The spirit of a true Montana sport is alive and well in Flathead Valley, but Old Man Winter is not.  

As temperatures soared to record highs Wednesday, the Whitefish Skijoring Association decided to cancel the 20th rendition of Whitefish Skijoring, which was to be held Feb. 14-15 in Kalispell.  

“We are heartbroken,” said Leah Mitchell, board member for the skijoring group. “The decision was not made lightly.”  

The group was prepared to work around the lack of snow, but determined it was impossible to safely build a course with the winter thaw. They considered hauling up to 150 truckloads of snow from Blacktail Mountain or possibly Big Mountain to make about 4,000 yards of snow, with Blacktail and other community members offering snowblowers.  

Changing the venue to Flathead County Fairgrounds was also considered.   

“We would absolutely invest the time and money to have done all that, if we thought the snow would hold up in the valley,” Mitchell said. 

According to the National Weather Service, the average temperature in Kalispell in January was 27 degrees, about 3.3 degrees above normal. Kalispell received 6.2 inches of snow, roughly 8 inches below normal.  

The first five days of February recorded an average of 38.1 degrees, 13.1 above normal.  

Putting a nail in the coffin, the forecast leading up to Feb. 14 shows temperatures regularly in the 40s.  

Whitefish Skijoring isn’t alone in the challenges of a lackluster winter. Mitchell said about half of the venues in the skijoring circuit across the West have been canceled. The races that are still on have relied on snowmaking equipment.  

IN THE 1960s, Norm Kurtz had the grand idea to challenge some of Big Mountain’s skiing legends and the Saddle Club’s best riders to all pony up on Central Avenue as part of Whitefish Winter Carnival festivities.  

“They were sitting in the bar drinking, and they said, ‘My horse is better than yours’ and ‘I can ski better than you can,’ and that’s how it started,” said Vernon Kiser, Whitefish Skijoring board member. 

Skijoring was later moved to the Saddle Club on Wisconsin Avenue, where Stumptown Ice Den is now, and held there up into the mid 1970s.  

In the early 2000s, Whitefish Skijoring was revived. In 2026, the nonprofit was eager to celebrate its 20th anniversary. 

Since its rebirth, Whitefish Skijoring has been cancelled two other times, once for the pandemic and once for venue challenges.  

Last year, the event was held in Kalispell for the first time, to great success, albeit a bit of mud.  

The venue on West Spring Creek is ideal because it is a rotating crop field, so it doesn’t matter if participants and spectators tear up the ground, as the fields need to be plowed and replanted each year.  

The sun was beating down onto the Kalispell field last Sunday.  

At the time, skijoring was still on and the stoke was high. A few inches of slush were holding up as participants gathered for a bit of fun. 

Kayla Seaman, born and raised in the Flathead Valley, has participated in skijoring races near and far since 2016. She has participated in rodeo events and the Event at Rebecca Farms. In 2017 she won the skijoring novice national title and in 2019 was named Miss Rodeo Montana.  

Seaman was practicing on skis this year, due to the age of her horses. 

“It’s unlike any other equine event I’ve done,” she said. “Because it’s not just you and your horse. It’s you, your horse and your skier. 

“Coming together, and coming up with a game plan, is so important. It’s not just game plan A, but B and C. Because you know plan A is never going to work out perfectly.”  

Seaman said you have to be able to move a horse forward, collect them and bring them back, and side path courses left and right, depending on where the gates and jumps are.  

“There’s a lot of horsemanship to it, and there’s a lot of skill for the skiers.”  

And if the gameplan does go perfectly?  

“You end up winning,” Seaman said with a grin. “There’s no better feeling of skiing or riding perfectly.” 

Skier Clairessa Barrow was looking to participate for the first time this year. She’s been skiing on Big Mountain for 10 years and said the adrenaline rush from skijoring is like no other.  

“You’re not going downhill. Gravity is not your friend,” she said. “It’s challenging to know the ground level, and you’ve got the horse kicking back snow.” 

Skier Katie Brust brings her own competitive edge to the sport, as an experienced alpine ski racer.  

“This is the most quintessential Montana community,” Brust said. “This rich history of horsemanship, combined with the skiing of the last century.”  

Brust said she placed well last year with her rider Nicole and horse, Chicken Nuggets. The prize, with each member of the team getting a check, was an unexpected bonus, she said.  

“That’s the coolest part, is that everyone contributes,” she said. 

Kiser said that they couldn’t do it without sponsors. All the entry fees plus additional prize money goes back to the racers in some way or another.  

He summed up the teamwork as, “three heartbeats.”  

And that’s something the board members all understand; heartbeats working together. 

Game plan A, B and C didn’t work out this year – but Whitefish Skijoring will look for support from the greater community to bring the event back for its true 20th anniversary, in another year.