Team Montana Wins Skijoring Title Via Tiebreaker After Historic Three-Way Tie

North America's first professional skijoring championship ended in a result no one could have scripted: a three-way tie at the top, settled by tiebreaker, at a venue that wasn't even on the original schedule.

Team Montana claimed the inaugural PRO Skijor Frontier Tour championship at High Star Ranch in Kamas on March 1 after all three leading Pro Division teams finished the six-event season locked at 58 points apiece. The tiebreaker awarded the title to Team Montana, powered by the horse Elvis and the skier-rider duo of Colin Cook and Josh Abbott. As Snowbrains noted in its race report, the team "etched its name into the record books."

The Frontier Tour, presented by Mountain America Credit Union, spanned stops in Heber City, Bozeman, Logan, Boise and Driggs before arriving at its championship weekend. The finals were originally slated for the Utah State Fairpark in Salt Lake City, but warm, dry weather made snowmaking impossible at that elevation. PRO Skijor relocated the event to Kamas, which sits at 6,690 feet, more than 2,000 feet higher than Salt Lake City, offering the colder conditions necessary for a competition-grade snow base.

The logistics moved fast. "I reached out to the owner of High Star Ranch. And they said, 'We're game.' And in three weeks, we put this all together," said Lipstone, an organizer associated with the event. The gamble paid off: an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 spectators attended across the two-day event, according to the Park Record.

Winners across the five divisions, which also included Sport, Women's, Snowboard and All-Around, split a $75,000 prize pool. The All-Around division carries an unusual demand: competitors must be able to both ski and ride a horse, switching roles with their teammate between runs. But according to PRO Skijor co-founder Brian Gardner, the hardware that competitors coveted most wasn't the cash. The Park Record reported that Gardner pointed to the belt buckles, described as shiny and nearly the size of dinner platters, as the most sought-after prizes at the finals.

The course at High Star Ranch tested athletes through gates, rings collected at speed and a 4-foot jump that produced at least one spectacular crash. Ian Hoaglin, from Ogden, came to ski practice runs between finals competitions alongside lifelong friend Chase Vance of Park City. Hoaglin described his landing off the jump as a cartwheel. He was not among the finalists competing for prize money, but his experience captured the unpredictable physical demands the course places even on recreational participants.

Jackie Nadel offered a different kind of story. Since mid-January, Nadel had been traveling across Utah, Montana and Idaho following the Frontier Tour circuit, competing in the format that fuses equestrian and ski culture by towing a skier at racing speeds through a gated course.

The tour itself traces its roots to Heber City, where Skijoring Utah's 10th Anniversary Celebration served as the season opener and the event PRO Skijor describes as the one "that started it all." The series has since expanded that foundation into a structured professional circuit with standings, championship points and, now, a first-ever crowned champion.

Team registration, standings and event information are available at PROSkijor.com.