Nowhere else in the country can you see horses drag-race down a quarter-mile snow-packed track.

That’s what makes the Jackson Hole Shrine Club’s annual cutter races special, club president Rod Everett said.

Other races in the West are now held on dirt.

“Ours are the only cutter races in North America still held on a snow-packed, groomed track,” Everett said. “It is a thrilling event to watch with the snow flying.”

Gates open for the 43rd annual races at 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday at the track in Melody Ranch, 4 miles south of Jackson. Races will start at 12:30 p.m. each day.

Admission costs $15 for adults and is free for children younger than 12.

Those who want to avoid the hassle of driving and parking can ride START buses that will leave Town Square every half hour starting at noon and pick up at Albertsons five minutes later on the way south.

Twenty-eight teams are registered so far, Everett said. Conservatively, that’s more than a million dollars’ worth of horseflesh, since each thoroughbred is worth at least $20,000. Each team’s owner outfits the steeds in bright colors on headgear, leg wraps, mane and tail ribbons.

Believed to be the sport that began the ancient Olympic games, chariot racing has been going on in Jackson for more than 70 years as a way to while away time during long winters, Everett said.

“It’s one of those things that makes Jackson the last and best of the Old West, ’cause nobody else has this event anywhere,” he said.

Between races, Shriners take bids on each team in Calcutta-style betting that can go into the hundreds of dollars per race. A percentage of each bet goes to the Shrine Club, which, along with gate proceeds, is routed to the club’s biggest charity: Shriners Hospital for Children in Salt Lake City.

The club donated more than $30,000 in 2013 and more than $600,000 in its history. In 2011 the national Shriners organization recognized Jackson as the smallest club in the country to donate more than half a million dollars to a shrine hospital. The club has only 25 or so members, about 15 active.

This weekend cutter race fans can meet one of the children the Shriners Hospital has helped. Hunter Woodhall, born with a genetic condition that required amputation of both feet, is now a competitive teen athlete in Syracuse, Utah. In addition to providing Hunter’s surgeries, the hospital has supplied Hunter with prosthetics for everyday and for athletics.

Another special guest this weekend is the president of Shrine Club International, John Cinotto. He has visited the Jackson races three out of the last four years, Everett said, and he rescheduled the Shrine Club’s Northwest regional meeting from its usual Presidents Day weekend date in hopes that the Shriners from that area would come to the Jackson Hole cutter races.

Two film crews are coming this weekend, Everett said, one with plans to make a human-interest documentary and another to film the event for the Jackson Hole Travel and Tourism Board’s promotional videos with Orbitz.com.

Advertising money from the travel and tourism board has helped increase out-of-town attendance by more than 30 percent, Everett said. Some skiers are now scheduling their vacations around the cutter races. The Shriners hope for up to 4,000 people over the weekend.

“You’re not going to get something like this at any other ski area,” Everett said.

Beer will be sold at the track, and members of Elks Lodge No. 1713 will be selling food, including chili, hot dogs, sloppy joes, sliced beef, hot chocolate and coffee — plenty of “fine dining at the track,” Everett said.

On Feb. 22 and 23, the quarter-mile track will be altered slightly to include jumps and will host the Shriners’ second annual skijoring competition, which drew 1,000 spectators in 2013.

“Given that was our first one out the chute, I thought that was really impressive,” Everett said of attendance.

If about 50 horses show up, the purse for the fastest skier through the course could top $12,000, he said.

“Local skiers who think they’re hotshots and want to dangle on the end of a 30-foot rope go through a slalom course and hit the jumps,” Everett said. “They can win some pretty good money.”

This article was published in the Jackson Hole News & Guide on February 12, 2014.