Skijoring is an action-packed sporting event that involves horses pulling skiers through courses with gates, jumps and rings.
Pro Skijor’s first-ever Frontier Tour will take competition to the next level with five action-packed races across the west, leading to the championship finals in Salt Lake City.
The first stop will be in Heber, but it isn’t the Wasatch County town’s first rodeo. Event organizer and local Brian Gardner said the town has hosted these events for 10 years now.
“Skijoring Utah is the founding event, and that is what we are celebrating, the 10 year anniversary,” he said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Wednesday. “But we have grown and expanded into a pro tour that has multiple stops across Utah, Idaho and Montana.”
With the expansion, organizers have made substantial investments. Gardner said that includes how they get snow to the competition venues.
“We have snow making equipment,” he said. “And similar to the ski resorts, we need to have overnight cold temperatures, and we have had some, and so we have been blowing snow over at the event complex in Heber.”
Gardner said more than 10,000 people attended Heber’s 2025 event, with 375 teams competing.
Competitors range from amateurs to the pros with the winners earning cash, buckles and a shot at the Salt Lake City finals.
“If you're new to the sport and you've never tried it and would like to try it, we have all sorts of divisions, from novice division, we have some fun divisions, the century division, where the age of the rider and the skier need to equal 100 years. We have a team division,” Gardner said.
The two-day competition begins Jan. 16 at the Wasatch Event Center. General admission, bleacher seating, course-side and VIP tickets are available for spectators.
Friday's competition will include a high-speed qualifier with finals on Saturday.
