Recap: Skijoring, day one

Winter Fest’s featured event highlights Big Sky culture

By Bella Butler MANAGING EDITOR

Winter Fest is an Outlaw Partners event. Outlaw Partners publishes Explore Big Sky.

BIG SKY – This afternoon, a painted pony trampled through soft snow in the heart of Big Sky. Big Sky local Haley Hodge rode the horse, towing her brother Cody, who was on skis.

The sibling duo was one of several to compete in day one of the Best of the West Skijoring Competition, the featured event of the inaugural Winter Fest in Big Sky. Day one of skijoring hosted nearly six hours of competition including seven divisions from novice to open.

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Riders, skiers and snowboarders from the local Big Sky community as well from around the country kept a full crowd on their feet all day to enjoy the spectacle of winter athletes navigating an obstacle course while being towed at adrenaline-worthy speeds by a horse.

“It’s just so fun to see all the different kinds of athletes that there are here—the skiers, the horses and the riders,” said Bozeman resident and longtime skijoring fan Lindsey Grauman.

“It’s so Montana,” Grauman’s friend, Brittany Peters, chimed in. “In the winter, you get outside and the weather doesn’t stop you … it’s such a Montana thing to be at.”

While skijoring events take place around the country, the sport is a unique combination of the blended culture in Big Sky. Longtime locals in the crowd represented both skiers and cowboys, all sharing a day together to enjoy a good time.

The end of the day was punctuated by the competitive open division, where highly skilled athletes like 2019 national champion skijorer Colin Cook picked up the pace and made use of the bigger course features.

After four runs and a day of supporting the event, Cook said he felt like he’d run 10 miles.

The fast-paced competition will pick up again tomorrow at 11 a.m.

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Day One leaders by division

*Results are sourced from live-timing.com and are up-to-date as of EBS press time.

Novice

Place	Rider	Skier	Horse	Time (sec)
1	Jess Woodring	Kyle Voigtlander	Woodys All Jacked Up	24:76
2	Matty Kirkland	Drew Vanyo	Patron	26:31
3	Kristyn MacDonald	Dan Hurst	Dakodi	27:53

Junior

Place	Rider	Skier	Horse	Time (sec)
1	Makenze Woodring	Dayne Free	Trashy Rooster	27:49
2	Kimber Cook	Kate Thompson	Badger	46:77
3	Makenze Woodring	Trippe Tubbs	Trashy Rooster	55:86

Womens

Place	Rider	Skier	Horse	Time (sec)
1	Melissa Ostrander	Tara Hines	The War Pony	18:44
2	Sarah McConnell	Tara Hines	Three	21:19
3	Fiona Alverson	Phoebe Alverson	Raven	21:90

Sport

Place	Rider	Skier	Horse	Time (sec)
1	Trae McInroe	Joe Jasper	Charlie	19:22
2	Trae McInroe	Tara Hines	Charlie	19:28
3	Cal Douglas	Ed Anderson	Beauty	19:48

Switcheroo

Place	Rider	Skier	Horse	Time (sec)
1	Dennis Alverson	Aaron Griffen	Scooter	18:51
2	Aaron Griffen	Nick Bentley	Sammy	18:77
3	Tyler Smedsrud	Nick Bentley	Three	18:86

Snowboarding

Place	Rider	Snowboarder	Horse	Time (sec)
1	Trae McInroe	Kalei Pitcher	Roscoe	17:79
2	Richard Weber	Kalei Pitcher	Three	18:53
3	Taylor Stobaugh	Brooke Adams	Bo-Peep	20:77

Open

Place	Rider	Skier	Horse	Time (sec)
1	Richard Weber	Tyler Smedsrud	Frank and Beans	17:93
2	Sarah McConnell	Tyler Smedsrud	Derby	18:39
3	Richard Weber	Colin Cook	Frank and Beans	18:93