Record Turnout at Annual Hill Climb Event
Photo by Lisa Wax
Allison Sayer - CRR Staff
The 31st annual Hill Climb event in Thompson Pass, hosted by the Valdez Snowmachine Club, took place on April 15-17 this year. The main event is what Valdez Snowmachine Club president Ken Lares described as a “slalom uphill in reverse on a snowmachine” that takes place on Odyssey Mountain.
I asked Lares what he felt were highlights of the event. He said the record number of competitors was one. There were 144 entrants for various events, including hill climb racing, drag racing (with or without jumps), and hill cross. Lares noted the racers all brought friends and family, so “there were hundreds of people up there.” Lares also stated he was grateful that, with that many people, participants and spectators did a good job cleaning up after themselves.
Last year’s event brought over 80 racers, and that was a record year then. “Before that a good turnout was 60 racers,” said Lares.
Lares was also happy to see a record number of women racing, and to see people who had never raced before trying the event for the first time. He also enjoyed the kids’ races. “We made a mini hill climb course with little kids on 120s and 200s to get them familiarized with that style of racing,” he said, “It was super cute.”
A new event this year was the “vintage” class, where riders competed on older model snowmachines. “Everyone got a kick out of it,” said Lares.
Lares said that one rider did get injured and was sent down to the hospital in the ambulance that was staged for the event. “He’s going to be OK,” said Lares. An individual who was injured riding on his own time, unrelated to the event, was also transported by the event ambulance. He was “very fortunate we had that there,” according to Lares. “It always sucks when people get hurt, but basically that was the best way that could have happened- when there’s an ambulance and some professionals there to take care of it.”
Many racers raced in more than one class, and each got two runs per class on the course. That made for 630 runs on the hill climb in addition to the hill cross and drag races. That sheer volume and a down period when the ambulance was occupied made for a long last day, with the awards ceremony at 9 p.m. Lares said he had people asking if the event could be four days, or even a whole week, next year.
Even with the large number of racers, Lares said “This year was my easiest year.” He credits volunteers for stepping up to take over many duties Lares used to do himself. “Previously I was running around, announcing, inspecting snowmachines, dealing with disagreements and tech inspections, putting the TP in the blue rooms. This year we had an announcer for the whole event.”
Lares’ love for this event is clear. “I raced it for over 10 years,” he said, “I used to come up and watch as a kid.” He also emphasized that he would like to keep the event “competitive and family friendly.” He acknowledged that although some people do stay up late partying, “the predominant group has always been serious racers and their families. I’m going to keep pushing that.”
Photo by Lisa Wax
Lares continued, “We have this event that’s growing really fast, that we’re still doing with a similar level of volunteers and funding. I’m so proud of the volunteers because we put on this phenomenal event on what would be considered a shoestring budget. We’ve had phenomenal support. The city sends the ambulance and EMTs for all three days. We’ve had snowcat support for prepping.”
Each race event was broken down into classes based on the snowmachine power and whether it was stock or improved, with separate categories for snow bikes and the “vintage” category.
2022 Mountain Man Hill Climb winners in various categories were Wyatt Nelson of Wasilla, Richard Derkevorkian of Kenai, Scott Franz of Anchorage, and Tyson Turner of Fairbanks. Dove Daniels of Anchorage won the Womens’ Hill Climb.
Junior Novice Hill Climb winners were Austin Carroll of Fairbanks (14-17), River Smelcer of Valdez (9-13), and the Junior Fan and 200/206 category winner was Morgan Martin of Valdez. Girls and boys competed in the junior category. Junior winners in additional races were Nikoli Leader, Austin Carroll of Fairbanks, Millie Forbess, Morgan Martin, and Conrad Remme of Valdez.
Open trophy winners were Jake Schoonover of Sterling, Taylor Russell of Anchorage, Leif Hagen of Soldotna, Richard Derkevorkian, James Wade, Wyatt Nelson, and Travis Elliot. Masters winner was Gregg Mallick of Wasilla.
Mountain drag winners were Dawson Hornung of Palmer and Scott Franz. Hill Cross winners were Riley Hansen of Willow, Wyatt Nelson, JR Boots of Fairbanks, Thomas Lees of Fairbanks, and Tyson Turner.
King of the Hill winners were Scott Franz, Wyatt Nelson, and Tyson Turner. Wyatt Nelson was crowned the overall King of the Hill.
Event volunteers included Heidi Johnson, Lisa Martin and Kathleen Phillips maintaining the “stat shack,” Shari Wade updating the times board, Seth Brewer announcing, Tim Taylor, Richard Kirkpatrick, Jeff Davis, and Oly Club at the starting line, Andrew Roche, Michael King, and Chris Peters in the pits, Ricky Wade and Kyle Sobek at the finish line, Matt Smelcer building and tearing down the course, and Jackson Kinnen, Jacob Remme and Neal Martin working on the kids’ mini climbs.
Snowcat support was provided by Copper Valley Electric, Garrette Francis, Andrew Roche, Abe Herchel and Scott Franz. The ANMC Crew, Mike Lasky, Spike Lasky, Kyle and Amanda Nicoll, Peter and Lisa Trounce, and Justin and Amanda Leader volunteered on hill cross racing.
Ryan Sims, Shawn Brown, Eric Christiansen, Matt Smelcer, Mark Prevost, and Rebecca Chase were the EMT and safety crew.
Sponsors, partners, supporters and key contractors were the City of Valdez, Petro Management Services, Jennie Milton, Copper Valley Telecom, Copper Valley Electric, the Thompson Pass DOT, and the food and drinks vendor The 7 Cs.
