mesa and the lodge get full and it is helpful for the economy," says the race organizer Steven Bethka.

This year, dog sled teams paired up with the Partners organization, which helps troubled young people across the Grand Valley, part of the race's proceeds will benefit the group.

Spectators at the race can find a wide range of dogs racing, everything from your traditional husky to your not so traditional rottweiler,