OUT WEST

COWBOY CURLING

ON MARCH 12-13, 2022, THE CROWSNEST PASS IN ALBERTA

brought their infamous Pole & Spur Skijoring event to life again. In all of its winter splendour, the Pole & Spur saw 35 teams enter and more than 1,000 attendees. That amounted to +400 burgers, +250 pizza cones and over 1,250 drinks served at the event. The crowd came mostly from the province of Alberta, with some folks travelling in from British Columbia to take in the scene. The Pole & Spur committee relayed that is was their biggest skijoring event to date and were happy to report that Mother Nature cooperated nicely, allowing for great snow conditions.

In Division A – Super Fast (first), Chance Bohmer and Sam Edge were the champions, earning $972 in the process. Damn Fast (second) saw Kurt Devlin and Jamie Philip winning $583 and in third were Jesse Romo and Jean Louis Frank, earning $309.

In Division B – Darn Fast, Fiona Francis and Adam Bondi, $648. Fast Enough: Kenny Miller and Kamilia Grabinski, $389. And in third were Hannah McMeiken and Colin Champagne, $259.

In the Novice Division – Just Enough, Alan Dixon and Jacob Fraser, $200. And in second were Alma Ladouceur and Trevor Baxter, $150.

This year, the committee also added an unexpected twist to their snowy shenanigans. Held at the end of the skijoring competition was an event labelled “Cowboy Curling,” which was the brain child of Kananaskis Rodeo Association President, Joe Trotz. Horses and riders pulled sliders on rubber inner tubes and tried to strategically slide their human curling rocks towards the target. Sliders could be bounced out of formation (or off their tubes entirely), depending on the strategy of the horses/riders and how the slider handled their tow rope. The ultimate mashup of rednecks, horses and ski bums event was a hit and may become a regular occurrence in the future. ~ By Jenn Webster