Winter seems to be a busy time around here.... really ought to rethink the activities to coincide with better temperatures. Regardless, after a long day in Jackson Hole freezing with the Elk, we woke up early the next day and bundled up again. This time we headed into town to watch skijoring.
Skijoring is when you bundle up in multiple layers and carry big blankets and a hot beverage in a thermos so that you can sit on frozen metal bleachers near porta potties for roughly six hours and every 8 or 9 minutes face the race track in front of you and yell out 'Yay'. Then about once an hour the person you came to watch races and you put down the crocheting that is difficult to do in mittens and pay attention... in case he crashes.. or in case he beats the high score and could potentially win.
In between these events, you sip hot beverages, visit with other bleacher dwellers, watch your breath in front of your face in the single digit (Fahrenheit) weather and wonder if you'll see your children again because there is no way you're losing what little heat you've managed to find in your blanket cave.
The kids however arrive every hour or two with a free cup of cocoa in their hands and tell how hot they are and that they've made a great snow cave in the mountains of plowed snow.
Patrick however, opted not to wear anything extra. His coat and gloves over a t-shirt and a pair of jeans with long johns. He never complained of being cold. He did drink his share of hot cocoa though... and he didn't sit still. He kept walking up to the fence to get a better look at the races and then coming back up to check on me. Sometimes he wandered about and visited with people. (He said he saw the kids from time to time)
One of the boys friends had come from his tumbling class and forgot his snowpants... he borrowed Duncan's snowsuit... which is actually Miles snowsuit. (so about two feet too tall for him)
The boys were excited to play with cousins and watch a few races.
On the race track they would say that skijoring is a Norwegian sport where a skier is pulled behind either a horse, dog team or motorized vehicle on snow. It consists of some jumps, and grabbing strategically placed rings... and being the fastest to complete the course.
Oh, and not crashing... which did happen a few times.
Oh, and not falling off your horse.. or being bucked off... which did happen a few times.
Oh, and not letting go of the rope... which did happen a few times.
This year my great-niece, Paigee raced for the first time. She did the course in just over two minutes. For comparison... her dad, did the same course in 15 seconds. But she looked adorable in her tiara, feather boa and her Auntie Mardy even wore wings with her tiara... The horse also had a lovely unicorn horn. She smiled the whole two minutes.
Mardy rode multiple horses and pulled multiple skiers. She went past like a blur. I think her slowest time was only 17 seconds. One horse was named Hidalgo and the other Dollar. I'm not sure which was which. It was a long cold walk down to the horse area. Plus there was a horse that had bucked off his rider and was being very feisty still.
At the end of two long days of racing, (We only attended one day) Mardy and Neal placed 1st in one division and 2nd in another. Then at the end they run a jackpot race where horses and riders and skiers are all chosen at random. Mardy and her skier (Laura), won the jackpot.
There were medals for the kids, hefty belt buckles for the adult winners and a cash prize for the top three. Neal and Mardy were smiling all the way to the bank.... except.. that ....
...they were both limping.
Neal took a lot of 'air' on his final jump and landed and rolled. He took a good bruising but was up on his feet pretty quick.
Mardy's feet however.
Remember that feisty horse. It never really calmed down. Mardy was preparing for another ride and the horse was backing up and rearing and it landed a foot on top of Mardy's foot. It broke through her boot and cut her foot.
Mardy winced and then rode the winning race. Then.... they had to cut her boot off because of the swelling, plus it was ripped anyway. The top of the foot turned an ugly green and purple, and they closed up the cut. She's still shopping around for new boots, but can't try any on just yet.
FYI... Winter sports are best enjoyed every four years for a few weeks in February from the comfort of the living room when the Winter Olympics airs.
It's warmer, quieter, cleaner... has better snack access and you rarely know the people that get hurt.
