Light snow fell in the first gate drop of the Salt Pass Border Dash, which started in Idaho and ended in Wyoming, for the opening round of the 2024 Rocky Mountain States Hillclimb Association series in Geneva, Idaho, on February 9-10.

Despite the hill being short on snow, eight-time Snowmobile Hillclimb World Champion, Montana’s Keith Curtis put KLIM Race Spec gear out front with four first-place finishes out of five classes – Pro 900 Stock, Pro 900 Improved, Pro Open Stock and Pro Open Modified – along with Improved and Modified Premier King with the highest cumulative score from each class.

“Overall, great weekend of racing,” Curtis said Monday. “The course was more technical than previous Bear Lake courses, which made it fun. Strategy was trying to be fast, smooth and pick proper lines.”

For Curtis, his favorite piece of KLIM gear is the F3 Carbon Helmet. 

“It has performed awesome all season,” Curtis added. “It’s lightweight and comfortable with top level protection.” 

Fellow Montanan Sam Peterson took home Stock Premier King with a first in Pro 1000 Stock, second in Pro Open Stock, third in Pro 900 Modified and said he is excited to be racing again.

“The low snow conditions had me worried about races, but we are off and running,” Peterson said Monday. “The course was super technical due to the low snow conditions, so it made me have to take new lines and take chances in order to be fast. I had some mistakes but some runs were good enough to get me some wins!” 

Peterson said the weekend’s cold and crisp conditions made the Aggressor Shirt 3.0 and Aggressor Pant 3.0 his go-to base-layers. 

“It kept me warm and still allowed me to have good mobility,” Peterson added. 

Idaho Falls’ Beau Richan finished third in Pro 600 Modified and top 10 in three other classes.

“The opener this past weekend was awesome to finally get a race in,” Richan said Monday, adding that Geneva had more snow than he was expecting. “The course was gnarly from the snow sugar like, and the brush and dirt under it was frozen rock solid, which made it hard to find traction.” 

As for his favorite piece of KLIM gear, Richan said, “I love the new Klutch GTX BOA Boot. I’ve always struggled with traction on the running boards and this weekend it wasn’t even a thought on my mind, which is very nice and reassuring."

For Idaho’s Riley Kincaid, who dominated the 600 Pro Improved class and took third in Pro 700 Improved, lots of preparation went into this first race. 

“The course was the most technical I’ve ever seen in Geneva,” Kincaid said Monday. “My strategy was to keep momentum and ride smooth to get through the icy sidehills and not lose traction.”

Kincaid added that the F3 Helmet is his favorite “for comfort and looking my best while on the hill. It’s so comfortable!”

Montana’s Toby Shepherd put his Polaris on the box in Pro 900 Improved, along with a fourth in Pro 600 Modified and Pro 700 Modified. Wyoming’s Andy Thomas finished second behind Curtis in Pro 900 Stock, third in Pro Open Stock and Pro Open Modified and fourth in Pro 900 Modified. Fellow Wyomingite Cole Thomas won Pro 1000 Improved, finished second in Pro 700 Stock and Pro Open Modified. Hometown Rigby, Idaho’s Mason Rutledge found fourth in Pro 900 Stock. Brock Sharp finished third in Pro 1000 Improved and fifth in Pro Open Stock. 

On the amateur side, Pro Senior King went to Washington’s Brad Sharp who won Pro Senior Stock and Pro Senior Improved, finished second in Pro Senior Mod, third in Pro Master Stock and fourth in Pro Master Modified. Colorado’s Cole Willford took first in Pro Master Modified and second in Pro Master Improved. 

Idaho Falls’ Chase Summers finished first in Amateurs Stock, fourth in Amateur Improved and Juniors (Age 14-18) and sixth in Amateur Modified. 

“I had a great time,” Summers said Monday. “The course was super fun and also very technical. My strategy this weekend was to try to find the best line and overall make smooth consistent runs.” 

As for his gear of choice, Summers listed a few favorites: 

“I absolutely love the Revolt Jacket and Revolt Pant,” he said. “They are very comfortable and have great mobility for moving around the sled. For boots, I am wearing the Havoc GTX BOA, which provide great traction and support. For gloves, I am using the Inversion GTX, and they have amazing grip. I am also wearing an F5 Helmet paired with the Aeon Goggle and both are super comfortable and perform great.”

***

The 2023-2024 AMSOIL Championship Snocross series crossed into Canada for the first time in years for the Grand Prix De Valcourt — the snowmobile capital of the world — on February 10 & 11. 

Dubbed the “BIGGEST motorsport winter event in the WORLD,” with more than 30,000 fans in attendance, the event celebrated its 40 year history with snowmobile, ATV and motorcycle oval ice races along the AMSOIL Pro, Pro Lite and Pro Women classes all in one weekend.

Saturday’s three-race Triple Crown format favored Team Judnick Motorsports Polaris from the start with Emil Harr and Kody Kamm topping Saturday’s qualifying .145 seconds apart. 

In Round 1, Kamm started first ahead of Harr and held the lead until lap six when Harr passed into the lead. Harr went on to finish six seconds ahead of second by the end of the 14-lap race with Kamm in third. 

Harr had the lead from the start in Round 2 while teammate Kamm battled inside the top five to finish fifth. In Round 3, Francis Pelletier took the holeshot and the win ahead of Harr in second and Kamm in third, putting Harr in first overall with a 1-1-2, Pelletier second and Kamm in third with a 3-5-3.

Rounding out the top five overall, Sweden’s Oskar Norum finished 5-6-8 for fourth for KC Motorsports Polaris. 

“It was a fun weekend,” Norum said about his first time in Canada. “Track was big, rough and challenging. We found some good improvements on Friday so that was a decent day.”

As for his KLIM gear, Norum said the Aeon Goggle is one of his favorites. 

“They work great,” he said. “The snow falls off and keeps the vision clear. KLIM gear works awesome. It keeps me dry in the slushy wet snow.”

On Sunday, Harr started third in Round 1 to find second out of 15 by the third of the 14-lap race, with Kamm back in eighth. In Round 2, Harr climbed to first by lap six of the 13-lap race, battling through the pack after a fourth-place start while Kamm finished eighth again. Harr came from dead last in Round 3 and worked his way to fourth by lap 11, which was good enough for second overall on the day. Kamm went 8-8-6 for seventh overall and Norum finished inside the top 10.

“Canada was nice,” Harr said Monday. “Fun to race in a new country. The feeling on the sled was good! Had great motos the whole weekend but I did jump the start in the last one on Sunday and had to drop back to last pick but was able to get back up to P4.”

For Anson Scheele, who finished third out of eight in first and second heats, first in the LCQ, and fifth in the final, his first trip to the Canadian Grand Prix was a good time. 

“The track was super rough and rather large for the tracks we have been to thus far,” Scheele said Monday. “My highlight from the weekend was we were able to meet some guys from way up in northern Canada. They race and ride Ski-Doos up there where it is winter about 10 months of the year. It was super cool to hear their stories and just share some deep passion for snowmobiles.”

***

Up next: 

Snow: 

AMSOIL Championship Snocross - Salamanca, New York, February 16-17

Rocky Mountain States Hillclimb Association - Round 2, Afton, Wyoming, February 16-18

Moto:

AMA US Hard Enduro - Round 2, Oahu, Hawaii, March 2

AMA West Hare Scrambles - Round 1, Doyle, California, March 16-17

AMA National Hare & Hound Championship - Round 2, Murphy, Idaho, March 23-24

***

Have a race report we missed? Email us at racers@klim.com! 

Ride hard, ride often, ride KLIM. #KLIMLife