{"id":13070,"date":"2020-02-19T10:00:29","date_gmt":"2020-02-19T17:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=13070"},"modified":"2020-02-19T10:00:29","modified_gmt":"2020-02-19T17:00:29","slug":"local-skijoring-event-meets-with-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2020\/02\/19\/local-skijoring-event-meets-with-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Skijoring Event Meets With Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bellevue event hosts 75 teams, 1,000 fans<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Eric Valentine<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Devon (l) and Gracie (r) Peterson prepare Super Dave for a skijoring run Feb. 16, south of Bellevue. Photo credit: Jennifer Liebrum-Peterson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Devon Peterson on horse Super Dave pulling skier Josh Blackburn. For a story see page 5. Photo credit: Casey McGehee (hayseedphotography.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T<\/span>he \u201cperfect storm\u201d of good local weather, other regional event cancellations due to bad weather, and a heart-wrenching comeback performance by a 16-year-old cancer survivor made the most recent skijoring event the best one yet, organizers and community members said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been involved with this since 2012 and the most we\u2019ve ever seen turn out is around 500 people,\u201d said Michelle Bobbitt, secretary\/treasurer for the WRESJA\u2014Wood River Extreme Ski Joring Association. \u201cOn Saturday alone we had over 600. We sold out of food and beer. All we had left were potato chips.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Bobbitt said upwards of 1,000 people came out last weekend to 81 Browning Lane in Bellevue to witness 75 teams of paired-up horse riders and skiers take part in a niche competitive winter sporting event that may be regaining popularity in some parts. Skijoring originated in Scandanavian countries and is derived from a Norwegian word meaning \u201cski driving.\u201d It involves one person on skis who is pulled by a horse and rider, a dog (or dogs) or a motor vehicle. The duo is timed for how long it takes them to get through a slalom or other obstacle course, and they are penalized if they miss a particular obstacle.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Organizers<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

As niche a sport as it is, skijoring is nothing new here. In fact, Bobbitt explains, the Valley began holding competitions nearly 20 years ago and even used to hold two events per year at one point. Just prior to that, the North American Ski Joring Association was formed. The first international sanctioned race wasn\u2019t held until 2006 at St-Donat Airport, Canada. <\/span><\/p>\n

In recent years, some new life was breathed back into the WRESJA, which now hosts one of eight competitions that lead up to the national finals March 14\u201315 at Red Lodge, Mont. The group has a formal board of directors and a healthy volunteer and sponsorship program, too. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMore volunteers, more effective marketing, it all helped us pull off a great event this year, but the weather helped, too,\u201d Bobbitt said, referring to not only temperate conditions last weekend here but the fact that two regional events elsewhere got cancelled due to bad weather in January. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI met people from Colorado who came out here after their other event got cancelled,\u201d Bobbitt said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Comeback Kid<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps one of the biggest winners last weekend was someone who placed 12th and 14th against seasoned circuit professionals in her two events. And according to people at the event, her performance garnered a stunned crowd reaction.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sixteen-year-old Devon Peterson, after finally getting clearance from her doctors, rode her horse Super Dave and pulled skiers Josh Blackburn and Hunter Storey to successful runs after a nearly four-year battle against leukemia. Peterson underwent a bone marrow transplant in 2017 and had the subsequent compromised immune system that comes along with that serious procedure. <\/span><\/p>\n

At her doctors\u2019 orders, Peterson had to stay away\u2014at least at times\u2014from dogs, horses, and even school, since not all students are vaccinated. This year was her first chance since her pee-wee competition days that she could fully engage. She competed as one of two local riders in the pro division on a horse her dad, Tyler, won on in Hailey in 2008 and in Jackson Hole in 2015. In 2016, when Devon was in treatment, her dad and Super Dave had the fastest time, but didn\u2019t win for errors. Devon picked up where her dad left off. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was super-excited but super-nervous, too,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cIt felt great just being a normal kid again.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bellevue event hosts 75 teams, 1,000 fans By Eric Valentine The \u201cperfect storm\u201d of good local weather, other regional event cancellations due to bad weather, and a heart-wrenching comeback performance by a 16-year-old cancer survivor made the most recent skijoring event the best one yet, organizers and community members said. \u201cI\u2019ve been involved with this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13075,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,72,18,36],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13070","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bellevue","8":"category-community","9":"category-news","10":"category-slider"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}