Bellevue hosts annual skijoring event

BELLEVUE, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — This past weekend, Bellevue hosted its annual skijoring event, bringing together people from across the area.

“I just love having the cowboy culture just explode with the ski and snowboard culture,” said Tara Bell, a competitor at the event.

Skijoring is a popular winter sport where a horse and rider pull a person. However, Bell explained that there is more to the sport.

“It’s when a big, fast, strong horse and a great rider pulls a skier or snowboard down a track,” Bell said. “I’m sure you guys will see what that looks like, and you go around gates and over jumps and you get rings at the same time. So, it’s basically a race from the start to the finish.”

The Wood River Extreme Skijoring Association has hosted the annual event in Bellevue since 2001. This year, around 150 contestants competed.

Cole Youren, one of the participants, said the event has drawn more people each year.

“Honestly, it’s been growing every year,” Youren said. “So quite a few spectators, I’m going to guess, probably a thousand over the weekend. You get a lot of people come by on their way from Sun Valley and stop for a few hours, and then they will drift on.”

Like other sports, there is a bit of danger when they hit the ice.

“There’s got to be an EMT because it isn’t the safest sport in the world,” Youren said. “I mean, you put fast horses on ice and skiers, you’re going to have accidents. But, if it is too wet or too warm, it gets wet and gets heavy on the horses, and that can bog down. And if it is too cold, it gets icy, and they’ll fall down, so you get what you get. It’s finding that sweet spot where you get all the speed you can get but still be safe.”

Bell says the best part of these events comes down to the community.

“Well, there’s a lot of sports you can go out and do, but it’s really rare you can go out; I mean, you can see how many people are here right now. The energy is high, it’s positive, everybody.”

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