Wallace makes snowy plans for Extreme SkiJor

WALLACE — Every snowflake matters in the weeks leading up to SkiJor. On President’s Day weekend, downtown Wallace becomes the snowy epicenter as thousands of spectators gather to watch the competitors soar over the packed powder built up for ski jumps.

Though she usually plans on being a spectator and coordinating things behind the scenes at SkiJor, Siobahn Curet, president of Ski Wallace, said last year she got in on the fun and competed so there would be more women represented in the event. The joy from seeing the little girls in the audience powered her through and pushed her out of her comfort level.

She’s hoping the crowds will once again gather as 30-40 snowboarders and skiing aficionados chase their bliss on carefully sculpted snowy courses. This year, an '80s costume contest will also liven up the festivities.

“Our mission for Ski Wallace is to bring tourism to town because we know a lot of businesses struggle in the wintertime. It’s my favorite holiday even more than Halloween, which is probably why I suggested the costume contest,” Curet said.

The process of stockpiling enough snow is managed through an agreement with Ski Wallace and the city.

“The city has two piles that they don’t clear snow from the month leading up to the event and we have snow that has been stockpiled around town,” Curet said.

The event began as a way to cut loose with some casual competition, but now professionals come to the area to show what they can do. There’s $6,000 total in prize money up for grabs.

“Our course is on Cedar and it runs to the west from Seventh all the way down to Fifth streets. The main features are the jump and the rails at the intersection there at Cedar and Sixth streets,” Curet said.

The snow sports will have two different setups for different events. On Friday, the Rail Jam is a course with rails competitors of any age and any skill level can catch air while sliding on rails placed throughout the area.

“Competitors go up, strap into their gear and then they come down and they can hit the rails. We have a variety of rails for beginners, intermediate and advanced athletes so they can do tricks. It’s fun to watch,” Curet said.

The following day, the course changes again as the adult snowboarding and skiing get underway.

“On Saturday, we’ll rebuild the course entirely and that’s when we’ll have to make a big jump on Sixth and Cedar,” Curet said.

Bleachers are set up on Sixth Street on the south side in front of Blackboard Cafe and a sledding hill by Mountain West Bank on Sixth makes up a more relaxed part of the activities. On either side of the course on Sixth, family activities will be available to keep kids occupied between the action. 

Curet said that fundraising is still underway. A comedy show featuring Phillip Kopczynski is planned for Feb. 3 at the Wallace Elks Lodge, and an all-male revue was held Jan. 13, on what wound up being one of the coldest nights of the winter. Although the temperature was a deterrent, they still chipped away at their goal of raising $28,000.

“It’s definitely more expensive this year than it has been in the past. We may need to do additional fundraising after the event this year. We’ll be doing what we can to make sure that everything is paid for and we have at least a little in the bank,” Curet said.

Part of that price tag includes $6,000 to purchase new rails for the course.

Kopczynski’s amusing “life experiences and poorly thought out opinions” will entertain audiences at the Wallace Elks Lodge at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, at 419 Cedar St., Wallace. Tickets for the comedy act are available at https://skiwallace.com/comedy-show/.

If you go

SkiJor
Where: Downtown Wallace on Cedar Street
When:
Friday, February 16 – Rail Jam 7-10 p.m.
Saturday, February 17 – Qualifier 3:30-7 p.m.
Sunday, February 18 – Finals noon- 4 p.m.