Everything about Skijoring totally explained
Skijoring is a
winter dog- or
horse-powered sport popularized in
North America and derived from the
Scandinavian sport of
pulka. It involves a horse or from one to three dogs hitched directly to a human being on
skis.Skijoring can also take place behind a snowmobile or an all terrain carrier such as the
Bandvagn 206. In this case, several skiers or soldiers can be towed on the same rope. The rope is passed around the skiers skipoles and continues to the next person in line. Skiers then preferably hang on to their skipoles, supported by their arms. Straddling the rope, and "sitting" on the skipoles as shown on the "Skijoring in Norway" link is
not advisable, since this means you can't easily let go of the rope in case of a fall.
While skijoring behind a dog or horse, the person wears a wide waistband with a clip for attaching a lead, which is attached to the
harness worn by the dog. Special quick-release hitches or hooks are available, used so that the skijorer may unhook the dog's lead rapidly. The dog provides extra power to the skier, who uses either a classic cross-country technique, or the faster skate skiing technique. Unlike regular cross-country skiing, the skis are hot waxed from tip to tail, to avoid slowing the dog team down.
Any dog over the age of one year, and in general good health, can pull a skijorer. The classic northern breeds, such as
Siberian and Alaskan huskies, Malamutes, Inuit dogs, take to skijoring with glee. However, any pet dog is capable of enjoying this. Border collies, Golden Retrievers, Giant Schnauzers, Labs, and many cross-breeds are seen in harness.
The dogs are taught the classic mushing commands to start running (hike), turn (gee and haw), and stop. Training is best done on foot, before the person straps on their skis, to avoid being pulled into objects, like trees or half-frozen creeks.
Skijoring features in the
1998 film
Silver Wolf, starring
Michael Biehn and
Roy Scheider.
Skijoring was a
demonstration sport in the
1928 Winter Olympics.
Variations of skijoring include
snowboarding while hitched to a dog, and "grassjoring," skijoring on grassy fields rather than
snow. Also see the related sports of
bikejoring and
canicross.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Skijoring'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://skijoring.totallyexplained.com">Skijoring Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
