admin

“It’s three heartbeats that have to pull together in order to make a good run.”
– Scott Ping, Whitefish, Montana (at 68 years old, Ping is the oldest competitor in the West actively participating in skijoring)

Following article written by: Jennifer Gerlach

Norwegian for “ski driving”, skijoring has been an efficient mode of transportation for hundreds of years. In his book, The Culture & Sport of Skiing: From Antiquity to WWII, E. John B. Allen, references skijoring as occurring in China 400 years ago. Dogs, reindeers and horses have been used to help people cross vast frozen tundra and mountains at fast speeds. Ski driving has been an integral part of alpine transportation for centuries.

In the U.S., skijoring was popularized as a sport by WWII veterans in the 1950’s. After WWII, the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain division, known as the “Soldiers on Skis” returned home to America. These American heroes had daringly fought the German army while skiing across Italy’s rugged Apennine Mountains. Once home, they craved the same speed they had grown accustomed to while at war. Some of the soldiers opened ski areas while others searched out cowboys to pull them across snowy landscapes. These WWII veterans, missing the adrenaline rush they had known while at war, popularized the sport of skijoring.

In competitive skijoring, it is vital for the team of three, horse, rider and skier, to work in sync. Here in America, Skijoring America, and Skijor USA, two nationally recognized Skijoring organizations provide competitive skijors with the platform to display and prove their skills. Usually riding across a 300 year course, skiers grip a rope, which is tethered to the horse’s saddle by a rope. Speeding over jumps, through gates and sometimes picking up rings along the course, the competitors race up to 40 miles per hour and complete the race in as little as 15 to 20 seconds. It’s not the fastest horse that leads the team of three to victory; instead, the team that usually comes out on top is the team that work in tandem without mistake.

Castle, Jessianne. “The Pull of Pounding Hooves: A brief history of Western skijoring.” Western Outlaw Winter 2019: 60,61. Print.