Josh Aikens, right, with his father, Mike Aikens and his stepmother, Bea. The sleds Josh Aikens drives are exact replicas of ones used in the 10th Mountain Division during World War II.

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo. — Josh Aikens has probably felt the sting of subzero air on his face more than most people this winter. That is because he is a professional dog musher here.

Aikens, 26, a Meridian native, has been on a series of adventures since returning home from the Marine Corps in January 2013.

He spent one summer hiking the Appalachian Trail. He backpacked in Mexico another summer, and he hopes to travel to South America when dog sledding season is over.

He came to Colorado last year to see the picturesque Rocky Mountains, and the job he landed was serendipitous.

“When I got out of the Marine Corps, it's kind of always been my dream to see the Rockies, and I found this job on Craigslist, actually, and came out expecting to work as a kennel hand, and earned a spot driving. It's been pretty awesome since,” Aikens said.

He's been working at Krabloonik Fine Dining and Dog Sledding in Snowmass Village, which is about six miles outside of Aspen.

Dog sled drivers at the facility travel with eight to 10 dogs, carrying up to three people on a five- mile trail out and back. Rides last about an hour with a break. He does three rides a day.

It took about two and a half months of training — and adjusting to the higher altitude of about 9,000 feet — before Aikens was cleared to carry patrons.

While the facility has a rich history with its dogs and its sleds, the sled's unique design made things a little more difficult.

“These sleds don't flex at all,” Aikens said. “Regular race sleds are flexible. It's almost like a steering wheel. When you move the handle back and forth from the left to the right, it changes the angle of the runners and it'll steer you. With these sleds, it's all footwork.”

The dogs and sleds both are from the 10th Mountain Division, a military unit created during World War II to travel through the Alps to Italy. The facility has dogs from the same bloodline and exact replicas of the sleds made of hickory and elk hide.

In optimal conditions, the sleds can go up to 25 mph.While the work is labor intensive, and hours are long, sometimes working weeks without a day off, Aikens said it's been an incredibly rewarding experience.“It's just been a dream come true. I mean, I came out here to see the Rockies, but it's the hardest I've ever worked without a doubt, between the conditions and the hours,” Aikens said.“We live on-site with the dogs, so we're with them nonstop. But there's been a real love for the dogs that kind of kept us pushing.“We live in close quarters, and we live with the same people everyday in very close quarters, and it wears you out.“But these dogs are the motivation, it's really cool. We feed off their motivation, and just being with them is awesome.“In the evenings, when we're in the kennel and we're done with work, we have eight dogs in the house and we're sitting there watching movies with sled dogs piling all over you. It's really cool.”He expects the dog sledding season to wind down in May.Then the Portersville Christian School and Liberty University graduate will be onto his next adventure.