Saratoga skijoring hits seven

"This is the first year we didn't have to haul any snow out to the event," Richard Raymer, one of the founding organizers for the Saratoga Skijoring Event. "In fact we had to move snow off the track, because we almost had too much if you can believe that."

Raymer said mother nature did indeed help the event out this year.

"I would call what we had this year was our biggest, best track to date," Raymer said. "We had some amazing features and the only real mishap was when Will (Faust) broke his leg. There were a few bumps and bruises, but besides Will, there were no injuries. We strive for safety first for our competitors. Will will tell you that."

Faust was injured in a race–he broke his leg in three places.

Faust is one of the four remaining founding organizers of the Saratoga Skijoring Event. 

Raymer knows Faust is doing well considering the circumstances.  

"Will is good," Raymer said. "He is probably not too far from being able to come home as we speak. He had surgery yesterday (February 6) and has some pins and rods holding things together. Then I guess in a few weeks they will evaluate whether they need to do anything else. But overall he is doing good."

Raymer said he talks to Faust often.

"One thing people should know is, they did not airlift him to Denver," Raymer said. "Actually when they finished taking care of him at the clinic, he came back out to the races for a bit. He might have been out of it a little, but Will wanted to collect a few things, get his kids and the next day they drove to Denver, which was Sunday."

Raymer said while Faust has been getting fixed up, the Faust kids are staying with the Raymer family.

"We are making sure everything is good for him on this end," Raymer said. "He just has to have some healing time." 

Raymer said although Faust got hurt, it did not detract from how well the event went.

"Overall, we had a great track, great weather, a lot of people and we had 100 races each day," Raymer said. "We had a 100 teams that entered, that also included juniors and novices."

A few years back the event had 150 teams and Raymer said it made running the races extremely hard on the volunteers. After that year, they capped the limit to the teams racing to a 100.

"A 100 teams is our target number," Raymer said. "It is a number that keeps everyone happy."

Raymer remembers when he, Faust, Keith and Sarah Brugger as founding organizers, started the event.

"Keith and Sarah were members of the Platte Valley Jaycees and they brought this idea to the Lions Club," Raymer recalled. "We took it and ran. Now we have a six member board that includes the four of us plus Levi Wolfe and Craig Kopasz. Amongst us we get the job done. Everyone has their specific duty as far as organization goes."

Raymer said it takes the entire board working together to make the event successful.

"Without all of us together, this thing would never work," Raymer said. "It is definitely a group effort to make this all come together."

Being its 7th year, the organization has things in place so when December and January roll around, the fundraising starts and getting volunteers geared up. The event is the same every year, the first full weekend in February, so Raymer said there are no surprises. 

"Because we are in our 7th year, we are almost on autopilot in some ways," Raymer said. "The volunteers help a lot with knowing what to do. This time around we had 30 to 40 volunteers making the event work."

As the Saratoga Skijoring races get more popular, Raymer said there are ideas for more spectator involvement.

"In the next couple of years, you are going to see some additions to the race," Raymer said. "What we will do, is keep it in the tradition of the Western spirit."Saratoga Skijoring is a sport that includes horses and cowboys because it is what is popular in the West according to Raymer. Skijoring has been around for years all over the world. It was in Leadville, Colorado 75 years ago, skijoring with horses and cowboys started. This Western type of skijoring usually consists of a team of a horse and two people: a rider for the horse, and a skier. A rider controls the horse, the person on skis carries no poles and holds a tow rope in a manner like water skiing. Open snow packed fields like Saratoga's and community streets are sometimes used as the event in Leadville. 

"Leadville is where it first happened the cowboy way," Raymer said. "Some cowboys started bragging about how fast their horses were with guys being pulled behind the horses."

From those early days in Leadville, the races have evolved to where the horses gallop down a track roughly 900 to 1,200 feet in length. Skiers must navigate jumps and gates. At some events, to add difficulty, the skier is also required to grab one or more rings as they ski past a station on the course. On a straight track, the horse runs down the middle of the course with the skier navigating the gates and jumps on either side of the track. There are some places which use a horseshoe shape. This allows the horse to run on the inside of the track and the ski jumps are set on the outside of the track for the skier. Jumps are two to seven feet in height.

Western Heritage style skijoring has definitely come some distance since the time those cowboys in Leadville were making bets on the fastest horse in town.

Raymer said he owes a big thank you to all those who supported the event this year.

"Spectators, competitors, volunteers or anyone who helped us, deserve a big thank you, because it would not work without this help," Raymer said. "Our main drive is to bring some people to town and help the economy. I think we succeeded in that with filling some rooms and restaurants downtown. It has always been our goal to help the town prosper with this event."

Raymer said there is pride when the event is over and has succeeded another year.

"Normally Will and I stand at the finish line every year when it is over and look down the track and take a deep breath, saying 'we got through another one of these'," Raymer said. "Although this year was a huge success, this is the first year he and I weren't at the finish line. But I can tell you next year, we will be there on that finish line doing what we always do. Being happy we put a lot of smiles on peoples' faces."