The year is 1949. There were skiers and cowboys at a bar in Leadville, Colorado. Naturally, the conversation turned to “Who's the fastest?” So they decided to look into it as a team. At least according to “legend,” cowboys pulled skiers on horseback down Main Street, and that was the beginning of what we know today as “skijoring.”
Over the years, the sport attracted attention and brought a lot of money and tourism to the small Rocky Mountain community in the winter. But this all depends on the snow, and the unseasonably warm weather this year is making that difficult.
“To the skin of your teeth”
“Okay, guys, let's go. Let's make some noise, let's go, let's go, let's go,” the announcer yelled into the microphone at a recent skijoring competition in Pinedale.
Hundreds of people came to watch. One skier braced himself for a big jump, zipping around the turns at about 30 mph, so much so that you could hear the metal edges cutting through the snow. A powerful brown horse and rider wearing a cowboy hat ran down a flat snowy path, pulling a skier with a thick rope.
“Here we go, that's how we do it. Well, everyone, good run,” the announcer shouted in excitement as the people cheered.
Skijoring is the main event of Pinedale's annual Winter Carnival. Horse and skier events are held at local rodeo grounds. This year, the snow was sparse, and I could see dirt and mugwort lining the skijoring course.
“This year, we're in the middle of January and it's getting a little stressful,” said Monte Borgiano, president of Main Street Pinedale, the main organizer of the Winter Carnival. “We were starting to sweat, wondering if we were going to make it.”
Caitlin Tan
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Wyoming Public Media
Borgiano said they were able to pull off the skijoring thanks to perseverance, community support and reliable snowplows.
“They were able to scrape off every square inch of the rodeo property with all three inches that were in the ground and make enough to build a course there,” he said.
And making this event a reality has huge implications for the economy. Borgiano grew up here, observing energy, the rise and fall of industries, and more.
“For a small community like Pinedale, other than the few industries we have, we rely on tourism,” he said.
But it gets lonely during the winter. With far fewer people visiting than in the summer, events like the Winter Carnival “make for a fun and exciting weekend with packed hotels and restaurants,” Borgiano said.
Caitlin Tan
/
Wyoming Public Media
This corresponds to the real number of local businesses. Main Street Pinedale says traffic during the event has increased by 80 percent this year. So without skijoring, the mainstay of winter carnival, the economy probably wouldn't have received such a big boost.
This year, the challenge of hosting snow-dependent events in a year with little snow has rippled across the state. Saratoga Skijoring To build his truck, he had to bring in truckloads of snow from out of town. They found snow in bar grooves and winddrifts.
“We didn't have any snow on the track this year. I mean zero snow,” said Will Faust, a member of the Saratoga Skijoring Organizing Committee.
Despite the time and expense involved in moving that much snow, Faust said many people volunteered to help clear it because of its value to the local economy.
“It's nice to feel like that when all the restaurants and hotels are full for three or four days during an event,” Faust said. “Let’s bring positive cash flow to some of our local businesses that are trying to stay open through the winter.”
Caitlin Tan
/
Wyoming Public Media
I have no choice but to cancel
Other communities were not so lucky. Gillette and Sheridan both had to cancel their skijoring events.
“When it came to calling for skijoring and other events, it became a no-brainer,” said Sean Parker, executive director of the Sheridan County Travel and Tourism Authority. “There was no snow, and the week before the event the temperature was 55, 60 degrees.”
There wasn't even snow to grab from the mountains.
Parker said Sheridan is known for hosting the largest skijoring events in the country. So for local businesses that rely on large numbers of attendees, having to cancel is pretty tough. For example, in 2019, his first year hosting Skijoring, the town had more people attending than he did in one day in February.
“That's a big deal. I mean, we're creating something out of nothing, and positive economic stimulus will help,” he said.
Caitlin Tan
/
Wyoming Public Media
Parker said millions of dollars will be spent in the community during the event. He added that skijoring is just one part of the strategic Sheridan WYO Winter Rodeo.
“One of the things we've always tried to de-risk since we started this business has been to make sure we have enough events outside of skijoring to keep people interested,” Parker said. Ta. “When we promote winter rodeos, we want to make sure that if skijoring is cancelled, we don’t have to cancel everything at the last minute.”
Concerts and hockey tournaments were held this year, but they weren't the same as before.
“We need skijoring to see a really big positive impact,” Parker said, adding that if we have more winters like this, he would consider moving skijoring to snowier mountains. Ta.
A little mud won't hurt
Back at Pinedale Skijoring's parking lot, a horse tied to a trailer waits for riders, whining.
Caitlin Tan
/
Wyoming Public Media
Local skier Sean Boylan stood in front of his pickup wearing snow pants and cowboy boots with his skis and Modelo. I get nervous so this will help me calm down. ”
But Boylan won this race last year. And this year, he was worried whether the race would even be held.
“You don't want to ski over mud puddles,” Boyland said. “But at the end of the day, it's just a noisy time. So when you're skiing through the mud, you're like, 'Well, it's all fun.'”
So he prepared his race supplies for the race.
“Rubber gardening gloves for gripping a 30-foot rope with a carabiner attached. That also relates to saddle gear,” Boylan showed. “And it's just his set of GS skis.”
Boylan is skiing behind jockey John Hyde. Hyde wore a handlebar mustache and perfectly circular sunglasses. He makes a living skijoring.
“When you get older, you retire from rodeo. Besides snowmobiling, it's something you can do in the winter,” said Hyde, standing in front of several of his horses and a horse trailer in his huge living quarters. “You have a horse, so you might as well use it. Now this is our home on the road.”
He travels most weekends in the winter, spending thousands of dollars between gas, food and entrance fees in Rocky Mountain communities. But it's worth it for him. Hyde likes to win, as evidenced by his shiny 1st place skijoring belt buckle hanging from his waist. Additionally, he could potentially win hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.
Caitlin Tan
/
Wyoming Public Media
He placed a leather saddle on a large deer-haired horse named Perry and buckled the saddle tightly. Before Hyde and Perry head to the course – Hyde’s hot tips for winning?
“I don't know. I think I'm going to die,” he said in a voice that was almost a growl.
In fact, Hyde is planning the first skijoring event on his ranch, about 25 miles south of Pinedale, and hopes to continue to bring money and people to the area. But it all depends on the snow.
