Shake off winter doldrums at Cabin Fever Days
The bar stool races are the top draw at the annual Cabin Fever Days in the Canyon communities of Hungry Horse, Martin City and Coram. (Hungry Horse News file)
Sick of winter? Don’t despair. The 41st annual Cabin Fever Days and world famous bar stool races are scheduled for Friday through Sunday, hosted by the Trapline Association.
The bar stool races are down Sugar Hill in Martin City each year. It takes 12 dump truck loads of snow each winter to build the course, organizer Ben Shafer said. The snow has to brought in because Sugar Hill is a county road and is plowed.
Of course, not every sled is a bar stool — many are contraptions that take months to build. Others are crafts that obviously took a few minutes. Fueled by liquid courage, the idea isn’t so much to win, but to get down the hill in one piece.
This year’s event will have a special button in memory of Lori Kaml. Kaml was a volunteer for the event for years. She died tragically when her Hungry Horse home caught fire last August.
In addition to the bar stool races, there are a host of other events on tap, including co-ed leg wrestling, a mountain man competition, snowshoe softball, a 9-ball tournament, an arm wrestling tournament, a dart tournament and a host of live bands at the bars in Hungry Horse, Martin City and Coram.
The bar stool races start 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday with finals at 3 p.m. on Sunday. Awards will be presented at 7 p.m. Sunday at Packers Roost. To register for the races or see the entire lineup of events, visit https://cabinfeverdays.com
A sled registration is $20. Buttons are $5 and are required for all events.
A shuttle service operated by Rocky Mountain Transportation run continuously from noon to 2 a.m. Saturday and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday; look for shuttle parking signs at Canyon area businesses.
New this year are a $3 Cabin Fever Days wrist band that will be required to ride the shuttle with any beverage. Additionally, beginning at 9 p.m. a wrist band will be required for all riders of the shuttle back and forth to events, which is a safe way to enjoy the festivities. Wrist bands are available for purchase at participating venues – you must be 21 and show ID to purchase.
The Trapline Association is a nonprofit organization that uses the proceeds from Cabin Fever Days to benefit the Martin City Volunteer Fire Department, Canyon Quick Response Unit and other community projects.