I went dog sledding in Alaska on a glacier - here's what happened next

I have just landed on Mendenhall Glacier in a helicopter, and because this is Alaska, I have come prepared - three layers of woollens, including my "New York" jacket, which has seen me through some minus-17-degree days in the Big Apple.

The ice on this glacier is 600 metres deep, with five metres of snow on top, but as soon as I start walking on it, one woollen layer comes off after another, until I'm right down to a thin T-shirt ... because it's that sort of a day in Alaska today.

There's not even a sliver of cloud in the cobalt-blue sky, with the sun belting down on the 21-kilometre-long glacier. The weather app says the temperature is 16 degrees, but it feels like 30 ... so balmy that I have to scoop snow from the ground and ball it up in my bare hands to really feel like I'm on a glacier in Alaska.

But I'm not here for the sun or the snow. I'm here for a dog-sledding adventure with Alaskan huskies, who are howling a short distance away - all 280 of them.

"They are howling because they've seen the helicopters land and they want some action now," says one of the mushers.

By "action" he means they want to pull a sled so they can run around instead of rest.

"Because most of these dogs are racing dogs in the winter time," the musher says.

"They compete in mid- to long-distance races, which are anywhere from 50 miles (80 kilometres) to 1000 miles long. So these dogs are really like elite athletes. Think of them like Olympic champions that are up here at doggy summer camp ... to stay active and fit."

The story of how the huskies - many of them with piercing blue eyes - arrive on the glacier is just as impressive.

Everything that's part of the dog camp on this glacier - the tents for the humans, the sleds for the tourists and small box-shaped dog houses, one for each fluffy husky - is brought here by helicopters at the start of the summer season in April.

Even the huskies - mostly from Alaska, but some from as far as Utah and Montana - arrive here in choppers.

"Each helicopter can fit 10 dogs in it ... but everything that's been flown on to the glacier will be flown back off the glacier at the end of the season in September, so we can leave this place just as beautiful and pristine as we found it," the musher says.

I'm in this nook of the world as part of Holland America Line's (HAL) seven-night Alaska Inside Passage cruise. And Dog Sledding on Mendenhall Glacier by Helicopter is one of the cruise's most popular shore excursions in Juneau.

I have been dreaming about a dog-sledding ride for years - long before I booked this excursion. And I have to say, it turns out to be the single best travel experience of my life. It's a smooth 30-minute glide over soft snow, with crisp mountain air rushing through my hair, and snow-clad peaks all around me adding drama to the drift. Very James Bond, I have to say.

There are pitstops during which we can pat the huskies and change spots on the sled. There are two seats in front of the musher and one seat behind the musher, but my favourite spot is the sled runners right at the end, on which you can stand, as a dozen powerful huskies race you across this breathtaking landscape.

Standing on the sled runners may sound a bit too adventurous - or even dangerous - when travelling at about 30 kilometres per hour. But the ride feels surprisingly smooth. So much so that after only a few minutes on the sled runners I pull out my phone and start recording the ride with one hand.

The three-hour excursion, which starts at Juneau Airport with a scenic flight to the glacier, ends with the cutest thing: patting 10-week-old Alaskan husky puppies, who are as enthusiastic as their parents. Mine is gunning for my sunnies so he can chew them off. Thank god I'm not wearing my "New York" jacket.

The writer was a guest of HAL