About

SKIJORING 2021 & 2022: AN UPDATE

February 4, 2021

While, sadly, many races are postponed until next year,
let's support those that will be happening in 2021!*

And if you happen to live in or close to Wyoming,
you're in luck this month with four consecutive weekends of racing.

Saratoga, WY ~ February 6 & 7
Pinedale, WY ~ February 13 & 14
Soldier Hollow, UT ~ February 20
Gillette, WY ~ February 20 & 21
Meeker, CO ~ February 20 & 21
Buffalo, WY ~ February 27
Skowhegan, ME ~ February 27
Leadville, CO ~ March 6 & 7

Skijor USA & Skijor International
will continue to update both of our websites regularly
and provide direct links to each race's website and/or social media page.

https://www.skijorusa.com

*Please note that all 2021 events are INDEPENDENT of any
sanctioning body or organization.

The races that have been officially postponed until 2022 are:

Pagosa Springs, CO
(January 22 & 23, 2022)
Hailey, ID
(February 19 & 20, 2022)
Canterbury Park, MN
Sheridan, WY
Red Lodge, MT
(March 12 & 13, 2022)
&
White Turf in St. Moritz, Switzerland
(February 6,13 & 20, 2022)
https://www.whiteturf.ch/en/

Of course, there are many other race venues familiar to all of us that will most likely host an event in 2022,
but this will not be announced until we have word directly from these organizers.

They include:
Skijor Canada
Silverton Skijoring
Sundance Winter Carnival
Skijor West
Big Sky Skijoring
Gallatin Valley Skijoring
Big Hole Valley Skijoring
Whitefish Winter Carnival
Skijoring at Rebecca Farm
and more. . .

There are also new venues that may pop up in 2022, like one in northern Idaho, so stay tuned!

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~ AN EXHIBIT ~
When Skijor International was established in 2012,
it began collecting vintage postcards, photographs, posters, awards and other historical objects related to skijoring from many countries and past decades:
France, Switzerland, Canada, Italy, Latvia, Sweden, Norway, Poland and,
of course, the United States.

Ten years later, in 2022, Skijor International will present this collection to the public. It will tell the story of equine skijoring by establishing a timeline spanning more than a century and taking us to a dozen countries!

Other forms of skijoring will be included in the exhibit to a limited degree, but they are sure to tantalize the imagination nonetheless!

There will be whimsical postcards of children skiing behind dogs, a farm boy towed by a Swiss cow, and elves skiing behind rabbits
as well as photographs of people skiing behind reindeer, motorcycles, cars, moose and even airplanes!

The exhibit will likely travel to 2022 events in a vintage Airstream.
We also hope that, in time, it will be featured in select
historical societies and ski museums
in the United States, Canada and Europe.

https://www.skijorinternational.com

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~ IN THE NEWS ~

Skijoring just appeared in Air Canada En Route Magazine!

Click on this link to view the article and photographs:

https://issuu.com/spafax/docs/air-canada-enroute_january-february-2021/38

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Soon skijoring will be also be featured in an article in
Ralph Lauren's RL Magazine!

Skijor International was interviewed
along with San Juan Skijoring and Red Lodge Skijoring.
Skijor International / Skijor USA provided perspective on the sport's
past history, present state and future growth.

Many of you may not realize that Ralph Lauren
has owned a ranch in Ridgway, Colorado for decades.
Loren Zhimanskova, of Skijor USA and Skijor International,
began her career working for Ralph Lauren in New York City over 30 years ago and went on to represent the designer in Paris and Munich.

Twenty years ago, she was invited to Ralph's Double RL Ranch in Ridgway and shared a very memorable day in the company of Ralph, his wife Ricky and his daughter, Dylan. Ten years ago, Loren started promoting equine skijoring, and five years ago, Ridgway became the home of San Juan Skijoring.

How GREAT that these two worlds have FINALLY come together!

We will provide the link as soon as it has been published!

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~ LIVE BROADCASTS ~

This season, since some races cannot have spectators or are having to limit their numbers, several races intend to broadcast their events live.

San Juan Skijoring did a FANTASTIC job a few weeks ago!
They used numerous, alternating camera angles
to show action up close and announcers who really knew their stuff
and were easy to hear and understand.
They even interviewed winning teams after the race each day!
They got over 32,000 views and 210 shares of their video!
Teams from Colorado, Wyoming and Montana
competed in multiple divisions
including a Switch-A-Roo
in which the rider switched with the skier on Day 2.

Congratulations
to
Overall Open Champions
Michael Miller and Nevada Kramer
of Montana

Overall Sport Champions
Brittany Delehant/Riggelman & Colter Fretwell
of Montana

Overall Novice Champions
Fiona & Phoebe Alverson
of Wyoming

Overall Snowboard Champions
Trent Sanders & Kalei Pitcher
of Colorado

Switch-A-Roo Champions
Dennis Alverson & Aaron Griffen
of Wyoming & Montana

BRAVO!

For complete results, click on the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/sanjuanskijoring/photos/pcb.3763689640357188/3763689457023873/

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Saratoga Skijoring
has announced that it, too, will provide a live broadcast feed, so TUNE IN this weekend if you can!
Races start 9:30 am on Saturday & 10:00 am on Sunday!

https://www.facebook.com/SaratogaSkijoring/

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Skijoring Utah
SOLD OUT its spectator spots in JUST 24 HOURS!
So let's hope that they will be broadcasting this season.
If so, we will be sure to keep you in the loop!

https://www.facebook.com/skijoringutah

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~ SPEAKING OF INTERVIEWS ~

Scott and Francesca of
Skijoring Magazine interviewed the organizers
from San Juan Skijoring, Tyler, Sarah and Richard,
and posted the interview on Face Book.

It is VERY well done and informative.
We encourage anyone who is looking to organize
a skijoring race to listen and take notes!*
This interview is refreshing and easy to follow and digest.

It seems many of us are thinking more and more alike these days :)

Topics included:

1) Teamwork: The importance of forming an event committee and delegating responsibilities according to people's strengths and interests.
2) Budgetary issues. Approaching and raising money from sponsors plus securing "in kind" donations for essential equipment.
3) The absolute necessity of securing a snow cat with a tiller to build a safe track and the fact that it needs to be packed and set the night before the race.
4) Design. Tracks do not have to be designed after a strictly traditional format, but can be imaginative and unique to each race, yet they MUST ALWAYS stay within certain safety parameters.
5) Partnership. The challenges of working with municipalities, local non-profits/ rodeo associations and chambers of commerce to get a race approved.
6) Volunteers. The importance of recruiting volunteers and rewarding them. A local Elks Club, for instance, can often be your key to success.
7) Have an overall vision and put it on paper. Have the horse track pre-determined and pre-approved, that is know the lay of the land in advance, minus snow! The skier's track is easier to change, manipulate and adapt.
8) Be alert and ask. Listen to those with experience like veteran competitors and ask for help if you need it! Most likely, you will get it. We are a community with the same goals in mind, horse safety being #1.
9) Transparency. Be transparent and accessible to competitors and give advice freely to those interested in putting on a new skijoring race.
10) A well-run, fair and safe race is more important to competitors than a large prize pot, though having money to win never hurts!
Last but not least: Remember that the end goal it to keep it FUN! ! !

Let us be clear, there are MANY leaders in skijoring
who have put on outstanding events and continue to help others to do the same, and yes, San Juan Skijoring can certainly be counted as one.

For the complete interview live, click on the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/SkijoringMagazine/posts/834608287100616

*The only portion of the interview which we question as to its validity is that there is "not a harder race to win" on the circuit than San Juan Skijoring and that it is "the only race to have had five different riders and five different skiers win over a five year period". We will be fact checking this, and the topic is, of course, open for discussion. Submit any comments to info@skijorusa.com

JOR ON! and Stay safe and healthy!

Loren Zhimanskova,
President, Skijor USA, Inc. & Skijor International, LLC

Photo courtesy of Skijor International, LLC