Wallace gearing up for wild winter fun
UPDATE: Announced on Dec. 26, both the Skijor and snowbike events have been rescheduled due to a lack of snow. The News-Press will report rescheduled dates when they are set.
WALLACE — If all goes according to plan, things are about to get extremely festive in Wallace — with an emphasis on the word extreme.
Wallace’s Winter Fest is once again set for this weekend and it will once again feature skijoring, but with a local twist.
Unlike the historic version of the sport where the rider is pulled by a horse, in Wallace you get on your skis or snowboard and are pulled by an ATV.
The event is just part of the motorized fun planned to go down on the Eastside of the Silver Valley.
If you head up the hill toward Mullan, you can take in the snowbike races and vintage snowmobile races.
Getting tourism in Wallace has never really been an issue during the summer months, but as soon as winter hits, the town goes pretty quiet.
For the tourism hub of the county, this wasn’t acceptable, which is why a group of Wallace residents got together last year to create the inaugural event.
Ski Wallace chairman Sheena Braulick and her crew have worked very hard to try and get the event to be even bigger than last year’s and they’re motivated by the impact a successful winter festival could have on the Wallace community.
“Winter has been a quiet time in Wallace and with so many businesses depending on tourist shopping, we wanted to help increase that through a fun event that locals and others would participate in, yet hopefully bring in outside visitors for financial inflow into the town,” Braulick said. “None of the nonprofit board members directly own a business that depends on tourism, yet we all benefit through bringing tourism to town with a fun event that brings outside money to town. People who visit Wallace love it’s unique charm and many people make plans to visit again or even move to the community, so the continued benefit the town receives from events like this are very impactful. With our mission being to preserve and maintain the historic character of Wallace, Idaho, and its surrounding scenic areas for the benefit and education of the public, we feel our Skijor event is filling that goal.” People can expect to see Cedar Street closed from Seventh Street to Fifth Street with a Skijor course made out of snow.
The street will be closed for the New Year’s Eve weekend to build the course and host the event including practice times available Sunday and Monday.
People will be able to cheer on racers at the qualifications round Sunday night and the championship round Monday night.
There are multiple divisions looking for teams (a skier and an ATV driver) and there are multiple prizes available for participants.
Additional rules and information at skiwallace.com, as well as their Facebook page. Be sure to check these pages for any changes in the events.
There will be an awards ceremony at Silver Corner Bar after the championship races Monday.
The snowbike races in Mullan begin at noon on Saturday. Skijoring in Wallace will run through Sunday and New Year’s Eve.