31 January, 2025
~ SKI HAW ! ! ! ~
Photos courtesy of
Mark LaRowe Photography
& Justin Treptow of In Focus Photography Co.
Patrick Smith of Meeker, CO is on horseback and
Leila Hermann and Evelyn Gardner with Izzy
Photo courtesy of Jerri Scherff.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Saturday, February 1st
CACHE VALLEY SKIJORING
in
Logan, Utah
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Saturday & Sunday, February 1st & 2nd
SARATOGA SKIJORING
in
Saratoga, Wyoming
SKIJORING THE BIG ROCK
in
Boulder, Montana
CHEWELAH SKIJORING
in
Chewelah, Washington
presented by Bailey McCanna
This is their 2nd Annual event,
and this year horses will be racing
instead of snowmobiles.
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For more information on any of these events or for
a continuous up-to-date calendar
and links to each event visit
SKIJOR USA
https://www.skijorusa.com/
Click on each event to get more information.
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~ HOT TOPICS ~
Skijor Canada
is dominating social media
with posts from the Banff Exhibition.
A recent Facebook post got 183K views!
Their Instagram posts are also consistently attracting
thousands and tens of thousands of viewers.
On January 24th,
The Independent, a newspaper based in the UK,
wrote a story entitled
Why is everyone obsessed with Banff on Tik Tok?
Well, the answer is SKIJORING!
In the article, the phrase "SKI HAW!!" was born,
a phrase heard repeatedly at Estes Park Skijor from the podium,
while another commented, "This is soo Canadacore."
To read the full article, click below:
https://www.the-independent.com/life-style/banff-ski-resort-tiktok-obsession-b2484194.html
We applaud Sam Mitchell's vision for the sport
and creative genius in portraying skijoring
as the new up and coming winter craze
where the wild sides of skiing and horseback riding
meet up with a fashion trend unlike any other.
We look forward to seeing more publicity
as her unparalleled
SkijorDue
event rapidly approaches
on February 15th & 16th
in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
https://www.skijorcanada.com/
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~ ON THE EUROPEAN FRONT ~
Skijoring at
WHITE TURF
will commence on Sunday, February 2, 2025.
For anyone interested in watching skijoring
European style
with the skier reining the horse from behind
and competing side by side on a full oval track
in a field of 8 to 12 competitors,
the competition is streaming live on
their website
www.whiteturf.ch
&
on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/user/WhiteTurfStMoritz/featured
Don't forget to allow for the time difference!
Saint Moritz, Switzerland is 6 hours earlier than New York City
or 8 hours earlier than Rocky Mountain States.
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~ RESULTS ~
Congratulations to all who participated
at Estes Park Skijor
The competitive field was broad with
a record number of new participants coming from the
front range of Colorado.
Towns like Boulder, Lakewood, Evergreen, Castlerock, Longmont,
Loveland, Bailey, Denver, Fort Collins and Brighton
were represented for the first time!
The competitors were able to warm up their horses
in an indoor arena near the start line
which made the venue very safe and comfortable.
Spectators were also able to escape the winter weather
by visiting a full indoor Expo offering
food and beverages as well as many vendor booths
to satisfy their shopping cravings.
Congratulations to
Visit Estes Park & Running Wild Events.
Skijor USA
was proud to be a part of the event planning
from start to finish.
We look forward to helping make
Estes Park Skijor 2026
bigger and better!
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In the Open Division
Dennis Alverson and Lane Feldeisen
claimed 1st Place Overall
under the power of Jet Fuel Cowboy.
They ran a blistering 17.02 on Saturday
and 16.56 on Sunday to win.
In the Sport Division
Jack Plantz
won 1st Place for Overall Skier
with a margin of 1.64 seconds over
the 2nd Place Skier
Rick McPherson
3rd Place went to
Justin Crumbaugh
Kimber Cook
won 1st Place for Overall Rider
with a margin of 0.6 seconds over
the 2nd Place Rider
Skylar Ball
3rd Place went to
Jed Moore
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In the Novice Division
Team Baron's Flying Circus
Holly Spreitzer and Richard Weber
dominated the field with a 4 second lead
on Saturday,
but was challenged by a new team
that entered on Sunday only
Team Savvy 2
John Hampton and Canyon Jarbo
who captured Sunday's win
by .08 seconds
over Baron's Flying Circus.
Team Danielle's Favorites
Ashlee Parsons and Paul Wilcock
took 3rd also entering on Sunday only
finishing just .21 seconds behind the leader.
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In the Snowboard Division
Juan Santana pulled John Grotenhuis
claiming 1st Place
In the Junior Division
Team Off Piste
David Marley and Aubrey Demers
on Deception
took 1st Place on Saturday
with a 28.98
but
Team Project Mayhem
entered the race on Sunday
and
Evelyn Gardner (10) and Leila Hermann (14)
on Izzy, one of Patrick Smith's horses,
captured 1st Place on Day 2
with a 16.59!
Leila traveled all the way from Rose Hill, Kansas
to compete!
She also pulled Denali (10) and Gemma (8),
the Craft sisters from Estes Park.
We will be doing a follow up story
on Leila and her skiers, Evelyn, Denali and Gemma
in the next newsletter
with photos and video footage,
and speak more about the Youth Divisions overall.
Full results are posted on
the Running Wild Events website
https://runsignup.com/Race/Results
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Congratulations to all who competed
at the Montana Winter Fair
in Lewistown, MT
last weekend as well.
We will post results on Facebook
when they become available.
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~ BOOTS ON THE GROUND ~
A BIG THANK YOU
to
the Arena Outlaws team
who braved the extreme cold and the harsh elements
for hours on end over the weekend
and worked tirelessly, patiently and with integrity
to make Estes Park Skijor
a safe, fair and successful first time event.
Jerry Kissell and his wife, Sue,
of Colorado,
were indispensable setting the track
and managing the start gate.
Randy Greer,
of Wyoming,
was also indispensable as the "hooker" at the start gate,
a dangerous and difficult task.
Stan Olsen,
of Montana,
led the team and served as Race Marshal
while others like Scott Ping, also of Montana,
worked as a judge mid-course
as other team members worked at the finish.
Stephen Lord, Tristam Hokeson and Montery Fogel,
who are all from Montana,
and kept the riders safe at the finish
working as pick up men.
Jerry, who served on the Advisory Committee for Skijor USA for years,
and who we like to call skijoring's Bionic Man,
was featured in an article in Leadville's Herald Democrat.
To learn more about Jerry,
a competitive skier for over 30 years,
click here:
https://www.leadvilleherald.com/news/article_3fd88eae-dd87-11ee-8511-7f688eb8cae1.html
JW Kinder of Wyoming
and
Claire Mollé of the Rocky Mountain Channel,
based in Estes Park,
announced the event from the podium
and, together, did a fine job entertaining the crowd.
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~ THROUGH THE LENS ~
Mark LaRowe
was in Estes Park
photographing all of the action and crowds.
The event drew roughly 9000 spectators over two days!
Only Canterbury Park, MN has drawn bigger crowds to date.
View Mark's photographs at:
https://marklarowe.photoshelter.com/gallery-collection/Estes-Park-Skijor/C0000Ryfal_f9gD8
Justin Treptow
also shot images at Estes Park
and his gallery can be viewed here:
https://infocusphotoco.photodeck.com/-/galleries/skijor/estes-park-2025
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Skijor USA
held another SKIJOR Summit
on Thursday, January 30th.
Despite the short notice, it was well attended
by a balanced group of organizers, competitors, media and track officials.
Highlights of the discussion will be shared in a future newsletter.
JOR ON!
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Loren Zhimanskova,
President, Skijor USA, Inc. & Skijor International, LLC