BUTTE, Mont. – Butte’s free three-day winter festival, SNoFLINGA, wrapped up the final day of activities on Sunday.
Throughout the day there were Nordic Ski Races, skijoring, curling, and a Fat Bike Race.
This was the first year the festival hosted a skijoring event, which took place in a field next to the YMCA. Many competed in the event, which showcases a sport where a horse pulls a skier through a timed course of turns and jumps.
Megan Lamoreaux who moved with her family to Butte about a year ago had never seen skijoring in person, but she did do a little research beforehand.
“We have never watched this,” said Lamoreaux. “I saw a YouTube video but it looks really cool, it looks really fun, it just seems really fun.”
This was the event’s first time being part of SNoFLINGA and brought in competitors from all over the world and hundreds of local spectators. There were three different categories, each of which placed first through third. The total money awarded to winners totaled $10,000.
On the other side of the hill, people competed in the Fat Bike Race. Around 20 riders took the course behind Big Butte with bikes provided from Derailed Bike Shop and Bad Beaver Bikes. After the race was a bike demo to teach people about what the sport is about.
“You know I try to tell people,” said racer Bear Stillwagon. “You know, go get my fat bike. I just smile the whole time. It’s just fun, you just have fun and it is not the drag of training like sometimes the summer gets and I say I just get my bike and I smile. that is what fat biking is.”
Stillwagon, along with others, competed not only in the individual events but also to become SNoFLINGA royalty. Kevin Heglund was crowned as the king and Hanna Kluck as the queen.
