Snow problem? No problem! Lincoln volunteers make Skijor Lincoln happen

A s last weekend's

third annual Skijor

Lincoln approached, an unexpected lack of snow fueled rumors that the event would have to be cancelled.

However, the Lincoln Valley Chamber of Commerce was not willing to give up on the popular event, which has provided a mid-winter boost to Lincoln businesses since its inaugural year in 2017. Early last week, with snowfall levels still critically low, the Chamber acted to ensure the show would go on.

"I texted the board and said, 'it's too great of an event to let a little snow determine if it will happen or not,'" said LVCC President Laurie Richards.

With the board in agreement, Richards' husband Doug immediately began canvassing for equipment capable of moving the amount of snow necessary to build the track and jumps. Richards said Doug checked first with the State and County. However, regulations do not allow the use of State and County owned equipment for anything other than official use, so he brought the problem to the community.

The response of private citizens was swift and generous. Locals Jeff Jorgensen, Brent Anderson, Reece Hagen, Arny Brown, Jay Thompson, Chris Joyce, Jerry Mann and Bill Frisbee joined Doug to donate time, equipment or both to haul and spread the snow.

"I had two trucks on it one day, and they put in about seven hours each day," said Brown. Volunteers also made use of his skid-steer. "It was a community thing, I was happy to help," he said.

Landowner Bill Cyr, whose horse pasture west of town on Beaver Creek Road provided the location, also allowed organizers to fill irrigation ditches to ensure the safety of horses and riders.

"I went and hauled them a couple of loads of sand. They needed some fill, and I had the only dry dirt in town," Brown said.

"I didn't want to say no to this because this has been good for the community," said Cyr.

Leading up to the event, the Chamber also reached out to Skijor veteran Joe Scanlon, a competitor at the two previous races held at the Lincoln Rodeo grounds, to advise them in advance of the arrival of members of Skijoring America.

"I told him, 'we have to do what we have to do. We have no snow,'" she said. "I wanted him to come check the facility out and say is this good? Is this a safe place to have it, is it big enough, are we going to be able to put a track in here? There were so many things. We had to have someone that knew what they were doing."

"Joe did a good job, coming out there and trying to get stuff lined out," Cyr said.

"They hauled close to 150 loads – it was enough snow to make the track, plus extra snow to make the jumps," said Richards,

Although the LVCC Board was hoping for a figure-eight shaped track previously dubbed "the Lincoln Loop," organizers looked at the snow-hauling effort and chose to make do with the less complex "J-Hook" track.

On Friday morning, winter finally decided to make its presence known and snow began to fall in earnest. The snow that had already been moved in allowed Ponderosa Snow Warriors groomer operator Gordon Becker to finish the track, said Richards, but she added the subsequent snowfall helped make the venue more picturesque.

Despite uncooperative weather, changes to the track, cancellation rumors and a competing SkijorUSA race in Butte, the 3rd Annual Skijor Lincoln drew 75 teams to compete and saw just under 1000 people brave the snow and wind over the weekend to watch.

"I thought you know what, it is what it is. It's going to be a great event," Richards said. "It's a great thing for the community, and it's so fun."