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Skijoring in CDT Gateway Communities!

February 7, 2022

(All photographs by Steve Sunday Photography from Leadville, CO. Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute) Native Lands)

By Callie Smith 

For our 10th anniversary this year, the CDTC is highlighting different lenses on the trail each month – and during February, we’re sharing about winter sports that you can experience along the CDT. While skijoring on the CDT probably won’t include a horse, we’re sharing this wonderful and wild sport, which you can experience in CDT Gateway Communities all along the Divide.

What is Skijoring 

Skijoring is a winter sport in which a person is pulled by a horse, a dog or a motor vehicle. It originated as a mode of transportation but has turned into a competitive sport. 

A History of Skijoring

The first report of a person being pulled on skis behind an animal/animals was recorded by a persian historian thousands of years ago in the Altai mountains of central Asia. The word skijoring originates from a Norwegian word that essentially equates to ski driving. The activity of skijoring was popularized by 1912 in Scandinavia where both skis and animals were used as forms of transportation. Skijoring was even a part of the olympic games in 1928 in Switzerland, but hasn’t been back in the games since. When Denver, CO, made a bid for the Winter Olympics in 1976, they included skijoring as an event. Denver was offered the opportunity to host the Olympics but they ended up turning it down. 

Skijoring came to North America by the 1900s and was very popular in Minnesota in the 1930’s, but by the 60’s it was mostly not in use there anymore. As early as the 1930s, mountain towns such as Jackson Hole and Steamboat Springs took up the sport. In the 1950s, the historic legacy of cowboy skiers in Leadville, CO, began after one man bragged that there wasn’t a horse fast enough to pull him on a pair of skis. This led to a race in downtown Leadville, which is now held on Harrison Avenueevery year, according to the Star Tribune. 

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Present Day Skijoring

Today, skijoring is a highly specialized and competitive sport where horses reach great speeds very quickly and skiers navigate complex jumps and gates at high speeds while being pulled on a 30 foot rope. Competitive skijoring takes place in 8 states across the US and it is even trying to get back into the 2026 Winter Olympics in some capacity! 

Skijoring in CDTC Communities 

Skijoring is present in many of our CDTC Gateway Communities. Leadville, CO has been hosting a competition on its main street since 1949. Other races take place in the CDTC Gateway Communities of Butte, Montana; Pinedale, Wyoming; and Pagosa Springs and Steamboat Springs, Colorado. In Steamboat Springs, skijoring has been a recreational tradition at the winter carnival since 1913.

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Check out upcoming skijoring events in our Gateway Communities: 

Love learning more about Skijoring? We’ll be sharing many more unique features and uses of the trail throughout 2022 in honor of our 10 year anniversary. Be sure to check out future blogs to learn more about this unique National Scenic Trail!

Callie Smith is the Community Engagement Coordinator at the CDTC. In her free time she enjoys whitewater rafting and cooking. 

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