State Sport?

By Hal Walter

There’s movement ahoof to make pack-burro racing Colorado’s official summer sport. Many readers might be surprised to learn I’m not racing my ass to the capitol to support this effort, though I’m not entirely against it either. I just have mixed feelings.

Why? Well, let’s start with some basics as many people may not even know what pack-burro racing is, something that’s problematic for an activity that seeks official state-sanctioning.

In pack-burro racing humans and burros race together over long, high-altitude distances usually on rugged mountain courses. It’s a lot like a running race, only the human must complete the course with a burro. Also, the burro is required to carry a packsaddle weighing 33 pounds and the rig must contain a pick, pan and shovel to commemorate the mining history the sport celebrates. Riding is not allowed, though over the years I’ve begun to wonder why, since miners often rode burros and it would not offer competitors any sort of advantage but may attract more entrants.

But I digress. It’s a pack-burro race and the rules have been in place for 62 years. The sport originated here in Central Colorado in 1949 with a race from Leadville to Fairplay over 13,187-foot Mosquito Pass. Today three races in Fairplay, 28.6 miles in distance, Leadville, 19.3 miles, and Buena Vista, about 11 miles, make up the sport’s Triple Crown. The first two distances were remeasured this summer by racer Tom Sobal who wore a GPS up and down Mosquito Pass and finished third in both races.

I’ve been involved with pack-burro racing for nearly half of the sport’s existence and well more than half of my own. This summer I finished my 32nd consecutive race at Leadville’s Boom Days. I’ve had the good and unlikely fortune to win a few of these events over the years, including six World Championships at Fairplay, four victories at Leadville, and a couple wins at Buena Vista. I say unlikely because I’ve never considered myself to be the super athlete many pack-burro racers are, but have found success through determination, animal know-how and by simply showing up enough times.

Over the years I’ve been featured in newspaper and magazine articles about the sport. I’ve appeared in cable television coverage – the Outdoor Life Channel filmed the first World Championship I won in 1998. I wrote a book called “Wild Burro Tales” about some of my experiences in pack-burro racing. I even found myself “starring” (or so it says in the credits) in a documentary film called “Haulin’ Ass.” So I’ve had way more than what Andy Warhol might consider my fair share of recognition. Somehow, none of that really matters to me.

In recent summers my performances have been somewhat disappointing mainly due to burro issues. But I’ve stuck it out and am keeping my eye out for a new racing burro. I may be 51, but I’m still relatively well-preserved and the competitive spirit is still there as well.

As I understand it, the effort to make pack-burro racing Colorado’s official state sport originated with a letter-writing campaign by Fairplay schoolchildren some years ago. The effort more recently has been picked up by members of the Western Pack Burro Association, in particular Brad Wann, a racer and the group’s marketing chief. I am continually amazed with Brad’s efforts to educate the public and legitimize our sport. I can’t even imagine the amount of time and energy that he has put into these efforts and I have tremendous respect for his tenacity and work ethic.

So, why am I not jumping on the official state sport bandwagon? Well, for starters, I’ve become increasingly apolitical, and likely to not even vote in the next election as the exercise has become quite meaningless not to mention a waste of time and fuel. It only follows that I see little value in my sport having the blessings of politicians, and it’s an irony to me that pack-burro racing would seek the approval of officials who carry the burdens of corporations much better than they do those of the people who elected them. A more efficacious way to get state-sport status might be to get one of the top-ten non-taxpaying, subsidy-receiving corporations behind pack-burro racing, then get their sponsored representatives to vote on it.

Along these same lines, even if the notion of elected officials serving the public good were true, shouldn’t they be more concerned about things like funding education, repairing our degrading infrastructures and creating good jobs for middle class workers than wringing their hands over an official state sport?

But these are actually just minor issue I have with the state-sport effort. The real bottom line is that from my philosophical point of view pack-burro racing actually may be better as an obscure sport. For me it’s never been about media attention or the approval of others. This sport’s decidedly non-mainstream qualities are what makes it awesome in my book.

Pack-burro racing is already Colorado’s original adventure sport, regardless of whether politicos say yay or nay to some resolution. To that I say hee-haw! The enduring qualities of the burros, the backcountry, and the competitive nature of humans and animals are really the only endorsements I need to get my ass up the pass.

Hal Walter writes and edits from the Wet Mountains. You can keep up with him regularly at his blog:
www.hardscrabbletimes.com