At Round 6 of the 2023 Rocky Mountain States Hillclimb Association series at Powder Mountain in Eden, Utah on April 7–9, Keith Curtis pulled off a Triple Crown and King of Kings, winning Stock King, Improved King and Modified King along with Pro 900 Improved Stock, Pro 1000 Stock, Pro Open Stock, Pro 900 Modified plus a third in Pro 900 Stock. 

Idaho’s Tayler Peck finished third in Women’s Stock, Women’s Modified and Women’s Improved Stock and said the fun new course was awesome with a lot of snow. Peck is the current points leader in Women’s 700 Stock.

“Qualifying on Friday was technical, which made it fun! Saturday we had our finals in two classes on a different course, I struggled a bit. Then Sunday we had our last two finals on the pro men’s course,” she said. 

Montana’s Dylan Hart climbed to second in Pro 700 Stock, third in Pro 600 Stock, fourth in Pro 600 Improved Stock and said the highlight of the weekend, along with spending Easter weekend with his family, was qualifying in all five classes and having consistent finals runs over the top. With three races left on schedule, Hart leads the points in 600 Stock and 600 Improved. 

“Qualifying was different than our usual course setups,” Hart said. “It featured a big trough that we went up and down the sides of like a half-pipe. At the top, there was a wind-blown cornice that was a gnarly feature where you had to ride up the wall. Sunday was a more traditional course being very fast and rough. Both were technical and challenging, which was very fun.”

“The KLIM Adrenaline GTX Boots were necessary this weekend with the wall rides and very fast corners to get good grip on the running boards so you didn’t slip off. The Race Spec Pant was very mobile and light getting side to side quickly as well. I’m impressed.”

Fellow Montanan, Toby Shepherd, finished second in Pro 1000 Improved Stock and Pro 600 Modified, fourth in Pro 900 Improved Stock, Pro 700 Modified and Pro Open Modified and said the course had all the essentials of a good hillclimb course. 

“There was a lot of snow and it was a nice, warm weekend, which has been rare this season,” he said. “The course had a rough downhill section paired with a couple jumps and wind lips, and finished off with some challenging side hills. 

Shepherd said he’s in search of some wins, looking forward to racing Beaver Mountain this weekend and pushing just a few notches harder. He leads the points in 600 Modified and 700 Modified.

“While a win is always the goal, it’s nice to come home with Top 5 finishes in every class,” he added. 

Montana’s Sam Peterson took the win in Pro 700 Improved Stock and Pro 900 Stock along with second in Pro Open Stock, and leads the points in 700 Stock after the halfway point. 

“It was fun being at a new venue and having new challenges,” Peterson said. “The course was pretty fast but it got to be very rough with big holes! The runs were longer than usual, which made it fun. The times were pretty close on finals day with hundredths of a second separating us pros, which goes to show how we are pushing it to the limits at these races. The temperatures we near 60 on race day and my KLIM Race Spec kept me at the perfect temperature during my runs.”

Wyoming’s Andy Thomas finished second in Pro 900 Modified and Pro Open Modified along with fourth in Pro 900 Stock, Pro 1000 Stock and Pro Open Stock. 

Cole Thomas came out with the win in Pro 600 Stock, a fifth in Pro 700 Improved Stock and a seventh in Pro Open Stock, and is the current points leader in 700 Improved. 

“There was a ton of snow so it made it a really fun technical race,” he said. “My highlight was riding my 7 Mod in the super deep trenches with no dirt!”

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Up next: RMSHA – Zbroz Beaver Mountain Bash, Beaver Mountain Ski Area, Garden City, Utah, April 14-15

Watch live onfloracing.com.

AMA West – Round 2, Jacksonville, Oregon, April 15-16

GNCC — Round 5, Moree's Sportsman's Preserve, Society Hill, South Carolina, April 15-16

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