Skijoring is a winter sport, dreamed up over a century ago in Scandinavia, wherein skiers are towed around a track by horses, navigating a series of gates and jumps.

On snow.

This presented a challenge to the Boulder Valley Skijoring Association. Its annual event, Skijoring the Big Rock, is scheduled for Feb. 10 and 11 at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Boulder — where there was decidedly no snow. None. A mostly warm and dry winter had left the putative skijoring track a ribbon of dirt and grass.

Until Saturday, Feb. 3. At around 8 that morning, a dump truck exited Interstate 15, rumbled down Boulder’s Main Street and pulled into the fairgrounds. It unloaded about 80 cubic yards of snow onto the start of the skijoring track.

More would follow.

It turned out that the Skijoring Association had been ready for this. In the winters of 2022 and 2023, it countered a lack of precipitation by stockpiling snow left by plows around the area. This year, Boulder was bare — but there was plenty, it turned out in Helena, 25 miles to the north.

The association’s president, Melissa Ostrander, began working her contacts. She found big piles of snow at Steed Arena ice rink, at Wal-Mart and Les Schwab, and at the Helena Regional Airport. “Everybody laughed at us,” she said. “You really want our snow?”

She really, really did. Hopefully, 1,200 cubic yards of it — enough to build a course 900 feet long, 20 feet wide, and about 1 foot deep, with jumps about 4 feet tall. That’s maybe 325 tons’ worth.

Then, Ostrander began looking for trucks. She called her friend Jim Kristensen, a neighbor when they both lived in Belgrade. He didn’t normally drive himself, but he ran an excavating business, and he had buddies, Dennis Williams and Patrick Orem, with dump trucks. Boulder Mayor Rusty Giulio promised two trucks from his hauling business. Levi Vossler was in, too, and Chris Bullock brought a side-dumper.

The trucks and the drivers’ time were all donated; T&E CAT Rental contributed a loader for the day. The skijoring association sprung for about $1,300 of fuel, according to Bruce Giulio, a Boulder Valley board member. Said Ostrander: “That’s a hefty ticket, but I think it’s worth doing. We’ve built a reserve for a rainy day, and guess what: It’s a rainy day.”

The trucks kept coming, all day, each vehicle making seven or eight round trips to Helena, loading and dumping. Tim Graff, Boulder’s newest city councilor, found himself in the cab of one of Giulio’s trucks. He admitted he had never driven one of these things before, but he figured out how to dump his load.

By midday, the track was taking shape. “I think we’re going to make this happen,” said Bruce Giulio.

Which was a good thing, because Ostrander expects 150 teams to descend on Boulder for the competition. If that happens, it will be a 50% increase from last year — which was bigger than the year before. Skijoring is a growing sport in the Mountain West, and Boulder Valley’s event, now in its third year, is gaining traction. 

Here’s how it will work. Each skier gets four runs, each with a different horse. They hold onto a tow rope, pulled by the horse running along the inside of the curved track. It’s a lot like waterskiing. “I like it when expert downhill skiers come in and think it looks pretty easy,” said Cal Douglas, an experienced racer. 

Racers are divided into classes. There’s a novice race, with a slightly easier course, for those with no skijoring experience; and one for juniors. Experienced skijorers are divided into three divisions based on their preliminary times, which usually range from 15 to 20 seconds for experienced teams — about 30 to 45 miles per hour. Snowboarders get their own class.

The first day’s results will provide base times for the “Calcutta” that evening at Dave’s 32 oz Bar, where anyone can bid on teams for the next day’s competition. Sunday’s fastest times in each division win the Calcutta pool, with 5% going to Animal Shelter and Care of Jefferson County. Racers also can win shares of entry fees and $6,000 of added prize money.

At 4 p.m. Saturday, what had been a bare bit of ground marked with pink flags was starting to look like a skijoring course. The trucks were out for one last load, which would fill in the remaining 100 feet or so of the J-shaped track.

Douglas said he’ll spend Thursday and Friday flattening out the piles and shaping the snow into a flat course. Temperatures should stay mostly at or below freezing through Saturday, so the snow that’s there won’t go anywhere. Skijoring will happen.

“The fact that we’re able to put it on is huge,” Ostrander says. She notes that a skijoring event scheduled for last weekend in Sheridan was canceled. “It takes a lot to put on, and we couldn’t do it without help from the entire community. I think it’s going to be big, and fun.”

Racer registration for Skijoring the Big Rock is in person Friday night, 6 to 9 p.m., at the Windsor Bar in Boulder. Racing is 12 to 4 Saturday and Sunday; admission is $5 each day.

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