Skijoring the Bear, a new winter event in Garden City

Skijoring the Bear will be held on Saturday Feb. 19, beginning at 10 a.m. until noon for people who want to try a free exhibition run. Bring your own skies.

GARDEN CITY – Marie Wamsley of the Bear Lake area is trying to drum up support for the second annual skijoring event to be held in the field just north of Heritage Park in Garden City. The event will be held on Saturday, Feb. 19, beginning at 10 a.m. until noon for people trying the free exhibition run.

The competition will go from noon until 2 p.m. with a $10 entry fee for those who decide to participate in the competition.

We have competed in skijoring events as a family for the past five or six years,” Wamsley said. “They have them in Kamas, Jackson Hole and some in Montana. They have them in other places, too. We wanted to try and get it going in the Bear Lake area, so we came up with Skijoring the Bear.”

Skijoring the Bear has three divisions: 18 years and older is the open class, 15 to 18 years is the intermediate class and 7 years to 15 is novice class.

Skijoring is derived from the Norwegian word for “ski driving” and uses horses or dogs to pull skiers over a prepared course.

“This is our second year,” she said. “We tried to do it last year and we had more people attend than we thought we would.”

There will be a free exhibition run for those that want to try it. People will need to bring their own skis and helmet. Wamsley will supply six horses and after trying it out there will be competition runs with a $10 entry fee. There are prizes for the winners.

“If someone wants to bring their own horses, I would like to talk to them first to make sure the horses and riders are safe pulling riders,” she said. “We would love to have more people pull skiers.”

A fast run might take about 20 seconds on a strait track with jumps and gates. Some people try and attract cameras by wearing all kinds of things like pajamas and other costumes, some go crazy and wear swimming trunks.

“You can wear what you want. Competitive people usually wear regular ski outfits,” Wamsley said. “It’s all for fun. Some call it a redneck event where cowboys and skiers can come together.”

Skiers don’t need to know anything about horses and cowboys don’t need to know anything about skiing.

“It’s fun to see the skiers and snowboarders going through the course,” she said. “We have a few prizes and not a huge payout. We are just trying to make it a fun event.”

MW Quarter Horses and Beaver Creek Lodge will provide horses and riders for the exhibition event.

Due to limited number of horses, race entrants will be limited and coordinated the day of the event. Prizes will be awarded for winners in each category.

For more information, Marie Wamsley can be reached at (435) 881-5056.

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