Photo by Eric Flores Blake Shelton fans had a great time as the No. 1 singer on the country western charts gave a concert in Ski Hi Arena for the opening of the Ski Hi Stampede that will long be remembered.

Blake Shelton and best of

rodeo pack grandstand



By LLOYD ENGEN

MONTE VISTA — As Jerry Reed sang in that old country western novelty hit song, “When you’re hot, you’re hot!”

Last weekend’s Ski Hi Stampede, the 87th for this highly acclaimed rodeo, was indeed hot! The Stampede had something special for everyone, and accomplished that remarkable feat by featuring the best that rodeo has to offer.

Where else could one find in a small southern Colorado community the current top country western singer on the charts (Blake Shelton), the reigning PRCA Announcer of the Year (Boyd Polhamus), the reigning PRCA Special Act of the Year and Barrelman of the Year (Troy “The Wild Child” Lerwill), and cowboys coming to town from all over the country to compete on the fiercely challenging horses and bulls of the 4-time reigning PRCA Stock Contractor of the Year (Stace Smith Rodeo Co.)?

It was a rodeo package made in heaven, and certainly did not come about by accident. The Ski Hi Stampede Committee has worked long and hard for years to keep the Ski Hi Stampede in Monte Vista right up there as one of the main rodeo attractions in the entire state.

And the Committee has met with success for their efforts year after year, so it was only fitting that this year everything would come together so that they certainly now have earned the right to be a little extra proud of what has been accomplished — bragging rights, so to speak.

With all sorts of other activities, parades, the carnival, dinners and cowboy dances going on throughout this celebration of the sport of rodeo, the Stampede, itself, got jump-started last Thursday night when Shelton took center stage in Ski-Hi Arena and gave a concert that has people still talking.

Shelton, a featured attraction at this year’s Cheyenne Frontier Days, told the audience of more than 3,100 that his Nashville recording company had told him not to go to a small town like Monte Vista, especially on a Thursday night. So he decided to go to Monte Vista and find out for himself what all that Nashville fuss was about.

The result of that decision by Shelton was a terrific concert in which he gave it everything he had, enthralling the audience with his music and his energy, bonding with his fans by walking on a runway right out into their midst for close contact, while cell phone cameras flashed throughout the arena, and then even defying a fairly heavy rain that began to fall, singing right through it and earnestly showing that he was enjoying every minute of it.

Stampede concerts generally last a little over an hour, but Shelton kept right on going, performing in rain for more than half an hour longer than expected. And the fans stayed right there in the rain with him, loving every minute.

It was a great way to set the stage for the rest of the rodeo. A large “family night” audience filled the stands on Friday night which also saw some rain fall, and the grandstand was packed from end to end for Saturday afternoon’s rodeo and the PRCA “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” fight against breast cancer promotion that is used locally by the Stampede Committee to support the Stephanie L. Miner Imaging Center at San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center in Alamosa.

It’s unlikely that one will witness a more moving patriotic opening ceremony than the ones presented by the Ski Hi Stampede, with Polhamus providing the eloquent words that trigger emotions that accompany the visual patriotic moments inside the arena.

Polhamus didn’t have to encourage the audience any as far as the arena action on Saturday afternoon — they were already prepared, cheering loudly from the first bull rider to the last contestant in the second and concluding round of bull riding, as well as cheering for every contestant in between.

So, from the opening release of pink balloons into the air by members of SLV Regional Medical Center in memory of those who fought valiantly before succumbing to cancer, the 87th Stampede once again flowed along with another of the most remarkably well-organized and well-run rodeos that one is apt to run across.

Needless to say, the Stace Smith Rodeo Co. bulls were “rank.” The hump-backed behemoths with such endearing names as Steel Curtain, Thunder Road, Buzz Saw, Dick Dastardly, Scorpion, Savage, Black Mamba, Silent Assassin and Razorback easily lived up to such monikers.

But they were up against some great professional bull riders, with Stormy Wing (a pretty fair moniker of his own) of Dalhart, Texas, taking the lead Friday night with an 85-point ride on a bull named Cat Fish. Cody Samora of Big Springs, Texas, closed in with 79 points on Buzz Saw Saturday afternoon, and by the final round of the day, the bull riders were downright tough.

Matt Clemons of Okeechobee, Fla., scored 72 points on Crimson Tide, Jay Morrow of Wayland, Iowa, hit 75 points on Sliver, Josh Cole scored 81 points on Suicide Jockey, and Steve O’Keeley of Circumcision, La., (yeah, that’s the town’s name alright), picked up 77 points on Cajun.

However, Tate Stratton of Stanley, NM, topped them all, scoring 86 points on Razorback. Stratton came into the rodeo as the winner at the National Western Stock Show in Denver and as a Collegiate National Champion.

Rodeos and high-spirited, extremely athletic bucking broncs always have gone hand in hand. They provided a good deal of the excitement at the Stampede in very close competition. Friday night’s leader, Cheyenne Seymour of Buffalo, Wyo., saw his 78-point bareback ride on Broken Spoke challenged by a 77-point effort by Monte Vawter of Peyton, Colo., the next day, and then topped when Jared Green of Socorro, NM, scored 79 points on a Paint named South Point.

In the saddle bronc riding, the oldest of rodeo competitions, Colt Hamaker of Centennial, Wyo., took the lead Friday with 76 points on a horse with the misnomer of Range Sheep. But Hamaker was pursued vigorously on Saturday, starting with a 63-point ride on Appalachian by Colin Stalley of Riverton, Wyo.

Blaze Hamaker then tried to keep the prize money in the family, scoring 69 points on Knot Head as he withstood a tremendous surge by the horse as it came out of the chute from a sitting position and flew through the air. Jess Jolly of Agate, Colo., tied for the lead with 76 points on House Arrest, and San Spreadborough of Snyder, Texas, followed by taking the lead away, scoring 80 points on a horse aptly named ProRodeo Sport.

But riding horses also means roping, and there were numerous contestants from Colorado to Arkansas and Louisiana ready to go after the money in Monte Vista. Two Colorado team ropers, Travis Bounds of Clifton and Cole Cooper of Montrose, took a swift lead Friday night with a time of 6.3 seconds, leaving quite a challenge for the others. The closest a team could come on Saturday was 7.9 seconds recorded by a pair of New Mexico cowboys, Beau Lamb of Portales and Tim Lamb of Fort Sumner.

In Saturday’s San Luis Valley amateur team roping, Grant Koenig was the accurate header and Albert Claunch was an incredible heeler, swinging that big loop in his left-handed style and catching the hind legs to stretch the animal out in 8.2 seconds.

Bulldogging, on the other hand, is not an event for just any cowboy. Steeled will, horsemanship, and the strength of Samson are required to do well when it comes to dismounting one’s horse on a gallop and wrestling a 600-lb. steer to the turf.

Rhett Kennedy of Chowchilla, Calif., did it in just 4.4 seconds on Friday night, and while there were a number of close calls on Saturday, no one could take that lead away.

Chad Van Campen of Granada, Colo., came the closest at 4.7 seconds, followed by Reagon Walker of Ennis, Texas, in 5.3 seconds, and Jesse Jolly of Agate in 5.5 seconds. Shawn Mills of Greeley actually took the lead for the briefest of moments with a time of 4.2 seconds, but Polhamus then gave the crowd the bad news — Mills had broken the barrier, adding 10 seconds to his time.

Saturday also saw a new leader emerge in the very competitive professional barrel racing as the first rider out of the gate, Renee Morgan of Avondale, Colo., raced her horse around the pattern in 17.12 seconds. In a field of such famous barrel racers as Kelly Yates of Pueblo who finished in 18.12 seconds, the closest rider to Morgan was Diann Bukowski of Falcon, Colo., with a time of 17.48. Caren Lamb of Fort Sumner, NM, had Saturday’s third fastest run of 17.81 seconds.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Norris ran the fastest pattern on Saturday in the SLV amateur barrel racing, finishing in 18.94 seconds, with young Arika Condon of Monte Vista close behind at 19.08, followed by Stevie Hostetter at 19.17 and Katie Hostetter at 19.61.

Saturday’s mutton busting saw the first rider out of the chute get the prize. Eli Sparrow Hawk clung to his athletic sheep like glue until it finally ran right into the fence, knocking him loose. He received a trophy for his 91-point ride, and was followed by Clay Canty at 86, Tyina Pacheco at 85, Tristan Harrelson at 82, Wyatt Hanson at 82, Kacee Mortensen at 81, Tiana Mortensen at 78, Victoria Ford at 78 and Nathan Velasquez at 73.

The rest of the rodeo revolved around the fine chemistry between Polhamus and “The Wild Child” Troy Lerwill.

The audiences over the years have heard some of these jokes before, but one can’t help but laugh again listening to the banter between the two professionals. Such as the name of Polhamus’ horse — Rolex. “My wife wanted a Rolex for her birthday, so I gave her this horse,” Polhamus explained to Lerwill’s inquiry.

Or Lerwill explaining how tough it is to go shopping with his wife these days. Lerwill saw a 24-pack of Coors going for $10 so he put it in the shopping cart and his wife quickly told him, “Put it back. Money is tight and there are more important things we need.”

But, Lerwill noted, his wife then picked up a tiny little container of beauty cream that cost a fortune and put it in the cart. “Put it back,” Lerwill told her. “Money is tight and there are more important things we need.”

Lerwill’s wife explained that she really, really needed that beauty cream so she could look beautiful to him.

To which Lerwill mumbled to himself, “24 cans of Coors will do that.”

It all was part of the fun that a great rodeo provides.

And the Ski Hi Stampede, once again, was a truly great rodeo!