SILVERTON – Skijoring made a return to Silverton on Saturday for the 2022 Silverton Skijoring competition. Competitors from Wyoming, Montana, Canada and even New Zealand, as well as Colorado, gathered in the small mountain town for the event.
Thousands of spectators showed up from Durango, Bayfield, Pagosa Springs and elsewhere, to enjoy the races under the mountain sun, which shined all afternoon without cloud cover.
The winter sport called skijoring – a term derived from the Norwegian word “skikjøring,” which means “snow driving,” consists of a skier trying to collect hoops while holding onto a rope and being pulled by a horse and its rider. Some courses have ski jumps or ramps and skiers must hold onto the rope until they cross the finish line. The runs are timed.
The event had no admission fee, contained a party zone where beer and drinks could be purchased, and there were plenty of pop-up tents hosted by local vendors. Warnings to respect the power of alcohol at an elevation of 9,318 feet were repeated to spectators in addition to reminders that dogs and drones were not allowed near the course.
Horse riders and skiers were paired up in 50 matches across three categories: Novice, sport and pro/open. The competition will continue on Sunday. At least 75 runs were planned for Saturday.
The town of Silverton helped finance more than $16,000 through its public works department to build the course, which ran straight down the snow-packed Blair Street and included slopes and jumps, small and large.
Other businesses and organizations that sponsored the weekend skijoring included Coldwell Bankers, Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, The Grand Imperial, Bent Elbow, Vacasa, Durango Harley-Davidson, True Western Roundup, Western Colorado Community Fund, Citizens State Bank of Ouray, Ska Brewing Co., San Juan Country Tourism Fund and KJ Wood Distillers.
Jeff Dahl, who has ridden in every Silverton skijoring event and who, along with others, helped first bring skijoring to Silverton in 2010, said the weekend competition had the most horses this year than in many years.
“Good event, good town, good venue,” Dahl said. “Great footing for the horses. Just an amazing deal.”
Dahl has been skijoring for at least 28 years, he said. He got his start in Leadville.
“I’ve been in most of the races at Red Lodge, Big Sky, Saratoga, Pinedale (Wyoming), here, Pagosa,” he said.
Early Saturday afternoon, Dahl was riding a quarter horse bred for racing.
“She’s kinda green, so she hasn’t really done this,” he said. He patted his horse on the head and whispered into her ear, “Are you gonna run? You gonna run?”
Dahl said he is glad the world may be returning to normal, referencing the ebbing pandemic.
Skier Jason Decker said the event was going well, even if he thought his own performance Saturday was “garbage.” Decker held up his gloves, which were partially shredded from the rope he held as his rider pulled him across the course. He said he needs a new pair of skijoring gloves basically every day.
“I dropped the rope twice,” Decker said. “I’ve never had two DNF’s in a row before. So I’m disappointed in myself.”
Despite being mad with himself about his performance Saturday, Decker said it was a beautiful day and a super event. He said Silverton must be his hangover event, because the best skijoring weekend he’s ever had occurred just two weeks ago in Saratoga.
Decker’s been skijoring about 12 years. He has won at Silverton two or three times, he said. He got into the sport after he pulled a friend on a snowmobile on a course his friend built. The year after, he started to compete – and beat his friend, he said.
“It was one of those ‘hold my beer moments,’” Decker said. “It was great.”
Decker enjoys touring skijoring courses and competing – the people he skijors with have become strong friends and he considers it a big family, he said.
“I’ve met a whole lot of amazing people,” he said. “... Everybody’s here for everybody else. I don’t want to see anybody get hurt. We’re all here to have the horses be safe.”
Decker shared his pre-race ritual. He visits each of his colleague’s horses and pulls a strand or two of hair from their manes and puts them in his pocket.
“It’s a stupid superstition thing,” Decker said. “But it’s what I do. It’s a family and that’s why we come. Everybody is here for everybody else. It’s just great. I had a (expletive) day today but everyone said, ‘Dude, you looked great.’”
Decker said it’s tough to name a “favorite” course because each course is different. The course in Ridgway, for example, is a circular track as opposed to Silverton’s straight shot.
He said he’s won a couple of belt buckles in Saratoga.
“They’ve changed their track a couple of times, but I love the people up there, too,” he said. “This one’s fun.”
Silverton resident Freddie Camfield is another local who has participated in the Silverton Skijoring since it began, but not as a competitor. Camfield helps set up the course days in advance. This year, he started on Wednesday, he said.
Camfield’s favorite part of Silverton Skijoring is watching kids enter in the novice category and then work their way up to the pros or opens over the years. He said it’s rewarding.
During the events, Camfield stands at the very end of the course to direct horse riders and keep pedestrians out of the area in the event a horse “goes rogue,” or gets scared and makes a break forward.
cburney@durangoherald.com
