Preston Pride Hillclimb
January 25, 2010
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
The Preston Pride Hillclimb was held on Friday and Saturday, January 22nd and 23rd, just outside Preston, Idaho. 
This was the 18thyear of this hillclimb and this year was especially challenging. Organizers Shawn Atkinson and Bret Rasmussen did an outstanding job. The only thing that did not go off like clockwork was the weather. Most of the hillclimb took place in almost white out conditions. The blowing snow tripped the finish line lights so many times that Matt, at the top of the mountain, built a snow shield around them and solved the problem.
The entire RMSHA staff is to be commended on a job very well done.
But the harsh weather did not cool the hot racing action. Over 150 racers took on the mountain.
Past world champion, Amy Zollinger won all three women’s classes and took home a triple crown for Arctic Cat and the Zollinger Race Team. This is the second triple crown she has won and the only lady to ever accomplish this.
Vinnie Clark won the 1000 stock class and the Stock King title. He rides for Ski-Doo. Vinnie is a past world champion and comes from Valemount, BC, Canada.
Last years Stock King from the World Championship from Jackson went on to continue his winning streak. Tom Roby won Improved Stock King here at Preston. He also rides for Ski-Doo and hails from the Jackson, Wyoming area.
Mod King this year was a racer out of the Boise, Idaho area, Erin Beukelman. Erin rides for
Polaris and was the 2007 Jackson World Championship Improved Stock King.
The Preston Pride Hillclimb was filmed by BAM Film Productions for the TV show “Sledding The West”. It will be featured in their upcoming episode on sledding in Southeast Idaho. For airdates visit: www.sleddingthewest.com.
The next race on the RMSHA circuit is Bear Lake on February 5th and 6th. For a complete race schedule and more information on the Rocky Mountain Snowmobile Hillclimb Association, please visit: www.rmsha.com.
MWR Season Opener
January 20, 2010
Action Packed Racing From McCall, Idaho
The MWR season opener took place January 16th and 17th in McCall, Idaho. Colby Crapo took three class wins including Pro Open. Justin York won Semi-Pro Open and little Konnor May won the Champ Class on his 120. BAM Film Productions was there to film the races for the TV show “Sledding The West”. www.sleddingthewest.com
Here are the complete results:
CLASS: SCOTT – USA PRO OPEN
ENTRIES IN CLASS: 7
2 130 Willie Elam Buhl, ID CAT
3 625 Logan Halford Idaho Falls, ID DOO
4 432 Rylie Hogue Klamath Falls, OR POL
5 987 Stephen Edwards Lake Stevens, WA POL
6 163 Pat McLam Moscow, ID CAT
7 38 Tuffy McDonald Priest River, ID DOO
CLASS: WESTERN POWER SPORTS PRO SS
ENTRIES IN CLASS: 8
2 130 Willie Elam Buhl, ID CAT
3 625 Logan Halford Idaho Falls, ID DOO
4 987 Stephen Edwards Lake Stevens, WA POL
5 38 Tuffy McDonald Priest River, ID DOO
6 163 Pat McLam Moscow, ID CAT
7 432 Rylie Hogue Klamath Falls, OR POL
8 55x Rob Kirsch McCall, ID CAT
Western Racing Featured On Network TV
October 2, 2009
Powder Bustin' In Star Valley, Wyoming
A new show that promotes our great sport of snowmobiling hits the airways in November. “Sledding The West”. This show features the best sledding the west has to offer and each episode will have racing western style. And that’s the whole gamut of racing: Hillclimbs, Sno-X, Shoot Outs, vintage racing, kids racing and we are even looking at filming snowmobile barrel racing! Now that’s sled racing with a western flair. BAM Film Productions is going to take you all over the west to some of the most action packed and unique events there is.
The first episode features Star Valley, Wyoming and has the Afton Challenge Snowmobile Hillclimb. Episode Two (2) will go to Seeley Lake, Montana. Features great trails in the area to ride, lot’s of boondocking and powder bustin. Plus the action from the MWR Sno-X.
Hillclimb Racing Action At The Afton Challenge
Many experts will be joining us on the show to give tips and tricks on subjects like avalanche safety, clutch adjustment and riding technique.
The first network to schedule airtimes is Altitude Sports and Entertainment Network. They will premier the show on November 2nd, at 5:00 p.m. Check Altitudes web site for additional dates and times. www.altitudesports.com.Altitude covers The Rocky Mountain region. We will be receiving airtimes from another network in the near future that covers Washington and Oregon. The “Sledding The West” web site will have all the information from each of the shows and a complete list of airdates, as we receive them. www.sleddingthewest.com. So get ready to ride with the “locals”, in some of the best powder there is!
Rick Ward Laid To Rest
September 8, 2009
Photo by Meg Allen
The soft spoken and humble giant of the sled racing world was laid to rest Saturday. A thousand people crowded the LDS Chapel. People came from all over the United States and Canada to show support for his beautiful family and to say goodbye to one of the best men we will ever know. Polaris had special shirts made for their race team: In Memory Of 7x. Rick Ward accomplished so much in his 47 years. [Read more]
World Champion Killed At Age 47
September 1, 2009
9/01/09
Rick Ward
One of the greats of hillclimb racing has been killed today near his home in Sugar City, Idaho. Rick Ward, 18 time World Champion, was killed when a mini van hit him on his motorcycle. Rick was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center and was pronounced DOA. [Read more]
Pebble Creek Hillclimb is a Powder Challenge
April 6, 2009
The Pebble Creek Hillclimb held at the Ski Resort just outside Pocatello, Idaho was a powder filled challenge. So much so, the owners of the ski resort extended the skiing during the hillclimb. So, two great winter sports shared the mountain and everyone had a great time. The downhill skiers seemed to enjoy watching the powerful sleds take on the hill and I noticed many of the family member of the racers enjoying a day on skis. The wonderful sunshine was another plus.
David Sharp Jr.
The racing action was hot and Team Arctic turned it up all weekend. Out of the 18 class winners, 13 were from Team Arctic. All three of the Pro Kings of Pebble Creek rode for Arctic Cat.
Semi-Pro King: David Sharp Jr. was the one exception. David is the World Champion Semi-Pro of Jackson and rides for Ski-Doo. At 16, he is dominating this class.
Hard Work Key To Success For Team Tapio
March 31, 2009
Nels, Kyle & Russ Tapio
The Tapio Brothers are the most successful team on the RMSHA circuit. The team consists of: Nels the oldest, then Kyle and the youngest brother is Russ. The Tapio’s came to Jackson for the first time as spectators in 2005. That is when they decided to race. The first year Team Tapio raced at Jackson was 2006, and what a year that was. They seemed to come from nowhere and Kyle took the King Of Kings title. Kyle has gone on to win four King titles at the World Championship in the last four years. Three of those are King Of Kings Titles.
Kyle & Glen Gillis 2006
In 2007, Kyle even won the King of Kings on an improved stock sled. Older brother Nels has had class wins in every year and in 2007 had the fastest time on the hill. Youngest brother Russ had his first class win at Jackson and has taken 2ndplace a couple of times.
Friday Is A Great Day At The World Championship.
March 27, 2009
Mark Thompson
Qualifying was done in the Stock and Improved Stock classes. The racing started with the Pro Masters Stock Class. From the start of the day Mark Thompson was racing well. He was the top qualifier in this class and 600 Stock. Other top qualifiers included: Keith Curtis, Tony Ottobre, Tyler Crockett, Kyle Tapio, Tom Roby and Dolan Phelps. We will see all of them racing in the finals on Sunday. The finals were run today for the Non-Pro Masters, Juniors, Semi-Pros, and Women’s Classes. Norris Brown was the first racer over the top of Snow King today and won the Non-Pro Masters Class. The Juniors Class winner was Jay Mentaberry, from Alpine WY. Arctic Cat Racer Christy Frisby is the Women’s World Champion. The Semi-Pro Stock class winner was Landon Archibald, from Mendon,UT. Semi-Pro Improved winner was Patrick Trujillo and Semi-Pro Mod winner was David Sharp Jr.
David Sharp Jr.
At the end of the day, all three Semi-Pro class winners raced against each other for the Semi-Pro King title. The youngest semi-Pro racer won, David Sharp Jr.who is only 16 years old. David took on Snow King Mountain and went over the top with the fastest time. Our congratulations to David Jr. and his dad, David Sharp. As I heard someone say as David took off from the starting line: “We are watching the future of our sport”. And what a bright future it has…
Racing begins At Jackson!
March 26, 2009
Murray Archibald
Murray Archibald was the first racer up the hill in the Non-Pro Masters class. David Sharp Jr. had a great run and for the youngest racer in the Semi-Pro class he had the fastest qualifying time in Semi-Pro Improved Stock and Semi-Pro Stock (heat 2.)
David Sharp Jr.
David is only 16 years old and had a time of 48.729. Landon Archibald was the top qualifier in Semi-Pro Stock (heat 1) with a time of 49.044. Amy Zollinger was the top qualifier in the Women’s class, with a time of 57.553.
Misao Kikuchi
Jackson has an international flair this year with one of the top racers in Japan competing in 4 classes. Misao Kikuchi will be taking on Snow King Mountain tomorrow. He is sponsored by Starting Line Products. We wish him the best of luck. Check back tomorrow night for more, from Jackson.
All’s Quiet On The Jackson Front
March 25, 2009
The final preparations are being done at The Jackson Hole World Championship Hillclimb. The food tents are up and the banners are being hung at the starting line. Race trailers are rolling into the town. The snow is falling hard and should make the mountain quite challenging.
Racing begins tomorrow. The qualifying begins with the Non Pro Masters, followed by the Amateurs, Semi-Pro’s, Juniors and the ladies. It should be a great day of racing. Check back tomorrow night for qualifying results and photos.