A uniquely western sport, skijoring involves a horse and rider galloping through a snowy obstacle course while a skier is towed behind on a rope. The skier must pick up rings while navigating jumps and turns, aiming to combine speed and accuracy.
The sport stepped into the national spotlight with the debut of PRO Skijor: North America’s first professional skijoring series.
The inaugural Frontier Tour launched in Heber City in January and returns to the Wasatch Back Saturday, Feb. 28, for the two-day championship finals.
Originally slated to be held in Salt Lake City, Pro Skijor moved the championships to Kamas’ High Star Ranch. PRO Skijor co-founder Brian Gardner said the venue change was due to the unseasonably warm winter.
“We own all of our own snow-making equipment for the PRO Skijor tour, but we have to have cold enough overnight temperatures to make snow, and that just wasn't coming together for us down in Salt Lake City like we had hoped that it would,” he said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Tuesday.
Due to last week's storms and cold temperatures, Gardner said High Star Ranch now has piles of snow ready to be molded into a course worthy of the championship finals.
Competitors have collected points at each of the tour’s five stops — in Utah, Montana and Idaho — to qualify for the culminating Frontier Finals.
Gardner said there are a few teams to watch for, including Josh Abbot and Colin Cook from Bozeman, Montana.
“They took first place at our Heber event, they took first place at our Logan event, and they took first place at the Boise event. So they're coming in the Pro Division really hot,” Gardner said. “But the interesting thing about the sport is that somebody could show up this weekend and have some great runs and really challenge their first-place standing.”
The races are Feb. 28 and March 1 from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Tickets start at $30.
There’s also a “Final Finish Party” Feb. 28 featuring live music and “best of” awards. Aspen après-ski, western-glam, or “Dumb & Dumber” style outfits are encouraged for the PRO Skijor gala.
