SILVERTON – By 11 a.m. Saturday, Silverton appeared, in part, to have regressed a century. Wrangler-clad riders on horseback rode up and down the streets of the historic mining town. At the south end of Blair Street, temporary corrals filled the parking spots generally occupied by Subarus and pickup trucks. Cowboy-hat wearing horse handlers sipped beer while puffy-jacket-bundled skiers took hits of joints.
To the north, a team of volunteers scrupulously checked the condition of a series of jumps and hung rings from makeshift stands.
And just after noon, the first horse set off down the street with a skier in tow.
Silverton Skijoring – the event for which cowboys, skiers and spectators descended upon the small mountain town – is a raucous affair.
Riders on galloping horseback tow skiers behind them at exhilarating speeds down the snowy groomed street, while the skier navigates a series of gates and jumps while attempting to grab dangling rings. Runs are timed, and the fastest skiers to complete the course are crowned champion.
Skiers are penalized for missed gates or failing to carry rings across the finish line.
Rider-skier pairings self-select either the novice, sport and open class, each indicating a more advanced level of skill than the last.
“It’s a wild ride,” said Kevin Wilder of Telluride and Silverton’s 2022 sport class champion. “It’s fast. It’s somewhat of a horse race on this straight track.”
Wilder is competing in the open class, and said he put his chances of winning between 60% and 70%.
Participants and spectators come from all over the state for the event. Throngs of people line the 2.5-block course, crowding over barricades to watch, although not all Silverton residents appear thrilled with the affair, given the small number of “No trespassing” signs that proliferate a handful of yards along Blair Street.
For the fourth year in a row, J.W. Kinder, a professional rodeo announcer, made the trip from Casper, Wyoming.
“What’s unique about this event is the community,” Kinder said in an interview with The Durango Herald. “It’s very community minded. I love that.”
Some participants take the event more seriously than others. Skiers hoot and holler as they cross the finish line; one doubles over in disappointment after the horse got between him and a stand of rings, costing him six points. After all, about $26,000 of prize money is on the line between the three categories.
Prize money aside, the event is a boon for Silverton’s winter economy. The Coffee Bear, Silverton’s spacious coffee shop, was abuzz with visitors by early morning. Vendors lined 12th Street to hawk anything from disposable cameras to marijuana.
The skiers and cowboys are a cocky bunch – an element that seems almost critical to the sport.
“The only really big nerve would be winning the division and going to the ‘open’ division,” said first-time skijorer Kellan Wehner of Durango, who chose to compete in the mid-tier sport division for his first competition. “That would definitely be the biggest nerve – if we outdo ourselves.”
Two hours later, Wehner came skidding across the finish line. He took 28.41 seconds to complete the course and dropped only one ring.
“That was sick, I love you!” shouted his rider from atop her horse in an expletive-laden cry of joy.
“So fun!” Wehner said. “I’m hooked.”
Skijoring attracts those who identify as what skier Andrew Barlow called “hippie cowboys.” It requires partnership between people who can both ski and ride at a high level. Some riders and skiers operate as a partnered pair, while others meet the day of the competition.
As Jasmine Johnson waited for her turn to ride while sitting on her horse, Kid Around Joe Blue, she said she began skijoring nine years ago after discovering that the culture was far more fun than rodeo competition.
“Skijoring is super cool because you have two totally different groups people: You have cowboys and skiers, who are pretty much on opposite sides of the fence in every part of the world, and they team up and have way more fun than you ever would at a rodeo,” she said. “And we’re adrenaline junkies.”
Kinder, the announcer, likens the sport to NASCAR.
“You’re gonna see some crashes. You’re gonna see a guy lose a ski and stay up, you’re going to see an array of things,” he said. “ … We want to see a wreck but we don’t want to see anybody hurt.”
rschafir@durangoherald.com
