Thrills and Chills of Skijoring

For most people, downhill ski racing or trick horseback riding would be thrill enough, but Ryan Lakovitch combines the two. He is one of a growing number of people hooked on skijoring, a daredevil competition in which skiers are pulled through an obstacle course by a horse at up to 40 mph.

It sounds like the ultimate extreme sport, but for Lakovitch, a rider from Jackson, Wyo., (pop 8,647) who won the sport’s national championship in 2000 with his partner, skier Cody Smith, there’s more to skijoring than sheer adrenaline. It’s also about teamwork, cooperation, and skill of the horse, rider, and skier.

“I definitely love the combination of horsemanship and skiing,” says the 27-year-old, who grew up riding and skiing in Jackson. “There are so many factors that come into play in making a championship run and a championship team. That’s what keeps me interested in it.”

Skijoring was created by Scandanavian hunters who hitched themselves to reindeer to travel across long expanses of snow, but recreational skijoring caught on in this country in the 1930s in Steamboat Springs, Colo., and Red Lodge, Mont., where ranchers were looking for fun during the long, snowy winters. Today, many Midwestern and Northeastern skijorers ski behind dogs in an aerobic amalgamation of dog-sledding and cross-country skiing, while others use snowmobiles for a steady ride.

But Western-style skijoring is a more intense brand of competition, with skiers in full alpine gear clinging to tow ropes for dear life. Some races are on a straight track about 900 feet long, where the skier zig-zags behind the horse like a slalom water-skier, passing through gates, flying over jumps, and picking off small aluminum rings for points, racing for the best time. Others use an oval track, where the horse sprints around the center and the skier must maneuver through gates and over jumps without spinning out of control.

“The hard part is when you get up to 40 miles per hour,” says Smith, who spends summers racing motorcycles for fun. “Everything’s coming at you so fast, it gets pretty crazy.”

Lakovitch, Smith, and the other members of the Jackson skijoring team have helped shape the sport, says Dave Schilz, president of the North American Skijoring Association, which sanctions races in Idaho, Montana, Colorado, and Wyoming. Schilz says the team has done that by training often and making it more competitive.

“They had their horses in better shape, they practiced together, and they were in tune together,” Schilz says.

Winning earned them prize money—each race can be worth $1,000 to $3,000, plus sponsorships from local businesses that help defray the cost of horses and gear.

But the teammates say they got into skijoring for the fun. Lakovitch first encountered the sport about eight years ago at Jackson’s Cowboy Ski Challenge; Smith was downhill ski racing in Jackson Hole when he was approached by a fellow skier who thought he’d enjoy the sport.

The team has cut back slightly on its race schedule. Nonetheless, Lakovitch still spends several hours each morning exercising his horses before heading off to work directing planes on the ground for American Airlines. And the 23-year-old Smith, who now lives in Spokane, Wash., spends many weekends traveling 10 hours or more to meet up with Lakovitch or other riders at races.

It’s the thrill of the sport that keeps the team going through all the hard work. And it’s the same thrill that is getting more and more people involved, giving Lakovitch and others the hope it may someday become an Olympic sport.

“When you go out and run a great race,” Lakovitch says, “and your horse is running good, and your skier is running good ... it certainly pays off.”

Hannah Wolfson is a freelance writer in Orange City, Iowa.

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