“it’s the craziest thing i’ve ever done.”
MERV COLEMAN
Red Lodge’s races aren’t sanctioned by the national as- sociation, mostly, Stevens said, because Red Lodge wanted to continue doing things its own way rather than stan- dardizing its races. The lack of sanction doesn’t take away from the prestige—or the fun—of winning a title there, she added.
Like Stevens, Kiser has done his fair share of ski joring in his day. Nowadays, he’s a rider rather than a skier, but the adrenaline rush he gets is just as intense, he said. “It’s crazy,” Kiser said. “It’s the craziest thing I have ever done. It actually scares me more.” As for Stevens, well, she won’t say she won’t try her skill again. “I had a moment of madness last year and briefly came out of retirement,” she said. “We’ll see what this year brings. I’ve been hooked on ski joring since the first time I tried it. But I’m not unique. I know a lot of people bitten by the same bug.”
Complete schedules of ski joring events in Red Lodge and Whitefish can be
found on the Web. Red Lodge National Ski Joring Finals: http://www.redlodge. com/ski-joring/. Whitefish Ski Joring: http://whitefishskijoring.com/index.htm.
Dave Richardson is a freelance writer and aspiring ski bum recovering from a fairly long and almost distinguished career as a daily newspaper journalist. He currently lives atop an old, somewhat tall building in Downtown Bozeman with his insane cat, Matisse.
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DISTINCTLY MONTANA • WINTER 2011
