Snow February 2015

20th Anniversary Season!

February 2015

Togwotee Adventures offers ideal way to see Jackson Hole in winter: Snowmobiling!

Reno -Lake Tahoe Area Offers Great Snowmobile Opportunities Grand County Colorado Has Snowmobiling Adventures for Everyone

Sioux-Hudson via Lac Seul to Ear Falls and Red Lake.

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Hudson-Sioux Lookout, Dryden, Red Lake Snowarama

Reno -Lake Tahoe Area Offers Great Snowmobile Opportunities

BY SCOTT A. SUMNER

NW Ontario Snowmobile News When you think of the Reno- Lake Tahoe Nevada area , I am sure many of you think of casinos, the desert and maybe some great skiing. It was my pleasure to experience something a little less known in the area- snowmobiling!

Yes. this area has some spectacular riding opportunities as I was to find out first hand over the next four days.

Reno is quite easy to access by air using airlines like Air Canada as I did with a flight through Winnipeg, Denver and then Reno.

From our midwestern city you could also fly Delta through Minneapolis and be in Reno by early afternoon.

My host for this adventure was to Chris Crystal, Media Relations Manager for the Nevada Commission on Tourism.

Nevada has a population of 2.8 million people most of whom live in Las Vegas.

In the Reno and Tahoe area there are about 500,000 people. About 2/3 of Lake Tahoe is in California and 1/3 in Nevada.

“We promote the entire state of Nevada world wide. All of the casinos are on the Nevada side while the California side has nice hotels without gaming. Reno has some 20,000 hotel rooms for conventions and the business traveler. Gaming used to be the driving force but this is no longer true. People come here for many reasons in addition to gambling. They definitely come to have fun. In Reno there is fine dining, good shopping, entertainment and new state of the art spas."

A unique dining experience was Basque dining created by immigrants from the Basque area of France and Spain who came to the area in 1900 to herd sheep and make a better living here than in their homeland. Many folks opened restaurants and are part of this legacy.

They speak the Basque language.

Basically this is family style dining. You dine at a long table with others you may not know and order a main course.

Everything else is brought automatically.

It starts with soup, French bread and then

beans or pasta and another meat dish like ox tails. Then your main course arrives with a bottle of red wine. Afterwards it is desert. I really enjoyed the Basque experience at Louie's Basque Corner.

“In Reno Lake Tahoe you can ski, snowboard, snowmobile, do snow hikes, tubing or sleigh riding. Also we have a dry climate so the roads are mostly dry meaning you can bicycle in the dead of the winter. Some people play golf in the winter months except after a heavy snow.

You can ski in the am and golf in the pm if you want. It gets up to the 60s temperature wise in the winter months somePAGE 2

times,” said Crystal. “It is much warmer in Las Vegas. We have pine trees, they have palm trees. We have the seasons here. Las Vegas has subtle changes.

Canada is our number one source of visitors here and we are always happy to welcome them here because they are good friends of ours.”

My first stop after arriving in Reno was the National Automobile Museum, located in the downtown area a short walk from the Silver Legacy. It features some of the Harrah Collection of automobiles that includes some extremely special cars.

It is set up in 4 galleries with streets connecting them and is well worth the visit!

After a good night at the Silver Legacy 1100 room casino resort, it was a less than 1 hour drive through Truckee, California and then on towards Sierraville for my first snowmobiling adventure with Bob Kellog, owner of Eagle Ridge Snowmobiles which has been operating for 15 years. “We take you out on the snow covered forest service roads working under a special permit from them.

Our rides are geared to the people on each tour and their abilities. First there is the complete run down of the machine. We build up there skills from there, as we have meadows where you can play and

learn. We go to some really scenic spots on our tours,” said Bob Kellog.

The area in which Eagle Ridge Snowmobiles operates is the largest in the area with 650 miles of property and 200 miles of groomed trails. In California the grooming is paid for by the registration stickers. “The snowmobilers doubled their fees on themselves to make better trails with the requirement that the additional funds generated had to hit the ground or the trails and they have,” according to Bob Kellog. “The grooming is done 5 times a week. We are on the west side of the Sierras. It is a state snow park so you

can bring your own sleds here if you want.”

Eagle Ridge Snowmobiles operates Ski Doo Summit 550 sleds for the guides and Ski Doo GTX 550’s for the riders.

Their 2 hour ride is $120 and you can go up to 5 hours for $300 with lunch included. “It has been a great year. We are at the crest of the Sierras and get some beautiful views down into the mead-

ows. The east side of the property looks down on the Sierra meadow, the largest alpine meadow in North America,” smiles Kellog. “I have seen as much as 12 feet of snow in 2 weeks here. The storms come in sets of three with up to 1 foot of snow each. We are at 6800 feet here and the sweet spot for snow is 7000 feet. The freedom to go out into the national forests and show people our awesome views is what I like the best about our operation.

We get a lot of happy people leaving here.

Our temperatures are usually high 20’s and 30’s and we get over 300 clear days per year of sunshine.”

After a great day of mountain snowmobiling, it was off to the Cal- Neva Resort, Spa and Casino at Crystal Bay, Nevada. This historic resort was once owned by Frank Sinatra and is home to many of his fellow stars. The building even has tunnels underneath where the famous could arrive and make their way to say the performance areas undetected.

It is a unique place to see.

Just a short drive down the road from the Cal Neva was my next snowmobile destination, Zephyr Cove. Here I met Chris Burke, Director of Operations for the Aramark Lake Tahoe snowmobile marina and public transportation department. If Aramark seems familiar to you, it is a $11 billion company that does institutional foods, etc and even operates in my home city at our local university.

“We have been in the snowmobile

SNOWMOBILE NEWS FEBRUARY 2015

operation here since 1990. It is unique as we run guided tours with a special permit with the National Forests Service and have permits to run 90 rental sleds, 4 times per day. We may be one of the world’s largest snowmobile tour operations and play an important role in the snowmobile industry. 90 % of our customers are first time riders and come from the Silicon Valley including San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose as well as Texas and Florida with people coming for here primarily for skiing etc. I anticipate we will take 20,000 people snowmobiling this season, so think about the role we play in the sport. They are first timers and even if 1% of those fall in love with the sport it is great, smiles Chris Burke. “Right now we have a 10am, 12 noon and 2 o’clock tour. We sign them up, suit them up and take them up by bus 15 minutes up the road to 7100 feet where our snowmobiles are located.

On our rides we will get you up to 9000 feet. We have to have 1 guide for 6 machines so usually we have a lead guide and tail guide for 12 machines. I will have 9 teams of guides up there at one time.

The trails are serpentine so the speeds are

slower. Our goal is customer service as we are dealing with people who may not even have seen snow before. You are on the mountain for 2 hours. There is a stop at a nice meadow where we serve hot chocolate.”

In addition to the group tours you can have a private tour at Zephyr Cove where you are climbing off trail. This is what I experienced and really enjoyed. As an experienced rider this area offered some spectacular snowmobiling at elevation.

Thomas Civitano is a guide for Zephyr Cove and grew up in New York. “I rode snowmobiles a few times back in NY and just loved it so much that I moved out here. We get a range of riders from experienced to first timers. They get to see how exciting the sport is. You can do some climbing and get into some nice fresh snow,” said Thomas Civitano. “My favourite part is to get out into the back country and experience that solitude and just enjoy Mother Nature. It is really neat to climb to those spots where you feel no one has ever been before and just soak it in. In my off days I have my own machine and ride one day and ski one day. I never really thought snowmobiling could be so fun. This is one of many areas out here that have just awesome riding.

We can get 5 to 15 feet of snow. The snow can be wet but will give a good base.”

Continued Next Page

www.slednews.com Reno -Lake Tahoe Area Offers Great Snowmobile Opportunities

BY SCOTT A. SUMNER

NW Ontario Snowmobile News Continued from Previous Page The riding at Zephyr Cove will begin at the end of November and end first two weeks in April and in the mountains until the end of May. It costs $119 single and $159 double riding on a sled with helmets

included. They will suit you up with everything else you need for $15.

Zephyr Cove has a free shuttle service from all the casinos for those who don’t want to drive in the snow. They have a $1million worth of grooming equipment and groom the trails which anyone can ride, even with their own sleds. Zephyr Cove has Yamaha Venture Lights and Mountain Phazers.

After another great day of beautiful riding my next stop would be the Mont Bleu Resort some 5 miles away. This impressive casino operation is in the heart

of Lake Tahoe adjacent to the Harrah’s Lake Tahoe Casino and Harvey’s Resort Casino. These three facilities were really hopping with guests and offered great night life. It was fun to see Joan Jett and the Blackhearts perform a real rock show in front of a sold out 700 crowd at Harrah’s.

Riding snowmobiles with Tim Erskine, Lead Tour Guide for Coldstream

Adventures was a great time. With some 2 feet of fresh snow on the ground, we went up into the Coldstream wilderness and were able to look down on resorts like Northstar. We saw one of the first immigrants cross country trails used from the east to west coasts and did some groomed trial riding and some powder riding. “It is God’s country here,” said Tim and I agree! Larry Hahn is the founder of Coldstream Adventures and started the business because of his love of snowmobiling. “We are having a real good time doing it. It is a great way to make a living and bring other people out to enjoy the sport. We have had movie stars like Montel Williams on our rides.

There are some real private places to go and it isn't overcrowded with snowmobiles. This area is one of Tahoe’s best kept secrets. We can get 25 to 30 feet of snow on the ridges.” notes Larry Hahn.

Coldstream Adventures will do basic tours for $130 or $150 with 2 people on a sled. You can ride all day for $265 with lunch included.

After a mid day ride it was off to High Sierra ATV Tours for a new experience for me ATV riding with tracks in the snow!

Riding with Jay Read of High Sierra ATVTours and his friends was a definite highlight of the trip for me! “This was an extreme tour where we went up over Adams Mountain and to Crystal peak. We started off at 5300 feet elevation and then went up to 7800 feet using Arctic Cat 1000 and 650 Prowlers. We also had an Arctic Cat TRV called the cruiser with windshield and matching trunk fitted with Tattoo tracks made in Canada. These machines are unstoppable and can go anywhere a snowmobile can. I do rent them out to wind turbine and line repair people as well. Today there was 3 or 4 feet of snow and the ATV's stay right up on top,” said Jay Read. “I love this, it is my retirement job. I ride all day.

I was going out 3 times a week before I started it as a business. I love snowmobiling as well, I like to go fast!”

A 4 hour ride at High Sierra ATV Tours is $200. In the summer time they do wheeled ATV rides as well.This day was

made especially good with the help of James Bell of Wild Sierra Adventures which has an office located in the Silver Legacy. Jim set up all the activities and was my guide throughout the day. His company is a great place to start in planning many different activities in the Reno- Lake Tahoe area. www.wildsierra.com My snowmobiling at Reno Lake Tahoe had come to an end and it was back for my final night at Circus Reno in an executive suite complete with two bathrooms, large dining room table and separate master bedroom with jacuzzi etc, a very luxurious place to stay. After a full day of riding it was fun to have a great meal at the Oyster Bar, at Atlantis Casino. This unique restaurant features fresh sea food and is situated right over US Highway 395 where you can watch traffic from your table. This was a fantastic experience!

My trip to Reno and Lake Tahoe showcased some great snowmobiling in a dynamic setting. This is a place you must visit to experience first hand for yourself!

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Togwotee Adventures offers ideal way to see Jackson Hole in winter: Snowmobiling

BY SCOTT A. SUMNER

NW Ontario Snowmobile News Jackson Hole Wyoming Snowmobiling When you talk about snowmobiling the name Jackson Hole Wyoming comes up quickly as an iconic destination in the sport. Once a year they host the world renowned Jackson Hole Hillclimb event but the area also provides some of the best snowmobiling you will ever find on the planet.

Incredible scenery, pristine snow, and the adrenaline-surging speed, power and grace of a high-powered snowmobile as it whisks you through the white powder

makes snowmobiling in Jackson Hole, WY this time of year ideal.

Northwest Wyoming is known as one of the world's top snowmobile destinations.

Bridger-Teton National Forest offers 2.5 million acres of varied mountain terrain

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and 600 miles of groomed snowmobile trails. The crown jewel of off-road roaming in Jackson Hole is Togwotee Adventures, a rider’s nirvana, beginner or veteran. Stunning views of the majestic Teton Mountain Range surround riders through this adrenaline rush experience. “ I was going to come here for 1 summer 11 years ago and have never left. This place should come with a warning symbol, that’s why they call it the hole. It is a beautiful place,” said Jodie Schaap, Snowmobile Operations Director for Togwotee Adventures, Jackson Hole Wyoming. “ There are only two ways in and out and the airport is located in a

national park, Grand Teton. You fly in right next to the Tetons which is very spectacular. This morning I woke up, looked out my window and there was a moose 20 yards away!”

You can ride snowmobiles in this area

with many different experience levels according to Jodie. “ We get guests with varying experience.

It can be from someone who has never been on a snowmobile before, with our operation based in Jackson, and at the end of the day they have the biggest smiles on their face. At the Togwotee Lodge operation it is a mecca for snowmobilers where we get sledders from Minnesota, South Dakota and Iowa that come out to ride mountains. My husband guides there and has been coming here from Minnesota since he was 11 years old and now has been guiding for 11 years. He gets people who never see a trail and do back country boon docking all day. We range from beginners for pros.”

Togwotee Adventures offer new sleds from Ski Doo, Polaris and Arctic Cat in 600 and 800 mountain versions. They rotate their fleet every year with 1/3 to 2/3 changeover to offer the best technology. The mountain sleds of today have been advancing so much each year and are new and exciting. “ We can bring you riding to the Continental Divide with over 400 miles of groomed trails and a riding area larger than the state of Delaware at 2.5 million acres. There are animal areas as well as

SNOWMOBILE NEWS FEBRUARY 2015

natural hot springs. People want to see many different things. We can get the bison experience on the wildlife tour with elk as well.”

Getting to Jackson Hole means you can fly into Jackson airport which is nice and convenient. The flights generally connect at Denver or Salt Lake City. Togwotee will pick people up at the airport and it is 40 minutes to their lodge and 15 minutes to the town of Jackson. “ There are many different riding packages on our web site. There is so much to see and many many different areas that are new. Jackson has so much to offer outside of snowmobiling as well.We have the Hillclimb Championships here each year which is like the Nascar of snowmobiling.

People come from all over the world to compete.” said Jodie. “ 85% of our guests are return because Jackson Hole offers the best location, best riding and the elevation means best snow. I have ridden snowmobiles here on July 4th. You are usually riding at elevation of 8600 to 10,000 feet. We get snow early and it stays late. The Tetons are beautiful. We have had 232 inches this season with 95 inches of snow on the ground right now.”

Hudson-Sioux Lookout, Dryden, Red Lake Snowarama

The Hudson-Sioux Lookout, Dryden, Red Lake Snowarama just finished a successful event Saturday January 31st. with 54 riders and 52 sleds. The event raised over $ 20,000 dollars for Easter Seals Kids. Using Lac Seul

A huge Thank You goes out to all our sponsors and the riders that came out from Northwestern Ontario communities to make this event such a success.

Already looking forward to next year's event.

Mike Starratt

and the Ojibway Power Toboggan club (L701) Hudson-Sioux Loop trail, snowmobilers enjoyed beautiful weather conditions, excellent groomed trails and a powdery smooth lake.

SNOWMOBILE NEWS FEBRUARY 2015

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District 17 Designated Loops In Northwestern Ontario, the trails in OFSC District 17 are truly extraordinary.

With the vast, uncongested trail systems your possibilities are endless. Recently new to the District, Thunder Bay Adventure Trails Association is the most easterly point, where riders can then travel all the way to the Manitoba border. North Western Ontario Snowmobile Trails Association has over 1500 km of trails for riders to explore and discover. NWOSTA has recently introduced three new district loops for riders to enjoy this season.

These loops encourage riders to travel the district as well as the surrounding communities. The loops include the Gateway to

Ontario Loop, NWOSTA Wilderness Loop and the White Otter Loop.

The Gateway to Ontario Loop joins the two neighbouring provinces together and can be started from either province. This gives riders an insight to the both trail systems, but a permit is required from both provinces to complete this loop. Traveling just over 130 km of trail, a snowmobiler will get to experience all terrain including lake riding, hills, and bush. All amenities can be found in Kenora, Ontario.

The NWOSTA Wilderness Loop consists of over 900 km of trail that covers the majority of the district’s terrain of windy bush trails, hills, lake riding and the Canadian Shield. This loop can be started

in any community along the loop or from Manitoba, Thunder Bay or from surrounding States. Riders won’t have to travel on the same trail twice and this can be completed in three days for avid riders.

The White Otter Loop starts in Atikokan traveling along the A Trail and meeting up with the L903. Riders will travel towards the infamous White Otter Castle. This castle was built single-handedly in 1915 by the legend Jimmy McQuat and still exists today. From the castle you can continue north to Ignace on the L801, or you can head back on the same trail to Atikokan.

Atikokan to the castle and return is 210 km, or from the intersection of the A trail & L801 travel to Ignace is 80 km. Ignace

from Atikokan along the A trail is 104 km.

Between these three new loops in the district, riders from every experience level are able to enjoy great riding day trips or a weekend away. There is a lot to see in our region, with scenic views and structure as well as experience wildlife and the long stretches of trail with limited congestion.

For more information on District 17 or any of these new loops contact nwosta@gmail.com or visit our website www.nwosta.ca

Sioux-Hudson via Lac Seul to Ear Falls and Red Lake.

Just a couple pictures of our overnight trip to Red lake.

Sioux-Hudson via Lac Seul to Ear Falls and onto Red lake.

The trip was about 235kms

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one way. The Lac Seul Police Service came along to breakin there new 600 E-tecs as far as Ear Falls. We came across an ice ridge at Manitoba point about 6 kms long. The only

wildlife were 3 wolves crossing the lake by Pemican Point.

Enjoy the pictures.

SNOWMOBILE NEWS FEBRUARY 2015

Mike Starratt

Grand County Colorado Has Snowmobiling Adventures For Everyone

BY SCOTT A. SUMNER

NW Ontario Snowmobile News As an avid snowmobiler there have been some must destinations I have always wanted to visit. High on my bucket list was Colorado and I had the opportunity to fulfill my dream and visit Grand County, Colorado to experience first hand some spectacular snowmobiling.

My trip began with a quick flight to Toronto and connection to Denver arriving at 11 am. This is a pretty good connection from the east. The busy Denver Airport is one of the biggest in the US with over 50 million passengers per year and was fun to see in full action mode. After picking up my rental car I was on the road to Grand County. At the beginning you saw little snow and a large urban environment, but soon you start to climb in elevation and when you hit the Pass the snow is very evident. The roads are excellent and with 4 lanes going up the Pass it felt very safe.

Outside was a hot tub and the lobby area included a large bar where snowmobilers were discussing their rides.

It was fun to have lunch at nearby Sloopy’s that is right on the trail and has a great fast food offering. The owners of this restaurant are very friendly and I enjoyed talking with them about the area.

My first day in Grand Lake began with some ice fishing on Grand Lake. This weekend the Grand Lake Ice Fishing contest was underway where anglers were participating in catch and release contests in different fish categories. It was fun to experience and see the area, which is

11,000 feet in a few miles. There are some areas that go to 12,000 feet here.”

The snow conditions were great and got even better as you climbed the trail.

We were able to see views throughout the county including the Mary Jane Ski area and the Continental Divide and Rocky Mountain National Park. “ We offer guides here to show you the area and to help you with your ride.

There is every different type of terrain with meadows, powder and single tails as well as hill climbing. Some of the ISOC snocross teams come here before the X Games to get acclimated to the elevation and experience the snow conditions that

In about 2 hours I arrived at my place to stay in Grand Lake, the Gateway Inn. This very snowmobile friendly hotel offered a great stay with your room including a fireplace and western motive. home to such celebrities as Tim Allen and the founders of Hallmark cards. It was great touring around the lake by snowmobile and seeing the excited anglers.

are quite different from other areas of the US, say farther west. Our big hills are south facing rather than north facing which makes for less Avalanche issues.

October 7th, 2015

That afternoon would be my first trail ride snowmobile experience. The day was brilliant sunshine, which meant we would be seeing some great views. Grand Adventures is a snowmobile rental company that offers four locations in the area and have over 200 sleds available. They carry all 4 brands in different types of models for trail riding, 2 up and off trail machines.

Lance Ward is the Head guide and Trail Manager on the Winter Park side of Grand Adventures. He grew up in Los Angeles and has spent the last five winters in Colorado. “ I love snowmobiling, the outdoors and the mountains. In the summer I ride dirt bikes- anything with handlebars and a motor is very cool,” said Lance who would be my guide this afternoon.

Our ride began on the Grand Lake snowmobile trail system and went all the way out to Gravel Mountain. “ This is the Mecca and snowmobile capital of Colorado. This trail system is bigger than any other trail system in the state and has the most varied trails. Where we rode today is just a small fraction of where you can ride here,” said Lance. “ We started at 8300 feet and climbed up to over

Avalanches do happen but may get triggered higher up.”

Grand County includes the towns of Kremmling, Hot Sulphur Springs, Granby, Grand Lake, Winter Park and Frasier. The county is about the geographic size of the state of Delaware. Grand County from Winter Park is located about 90 miles from Denver or about a 1/1/2 hour drive. “ Snowmobiling is very popular because of the snow conditions and the towns are very snowmobile friendly. We also have Winter Park ski area, which is the fourth largest in Colorado as well as Granby Ranch Ski area. Grand Lake is the largest natural lake in Colorado and borders the Rocky Mountain National Park. It is resort town with interesting restaurants and shops,” said Gaylene Ore of Ore Communications. “ I like the outdoors with hiking, biking and fishing in the summer and snowshoeing, skiing and snowmobiling in the winter. There is so much to do. In the summer golfing is also bigwith 4 courses in the area. There are Dude Ranches as well with horseback riding.

Fly-fishing is really great here because we are at the headwaters for the Colorado River starting in Grand Lake. We get people from all over the world including Colorado, Texas and Canada as well as

SNOWMOBILE NEWS FEBRUARY 2015

England and Germany.”

It was fun to have breakfast brunch at Fat Cats in Grand Lake. Owner Sally is from England and puts on a great spread complete with fancy pastry deserts and tea!

The next day of riding was near Granby at the Vagabond Ranch. Our trip began with being picked up at the highway entrance and snowmobiling in with a sleigh some 4 miles. Vagabond is a very unique backcountry setting that is off the electricity grid but offers luxury cabin lodging which can sleep up to 16 in one cabin. You can experience telemark skiing and snow boarding as well as snowmobiling. My guide today would be Jeremy who is an owner of Vagabond and offers brand new Ski Doo Summit 800 sleds that can handle any terrain. It was fun to experience some of the high elevation rising with Jeremy in this pristine setting.

My third day of riding began with a fresh dump of 6 to 12 inches of snow and a trip to the Grand Adventures location at the Winter Park Lodge Ski Area. The riding would turn out to be my best of the season with guide Snowmobile Steve and Marketing Manger of Grand Adventures, Meg Mizell. Our ride began up the trail with fresh powder and included stops at elevation to see an historic tressel and spectacular views of the Mary Jane Ski are. The sun broke through, just for us it seemed. We carried on up to a great bowl area to play in the powder when the snow came back in and created almost a white out condition. As a snowmobiler this was fun and reminded me of earlier years in the east when snow seemed to be more prevalent.

That afternoon it was time for my final riding experience with Trailblazer Tours in Fraser. This experience began in their historic cabin with wood stoves burning and included some great single-track trails.

My guide was Josh and we rode with Meg again in some fresh powder though very beautiful terrain. Josh and his coworker, Mouse take great pride in their trail system here. Mouse makes sure the trails are well groomed and marked and you can really see the effort they take in their jobs.

For me it was fun to experience Colorado snowmobiling. I especially liked being with avid snowmobile enthusiasts and feeling their passion for the sport. I hope to come back to this area again and it is definitely one of the best snowmobiling I have ever experienced.

Special thanks to Gaylene, Jim, Meg, Lance, Jeremy, Snowmobile Steve, Josh and Mouse for their help on this trip! http://www.grandadventures.com http://www.grandadventures.com/index.ph p/snowmobiling/fraser-valley http://www.sagebrushbbq.com www.grandlakechamber.com www.sloopysgrill.com www.gatewayinn.com http://hernandospizzapub.com http://www.wplodging.com PAGE 7

Tucker Hibbert Rides to Heroic 100th Pro National Snocross Victory Monster Energy / Arctic Cat / Ram Truck’s Tucker Hibbert captured his 100th Pro National Snocross victory in a heroic come-from-behind win in Deadwood, SD Saturday night. With an electric crowd packed into the Days of ‘76 Rodeo Grounds, Hibbert rallied through the field with blazing speed and determination to record this historic career milestone.

Taking his 99th victory in December,

and grabbed the Stud Boy holeshot in the 15-rider, 22-lap main event. Out front early, it momentarily looked as though Hibbert could run away with his 100th win. In turn two, he hit a wall of snow left by a groomer and was rolled on his side – collecting Tim Tremblay in the process.

After struggling to get his sled unlocked from Tremblay’s sled, Hibbert reentered the race nearly a lap down and 20 seconds behind the leader.

saw the checkers and flames go off on the finish-line jump.

Hibbert now holds a 64-point lead in the ISOC Pro Open Championship. Next up is the Eastern National in Salamanca, NY Feb. 6-7. Visit tucker-hibbert.com to follow him as he continues to chase his ninth national championship.

Courtesy John Hanson photos Tucker Hibbert - #68 Monster Energy / Arctic Cat / Ram Truck “I didn’t have a game plan after I crashed (in the opening lap Saturday night) and once I got up, I didn’t consciously think

Hibbert fell short of number 100 three straight rounds. He finished 4-2 at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn. and came within a sled length of winning Friday night at Deadwood after an aggressive ride.

Hibbert entered Saturday with a fresh focus and drive. He turned the fastest lap in practice, won both qualifying rounds

‘I’m going to win this race.’ I just put my head down and charged as hard as I could until I got the checkers. I didn’t even take time to look at the pit board so I didn’t know where I was the entire race.”

“I know the crowd was going crazy but I couldn’t hear them because I zoned everything out while I was racing. I was totally focused on hitting my lines and on what was right in front of me. It was a different feeling than Friday night’s final. I was riding my own race and going where I wanted to go. You don’t feel that good every time you’re on the track so it was nice to have that kind of race.”

What happened next, was a downright impressive display of determination and talent. Hibbert charged forward as if no one else was on the short, bullring-style track with him. Lap after lap, he made clean passes – crushing the gap between him and the race leader. Without a clear idea where he was in the running order, he kept pushing and didn’t give-up until he

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