HEBER CITY, Utah — To accomplish skijoring, you need a horse, a rope, a skier, and snow — which is easier said than done these days.
“The winter has thrown us a curveball this year. I know everybody understands that,” said Brian Gardner, a co-founder of Skijoring Utah.
Normally, the races are inside the rodeo arena, but warmer temperatures literally put a damper on those plans.
“There was 12 to 18 inches of mud. That was real safety concern, especially for the horses running. And so, short notice, we had to make a hard decision to move out of the arena and actually build the course here in the parking lot,” Gardner said.
They have snowmaking equipment, but reality set in when they realized they needed cold temperatures to maintain the course.
“We just really watched those overnight temperatures, and as they dropped low enough, we were just ready to go. And we really only had about four nights here in Heber to get this snow made,” Gardner said.
While originally from New York, Bryan Coll has been coming to Utah for the past three seasons to compete, and that wasn’t going to change this year.
“The conditions, they are what they are, and everybody's got to race on the same thing, so it's not like there's an edge for anybody,” Coll said. "We're just skiing slush. You can't hold an edge as well, so there's some of that to figure out, but otherwise, we're just going out there and sending it.”
It’s the first year that they’re expanding the tour to other states, but there are other stops in Utah on the horizon.
“We are nervous about the weather,” Gardner said. "We will religiously watch the temperatures, and anytime we dip below 25 degrees, you'll see us out all night blowing snow and getting ready for that event.”
“I have no worries. They'll get snow on the ground if they've got to ship it in from Alaska,” Coll joked.
No matter the conditions, they refuse to let go of an event so special to the Heber community.
“When we started the event 10 years ago, it was here in the Heber Valley," Gardner said. "And so, it's always just felt like home, and it will always feel like home, and what a beautiful place to have it."
There are two more tour stops in Utah:
- Logan — Cache County Fairgrounds, Jan. 30–31
- Championship Weekend — Utah State Fairpark, Salt Lake City, Feb. 27–28
More information can be found HERE.
