By Brandon Walker EBS SPORTS EDITOR
BIG SKY – Mother Nature did not
cooperate for the third annual Best in the West Showdown skijoring event on
March 7 and 8 in Big Sky Town Center. Hovering around 50 F, the warm conditions
were less than ideal for maintaining snow on the racecourse, but, thanks to an
impressive community effort, the event went off without a hitch.
After six other skijoring events
were canceled across Montana this season, some worried the Best in the West
Showdown would join the growing list—events in Butte, Helena, and Whitefish,
were all nixed due to a lack of snow—but the Big Sky Skijoring Association
wouldn’t hear of it.
That
said, the Best of the West required hefty amounts of effort and support from
local companies and community members to pull off according to BSSA race
organizer Justa Adams.
“I’m overwhelmed with the community’ generosity,” Adams said in a phone call with EBS after the event. “My entire team’s effort to … divide and conquer … made this a successful event. My volunteers that showed up stayed there and stuck [it] out through the mud.”
Area businesses supplied a loader,
rock truck, dump trucks and operators free of charge to ensure enough snow
remained on the 800-foot course to make it suitable for competition. Dick
Anderson Construction, Rent Biz, TMC Transport and American Excavation each
donated supplies and labor, moving 300 loads—or 2,000 yards—of snow onto the
track over the week leading up to the event.
The effort equated to about $25,000
for the Best in the West Showdown. “I wouldn’t have been able to do any of it
without our original sponsors, but specifically [without] the additional
$25,000 in time and donations last week, we wouldn’t have had a race,” she
said.
A record 120 teams came out to
compete, up from the 92 that raced in last
year’s event, according to Adams. Six different levels of competition were on
display and competitors had to navigate through 15 to 20 gates on the course,
dependent on their level of competition. Each gate a team missed resulted in
penalties that added time onto their run.
Safety was paramount for the BSSA
team throughout the weekend. Former skijor competitor-turned-BSSA member and
course designer Colin Cook, volunteer equipment operator Patrick McVey and
veterinarian Jacy Cook were constantly surveying the course to ensure it was
safe to race on. The competition was stopped a handful of times for fresh snow
and salt to be added to the course, and for a groomer to scrape away excess
slushy snow as temperatures rose.
In the highest level of competition,
the Open Division, skier RJ Klotz and rider Josh Abbott stormed back to claim
the top spot in the overall results, with a combined time of 33.87 seconds
between the two days, just ahead of Aaron Griffen and Claudia Schmidt, riding
Clyde, who finished at 33.99 combined.
A difference of nearly two full
seconds between Klotz and Abbott’s Saturday run compared to their time on
Sunday made up the ground that they originally trailed. Griffen and Schmidt
also took home third place overall with a combined time of 34.02 seconds riding
Schmidt’s other horse Zeek.
“It’s awesome because this is only
the fourth race I’ve made it to this year,” said Schmidt, the 2019 National
Skijoring America Champion, of competing at the Best in the West Showdown.
Schmidt, who lives in Gallatin Gateway, competed in 11 competitions last year.
“We just don’t have any snow and it’s been really hard for a lot of races
trying to make it work,” she said.
Adams, grateful to have held the
Best in the West Showdown in the spring-like conditions, is already looking
toward next season and perhaps some cooler weather.
“White and fluffy snow and no mud,” she said. “Hopefully.”
Division
Winners:
Open:
- Skier – RJ Klotz
- Rider – Josh Abbott
- Horse – Elvis
- Combined Time: 33.87 seconds
Sport:
- Skier – Lang Schuler
- Rider – Dennis Alverson
- Horse – Scooter
- Combined Time: 35.03 seconds
Novice:
- Skier – Cole Pampe
- Rider – Brittany Delehant
- Horse – Sheeza
- Combined Time: 44.20 seconds
Women:
- Skier – Alina Gemza
- Rider – Monica Plecker
- Horse – Zeta
- Combined Time: 42.45 seconds
Snowboard:
- Skier – Kalei Pitcher
- Rider – Kristen Beck
- Horse – Lefty
- Combined Time: 56.82 seconds
Junior:
- Skier – Russell Douglas
- Rider – Arley Douglas
- Horse – Dead Line
- Combined Time: 50.91 seconds
