The Calgary Stampede – which takes place every July in the Canadian prairies – is among the most storied events in rodeo: a 10-day competition with millions in prize money up for grabs and a history stretching back more than a century. It’s also a huge party, which transforms the otherwise mild-mannered city of Calgary, Alberta, into a giant, debauched hoedown. I checked out the Stampede – and its unique version of cowboy culture – for Canadian Geographic Travel magazine.
Meet Me at the Rodeo
Story and photography by Remy Scalza for Canadian Geographic Travel
The men’s dressing room below the grandstand at the Calgary Stampede feels a little like a hospital waiting room, but not as clean. It’s a Thursday afternoon in July, toward the end of the 10-day rodeo competition, and cowboys wrapped in elastic bandages and ice packs are splayed out on a set of couches, grinding mud into the fabric and trading stories. Strewn across the carpet is a mess of well scuffed boots, spurs and chaps, frayed reins, blue jeans in various states of disrepair: the telltale detritus of a rodeo.
On one couch, Tyler Thomson, in a bright purple button-up shirt with Wrangler written across the back, is running through his hit-list for me: “Plenty of bumps, bruises, stitches, a broken thumb. But my knees, I guess you could say, have been my Kryptonite.” Thomson, 31 years old and from one of the most storied families of Calgary rodeo, has blue eyes, a million-dollar smile and one Canadian Professional Rodeo Association championship under his belt. “I think I’ve torn every ligament out of my right knee,” he says, “and I tore the ACL out of my left knee. Kept me out a year and a half. But nothing too serious, knock on wood.” In an hour or so, for the third day in a row, Thomson will mount a nearly one-tonne bull and try to stay on for eight seconds.
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