STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK

PHOTOS BY JOHN BOYDSTON (jobo.smugmug.com)

Organizers wrestled with whether to stage the annual Wood River Extreme Ski Joring competition this year, given the lack of snow in Bellevue.

But it’s a good thing they went ahead with it as the strip of snow they laid down in a field south of Bellevue served as a wedding chapel that weekend.

The snow was a little dirty this year since it had been recycled from snow dumps.

The competition drew a couple thousand spectators over two days with competitors vying for a $10,000 purse.

And two of those who turned out—McKinley Keener and Caroline Potter—got married on the racetrack on Valentine’s Day.

The two, dressed in cowboy getup and their championship belt buckles, met on the event in 2024 and raced in the couple’s division a year later. And they raced again this year in the couple’s division again.

This year’s course looked different, thanks to the lack of snow in the south valley. For one thing, the track ran south instead of north.

A skier grits her teeth as she snags a couple rings while hanging onto the horse.

Skiers raced on a 750-foot track of snow built from about 80 truckloads of snow trucked in from Friedman Memorial Airport and the snow dump south of Ketchum’s Serenade Lane.

Horses sporting names like Goose and Moose, Freight Train and Meatloaf, Thunderbolt and Cadillac raced on dirt next to the track of snow after race organizers determined the night before the races started that there wasn’t enough snow to run the horses on snow.

A couple horses who ended up on the snow were disqualified.

Snow or snow, the thrill was the same with thundering horses, riders trying to spear saucer-sized rings with their arms and skiers navigating jumps and foot-tall slalom poles.

The racetrack resembled a terrain park in some ways.

The winners:

WOMEN’S—Bree Winder riding Pea and pulling Cassandre Moore

SPORT—Elisha Burgener riding Snickers and pulling Bryson Threatt

OPEN—Harlee Manning riding Dolly and pulling Cam Fraser

Riders had to snag rings, as well.

JUNIOR (11-16 years of age)—Kinley Breaux riding Mercy and pulling Mallory Chaney

PEE WEE (5-10 years of age) Lydia Miller riding Maggie and pulling Henry Zondag

NOVICE—Brailey Newman riding Squirt and pulling McKinley Keener

COUPLES—Millie Berger riding Thunder Lips and pulling Jake Berger

SNOWBOARD—Caroline Potter riding Mustang Max and pulling Gunnar Morgan

CENTURY (riders and skiers with a combined age of 100-plus years)—Kelli Hyde riding Odis pulling Troy Houston