STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK

PHOTO BY JOHN BOYDSTON

Josh Glick was sweating it a month ago as temperatures around Bellevue climbed into the lower 50s, leaving any precipitation that fell in the shape of rain, not snow crystals.

But the president of the Wood River Extreme Skijoring Association was smiling on Wednesday as he looked across a line of five-foot tall mounds of snow stretching across a brown field south of Bellevue.

“The show will go on,” he said. “The forecast for the weekend is cold at night with temperatures in the 20s, and clouds over the weekend will help us because sun can take a big toll on the snow, the skiers and the riders.”

Indeed, cowboys on horseback will gallop along a snow-covered track beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, pulling skiers and snowboarders in something that resembles Ben Hur on Snow-Meets the Wild West.

The annual Wood River Extreme Ski Joring Association (WRESJA) races will feature fast horses towing tow brave skiers and snowboarders down a 750-foot course with skiers bouncing over one to three jumps while trying to spear salad plate-sized rings with their free arm.

Experienced horse-skier teams will race between 35 and 40 miles an hour. Intermediate teams race between 25 and 30 miles per hour.

This year’s event will include a couple’s division with a special surprise, a century division where the rider and skier’s ages equal 100 years or more and Pee Wee races for kids ages 5 to 10.

A portion of ticket and swag sales will go to the Wood River High School Rodeo Team, Lead’em and Feed’em 4-H Club and Rotarun Ski Area.

In that vein, spectators will be able to purchase a RotaRING  at https://shop.rotarun.org/products/wresja-x-rotarun-ring. Every RotaRING that’s purchased sends an automatic $25 gift to Rotarun Ski Area. And, when the purple ring is speared and carried to the finish line, WRESJA will match the donation.

With no snow falling in Bellevue this winter, Glick was able to truck in 20 loads of snow that had been shoved off the runways at Friedman Memorial Airport in Hailey. He got another 22 loads from what locals call “the Ketchum glacier,” where Ketchum snow crews deposit snow off Serenade Lane.

WRESJA members staked out a track over the weekend so truck drivers would know where to dump the snow. And Bellevue got a half inch of snow from heaven on Wednesday as icing on the cake.

“It’s been a little nerve wracking because I was not sure what the snow and weather was going to do, but it looks like the weather is going to work out for us,” Glick said.

Skijoring is believed to have begun with Laplanders on long wooden skis being pulled by reindeer as a way to get around in Scandinavia’s snowy winters. The sport made its way to the United States after World War II.

It’s been done behind dogs, ATVs and snowmobiles. But it’s the sport has really taken off on horseback, with more and more contests being added throughout the West and even East Coast.

Skijoring was a hit during the 2025 Audi FIS World Cup Finals in Sun Valley last year, with races run in Champions Meadow on Sun Valley Road. And, even last week, a Utah company had snow trucked into the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa for that area’s first skijoring competition.

Glick first saw a skijoring competition at the Old Cutters Ranch in Hailey about 10 years ago. He went home, put his skis on and had his wife drag him around the pasture. He signed up to compete the next year when the skijoring competition moved to Quigley Canyon. He won, and he was hooked.

“You win once or twice and you know what the feeling’s like so you want to get back to it,” he said. “There’s a lot of adrenaline because it’s fast and there’s the risk of falling and the risks of missing your rings. I wish I’d gotten into it earlier because it’s so much fun, but I’m getting to the point where my old knees can’t keep up anymore.”

When Glick was competing, he’d build a practice course outside his house and have his wife or a friend drag him behind a snowmobile. When there was enough snow on the road, he would get the horses out and go down the road.

“The horses like running in the snow,” he said.

WRESJA will have 137 entrants this year. Skiers and boarders often pair up with horses they’ve never skied behind before.

“The key is making sure the horse and rider are going at a speed you can compete at,” Glick said. “If the horse goes too fast, you’ll miss your gates. That’s where experience comes in—you can get behind a horse you’ve never been behind, and you know what to expect.”

Glick praised the community for getting behind the effort to make sure this year’s races happened.

Lunceford Excavation, All Seasons Landscaping, Rixon Excavation, Canyon Excavation and Apollo Construction offered the use of their trucks to haul snow from Hailey and Ketchum. And Sluder Construction will be out there today, grooming the 36-foot-wide track.

A grant from the Idaho Department of Commerce provided $7,000 to pay for the gas and wages of those doing the driving.

“This has been a big community effort, “Glick said. “A lot of people stepped up to help us get snow down here. We’ve had more volunteers and businesses than ever helping out.”

IF YOU GO:

FRIDAY

Pre-race party and team check-in at 6 p.m. Friday night at Mahoney’s Bar & Grill, open to the public.

SATURDAY

11 a.m. Races start at 81 Browning Lane about six miles south of Bellevue off Gannett Road. Bring a lawn chair and dress warm; leave dogs at home. Admission is $10, with kids 12 and under free.

Food trucks from Big John’s BBQ a KB’s and Sawtooth Brewery will be on site.

Team Auction and party at 5 p.m. Saturday night at River Sage Stables, 20 Prairie Road south of Bellevue.

SUNDAY

11 a.m. Races at 81 Browning Lane followed by awards ceremony at River Sage Stables.