VOA文化艺术2024--The Wild Winter Sport of Skijoring

The Wild Winter Sport of Skijoring

　　What do you get when you cross the sports of rodeo with skiing? An extreme winter sport called skijoring.

　　The competition involves riding horses that tow¹ skiers by rope over jumps and around barriers. At the same time, competitors try to lance round targets with a baton², a special stick for the purpose.

　　Skijoring is a winter sport that celebrates the combination³ of rodeo and ski culture in the U.S. Mountain West.

　　Horses — and sometimes dogs, snowmobiles and even cars — tow skiers by rope at speeds as high as 64 kilometers per hour. Skiers can go over jumps as high as 2.4 meters.

　　One of the most popular skijoring races in the country takes place in Leadville, Colorado. The event, called "The Granddaddy of 'em All," has been a tradition there since 1949.

　　"It's just the pure adrenaline that gets me to do it," said Nick Burri. He is one of the competitors and said teams get along with each other. "Getting these two different groups of people together with the riders and the skiers...we mesh⁴ pretty well."

　　Internet reports say skijoring takes its name from the Norwegian word skikjoring, which means "ski driving." It started as a way to get around in Scandinavia and became popular in Europe's Alps Mountains around 1900.

　　Today's sport is dangerous, and injuries are common among riders and skiers alike⁵. One of the first riders in the Leadville race earlier this month fell off his horse and had to be helped off the track.

　　Burri did well in the competition although he was skiing with a separated shoulder that he suffered in a fall during a race two weeks earlier.

　　Savannah McCarthy has been a competitive⁶ skijorer since she was 12 years old. She said she experiences a nervous energy before she rides her horse for a race. But once she is speeding down the course, her world goes silent.

　　"I don't hear a thing when I'm running," she said. "When it's happening, you really don't have time to think about anything." McCarthy is a 24-year-old financial worker from Durango, Colorado. She has won the Leadville race nine times.

　　Loren Zhimanskova is head of Skijor USA, which helps organize races across the country. She said skijoring is becoming more popular because of social media. She hopes it will one day be an event in the Winter Olympics. Skijoring is especially popular in Poland and Switzerland, as well as in the U.S. states of Colorado, Wyoming and Montana.

　　Five years ago, the sport had about 350 teams of riders, skiers, and horses in the U.S., she said. Now, about 1,000 teams are competing, and the number of races has increased from about 15 a year to more than 30.

　　But getting the sport into the Olympics has proven difficult.

　　There is no official governing body. It has no clear set of rules. And there is no system that would permit riders to take part in the Winter Games. In addition, every course is different, and every race has its own special traditions.

　　Zhimanskova is pushing to include skijoring as a non-competitive demonstration⁷ sport. She said it could also be included in the torch relay⁸ at the 2034 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

　　"Everyone loves snow...and then you add horses to that," Zhimanskova said. "I mean, all the elements that go into a skijoring event, in my opinion, are really feel-good elements," she added.

　　Words in This Story

　　rodeo — n. a sport in the American West that involves events such as horse riding, bull⁹ riding and roping events

　　tow — v. to pull something that is attached by a rope or a hitch¹⁰ to the puller

　　lance — n. to stick with a spear or long pointed¹¹ piece of equipment

　　adrenaline — n. a substance made by the body that causes excitement and strong emotions

　　mesh — v. to work well together

　　torch — n. a light that is held by hand

　　relay — n. a race or parade in which an object, especially a stick, is passed from one person taking part to another

1 tow   

n.拖，拉，牵引

参考例句：

• The broken-down car was taken in tow by a lorry.那辆坏了的车由一辆货车拖着。
• Mrs Hayes went to the supermarket with her four little children in tow.海斯太太带着她的4个小孩到超市去了。

2 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

3 combination   

n.组合，合并，联合；

参考例句：

• He carried on the business in combination with his friends.他与朋友们合伙做生意。
• The materials can be used singly or in combination.这些材料可以单独使用也可以混合用。

4 mesh   

n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络

参考例句：

• Their characters just don't mesh.他们的性格就是合不来。
• This is the net having half inch mesh.这是有半英寸网眼的网。

5 alike   

adj.同样的，相像的；adv.一样地；同程度地　

参考例句：

• The twins are so alike that I can't tell which is which.这对双胞胎一模一样，我分辨不出谁是谁。
• All stories seemed dreadfully alike,no matter who told them.看来，不管谁讲，故事都是千篇一律的。

6 competitive   

adj.竞争的，比赛的，好竞争的，有竞争力的

参考例句：

• Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。

7 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

8 relay   

n.接力赛，中继转播（设备）；vt.转述，转播

参考例句：

• They will relay your message.他们会转达你的口信。
• This metal tower is used to relay television signals to distant villages.这个金属塔是用于向遥远的村子转播电视讯号的。

9 bull   

n.公牛，买进证券投机图利者，看涨的人

参考例句：

• It's only a hair off a bull's back to them.这对他们来说，不过九牛一毛。
• Many dogs closed around the bull.很多狗渐渐地把那只牛围了起来。

10 hitch   

v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉

参考例句：

• They had an eighty-mile journey and decided to hitch hike.他们要走80英里的路程，最后决定搭便车。
• All the candidates are able to answer the questions without any hitch.所有报考者都能对答如流。

11 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。