Kings of the Mountains
Arctic Man means extreme playtime for skiers, snowmachiners
Published Sunday, April 20, 2008
The Arctic Man Ski and Sno-Go Classic is the kind of event that could only have been inspired by a dare.
On a peak deep in the Hoodoo Mountains, a skier or snowboarder leaps onto a 5,800-foot-high slope, plunging 1,700 feet until intersecting with a speeding snowmachine about two miles later. The skier latches onto a towrope, and the pair screams through the hills for another two miles, reaching speeds near 90 miles per hour. At the top of a final peak, the skier releases, plummeting another 1,200 feet across the finish line.
For the fastest teams, the entire 5 1/2 mile course takes a little more than four minutes.
It’s an event like nothing else in the world, combining adrenaline, skill and more than a little bit of terror. It’s also become a magnet for snowmachine enthusiasts, filling the area near Summit Lake with about 1,000 motorhomes and more than 10,000 spectators. When Arctic Man organizer Howard Thies launched the competition in 1986, fewer than 80 people were there to witness it.
Today its reputation attracts some of the top skiers in the country. U.S. Ski Team member Marco Sullivan was the winning racer when Arctic Man was held last weekend, along with Palmer snowmachiner Tyler Aklestad. Other competitors arrived with more modest goals than collecting a share of the $33,000 purse.
“I didn’t crash,” said a smiling Michelle Locke of Banff, Alberta, after winning the women’s snowboard division. “I’m happy.”
Contact features editor Jeff Richardson at 459-7510.
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