KIPLING — Barbecue enthusiasts are a tough, hardy bunch and they’re not going to let a little bit of rain stop them. Case in point, the second annual Smokey Skies BBQ Competition, which took place in Kipling on June 21.
“We got a good soaking on Saturday, then it rained pretty steady right until we were done,” said Mathew Bonville of Phantom Smoke & BBQ, organizer of the competition. “But the guys are used to it. They got setups that keep them dry. It happens, but it didn’t really affect anything. Everything still went on without a hitch.”
Of the 29 teams registered for the Kipling event, only two were not able to attend.
“Most of the teams came in Friday because they had to do their meat inspections on Saturday morning,” Bonville explained. “A lot of them came in from pretty far away—we had a bunch from out by Edmonton, we had a guy come out from South Dakota, we had a couple from North Dakota, some from Winnipeg area, so they all tried to come in a little bit early.”
This year’s event has grown from the first competition in 2024, which saw eight teams in attendance. The 2025 edition was also the only Kansas City BBQ Society-sanctioned event in the province. Being a four-meat event, Smokey Skies was a KCBS Master Class competition with not only a nice grand prize on the line, but the chance at an invitation to the American Royal held in Kansas City each year—essentially the World Series of BBQ.
“Barry Kreiser won it with Kreiser Barbecue, and because he won the overall, he won the grand champion; he’ll get an invite down to the World Series of BBQ called the American Royal,” Bonville explained. “He wins an invite to go compete against all the other grand champions of the year.”
Along with a trophy, the Kreiser Barbecue team of Didsbury, Alta., took home $1,500 for their big win.
The reserve grand championship ($1,000 prize) went to Big Smoak BBQ; first place brisket was Q Cartel; first place pork was Brisket Butts BBQ Team; first place pork ribs was Parrothead Smokers; and first place chicken was Kreiser Barbecue. Each first-place team in the individual categories also took home a $300 prize.
Hitting the top 10 in overall scoring from the event were Kreiser Barbecue with 697.7144; Bigg Smoak BBQ, 696; Homestead Smoke Shack claimed third with 695.440; Q Cartel followed with 695.4172; Parrothead Smokers was fifth at 690.8228; Smokin’ Outlaws followed at 690.2400; 333BBQ was next up with 687.4516; Owens BBQ placed eighth with 686.2172; Arrowhead North BBQ earned 684.5600; and Prairie Smoke & Spice BBQ rounded out the top 10 with 683.3944.
“We had such a great time in Kipling, despite the much-needed rain storms,” Keiser said. “My wife, Lana, usually cooks with me, but couldn’t make it, so her dad, Allen, stepped in. This was Kreiser Barbecue’s second GC but the first one that gets us an invite to the American Royal Invitational and an entry into a draw for ‘The Jack’ in Tennessee.”
With the warm welcome at the Smokey Skies event, Kreiser is looking forward to coming again next year.
“We will definitely be back next year,” he said. “The event was well organized and it is always great seeing our BBQ family. There is a lot of camaraderie amongst teams; it is an awesome community. Thanks to all the organizers that were involved!”
At press time, Bigg Smoak BBQ was leading the Master Series Team of the Year (Canada) results with 937 points, followed by Smellaque at 854, Q Cartel with 706, Kreiser Barbecue at 669, and Prairie Smoke & Spice BBQ rounding out the top five. Kipling’s own Phantom Smoke & BBQ was in 14th place with 289 points.
“We had seven or eight rookie teams, and a rookie team is classified as someone who hasn’t done five sanctioned competitions yet,” Bonville said. “We had one guy there, he went by the team name Grills Just Want to Have Fun, and I actually said, ‘here, use my trailer because it’s raining out’, and that’s all the help I gave him. You still got to use all your own stuff, still got to cook your cook. He got eighth in pork ribs.”
Incidentally, that rookie team is seated on the 51st on the Masters Series list with 82 points, and placed 19th in Kipling with 659.3596 points.
“We had another team out of Regina, they were going with No Big Deal (currently in 59th place with 70 points on the Masters Series; 22nd in Kipling at 650.2744), and this was their very first sanctioned KCBS competition, but the guy’s been a judge for a long time, and he got a second,” Bonville said. “There’s a video posted on all my social medias of the awards, and if you watch the awards, it didn’t matter if you were new or if you were a seasoned guy—everyone applauded. Everyone was excited for anyone to get any award, and that’s what it’s all about.”
With experience hosting two barbecue competitions under his belt, Bonville is already planning the third edition of the Smokey Skies BBQ event, which will also remain KCBS-sanctioned.
“This competition has put me in place where these are my dates and nobody will set up on those dates in Canada because we’re part of the circuit now,” he said. Feedback from the Kipling competition has been quite positive, further encouraging Bonville to continue Smokey Skies.
