When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When an intense winter storm gave Cody over a foot of snow, some residents decided to improvise and make the most of it.
Cody resident Cody Riser was going about his day when he saw something unusual – spontaneous skijoring. A vehicle was pulling someone on skis across the snow-covered roads via a rope attached to the back.
Riser posted his blacked-out photo on Facebook, which attracted both praise and enjoyment. Many people thought it was an excellent way to enjoy the snowstorm before the roads were cleared.
The Cody Police Department wasn’t aware of any skijoring in Cody, but they would advise against that kind of snow thrill.
“That is definitely something that's not recommended by the Cody Police Department,” said Lieutenant Juston Wead.
Dashing Through The Snow
Skijoring is a winter sport where a person is pulled by animals or vehicles. Equestrian and motorized skijoring have become competitive sports in many countries, and many Wyoming communities host skijoring events during the winter.
What Riser witnessed on the streets of Cody was amateur skijoring, at best. There was undoubtedly no sanctioned skijoring event during Monday’s snowstorm.
That’s why Riser covered the vehicle’s license plate and half of the car when he posted the photo.
“Just in case,” he wrote.
Skiing Against Ordinance
Wead said there were two city ordinances that the spontaneous skijoring would violate.
“One city ordinance is careless or heedless driving,” he said. “It’s unlawful for any person to drive a vehicle upon any street, alley, or highway of the city in a careless or heedless manner, disregarding the rights or safety of others, or without due caution or circumstances.”
Given that the vehicle was driving on an unplowed city street while technically dragging someone behind it, Wead said that could be considered careless driving and disregarding the safety of anyone else on the road. Granted, hardly anyone was driving through Cody on Monday.
The second ordinance is much more specific. Wead said Cody has an ordinance that prohibits “clinging to vehicles.”
“There is a specific state that says no person riding a bicycle, electronic bicycle, coaster, roller skates, or other toy vehicle shall attach it or itself to any vehicle upon any roadway,” he said. “Although it doesn't name specifically skis, it could be articulated that skis would be applicable in that particular circumstance.”
Wead said that, under these ordinances, spontaneous skijoring would be a misdemeanor violation. However, the Cody Police Department didn’t receive any calls about the incident, so there is nobody to cite.
“I'm not aware of any reports of that nature in our (computer-aided dispatch) system,” he said.
Education Over Citation
Based on the Facebook responses, nobody was concerned about spontaneous skijoring in Cody. Even Wead couldn’t help but laugh at the fact some residents decided that’s how they wanted to spend their snow day.
“That’s not something we encounter a lot,” he said.
Wead said the Cody Police Department gives its officers discretion when dealing with situations like spontaneous skijoring. He believes most would see it as an educational opportunity rather than an automatic citation.
“We’d probably identify the driver and the person being pulled by the vehicle and more than likely educate them on the law prohibiting that activity and the safety risk it presents,” he said. “I’d probably give a warning and send them on their way, and if it happened again or they continued, then it would potentially be elevated to a citation.”
Still, there’s something inherently amusing about someone deciding to take someone skijoring on the snow-covered streets of Cody. The opportunity presented itself, and they safely enjoyed themselves.
“Again, I can’t say it’s something we encounter a lot in Cody,” Wead said.
Skijoring School
Richard Raymer, one of the organizers of Saratoga Skijoring, said they use horses rather than vehicles for their annual skijoring events. Nevertheless, the people on the skis need to know how to handle themselves safely.
“The biggest safety concern is not getting wrapped up in the rope,” he said. “If you fall and get that rope wrapped around you, you could go for a ride that you don't necessarily want to be on.”
Skijoring horses are typically moving around 30 mph. There’s no way of knowing how much horsepower was being used in Cody, but even a slow speed requires focus and awareness.
“I’m not a skier, but I’ve been told hooking on behind the horse is not even comparable to running behind like an ATV or a snowmobile,” Raymer said. “It's just a different feel. The instant speed is substantially different. But if you're going to ski behind anything, you need to practice.”
The spontaneous skijoring in Cody resulted in no injuries or citations, so it was all good fun on a snowy day. Nevertheless, Raymer, Wead, and the Cody Police Department would caution against anyone wanting to try it themselves during the next snowstorm.
“Safety is our top priority, and there are ordinances against that sort of thing,” Wead said. “That’s our official and education stance.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
