Move over, all of the greats of snowmobile hillclimb racing, and make way for a new name at the summit!
Keith Curtis of Dillon, Montana, became the most decorated hillclimb racing in the history of the sport when he claimed two different King titles en route to his record-breaking seventh King of Kings at the 45th annual World Championship Snowmobile Hill Climb at Jackson, Wyoming, on March 25-27, 2022. The 34-year-old veteran Polaris racer didn’t have as many class victories as in some year’s past, claiming only Open Stock plus 900 Mod and Open Mod.
But when the Pro class winners faced off at the end of the event to crown an overall champion, Curtis proved his might once more – clawing through the dirt, mud, rocks and stumps and acrobatically crawling all over his sleds to finish on top. That last run put a spectacular bow on a World Championship Hill Climb event that returned to its former glory – with a huge crowd, beautiful weather and fast action.
Breaking down the divisions, Blaine Mathews of Pinedale, Wyoming, was the only driver to claim multiple highly coveted titles in the Stock classes. In 900 Stock, the Ski-Doo racer was 2.5 seconds faster up the hill and through the gates than second-place Sam Peterson; in 1000 stock, the top two finished in the same order, though this time Mathews margin of victory was 3.6 seconds. Earlier in the day, Cole Thomas claimed 600 Stock on his Polaris, while Sam Peterson did the same on a Polaris in 700 Stock.
When the turbo sleds were turned loose on the mountainside in Open Stock, though, Curtis blasted up the hill in 1 minute, 26.94 seconds, edging Luke Rainey by just under 2 seconds and Mathews by 3.5.
In the Improved Stock division, Luke Rainey of Thayne, Wyoming, was the lone two-class winner, taking both 900 Improved and 1000 Improved on his Polaris. Earlier, Cole Thomas was the only racer in 700 Improved Stock to make it over the top, while Tanner Meyers earned a highmark victory in 600 Improved. They also were on Polaris sleds.
When the biggest iron was on the hill, Curtis flexed his muscles, first winning 900 Mod by a second over second-place Justin Thomas, with a 10-second further gab back to third place Toby Shepherd. Curtis then repeated in open mod with an incredible time of 1:22:21. That was 4.3 seconds faster than second place Mason Rutledge.
Here are the results, as posted on the host Snow Devils website.
600 Stock: 1. Cole Thomas (Polaris); 2. Kyle Heap (Polaris); 3. Nate Suter (Ski-Doo).
700 Stock: 1. Sam Peterson (Polaris); 2. Cole Thomas (Polaris); 3. Garth Kaufman (Ski-Doo).
900 Stock: 1. Blaine Mathews (Ski-Doo); 2. Sam Peterson (Polaris); 3. Andy Thomas (Polaris).
1000 Stock: 1. Blaine Mathews (Ski-Doo); 2. Sam Peterson (Polaris); 3. Jay Mentaberry (Ski-Doo).
Open Stock: 1. Keith Curtis (Polaris); 2. Luke Rainey (Polaris); 3. Blaine Matthews (Ski-Doo)
Stock King: Keith Curtis
600 Improved Stock: 1. Tanner Meyers (Polaris); 2. Nate Suter (Ski-Doo); 3. Will Burgess (Arctic Cat).
700 Improved Stock: 1. Cole Thomas (Polaris); 2. Sam Peterson (Polaris) 3. Wes Selby (Ski-Doo).
900 Improved Stock: 1. Luke Rainey (Polaris); 2. Keith Curtis (Polaris); 3. Kameron Lindsay (Arctic Cat).
1000 Improved Stock: 1. Luke Rainey (Polaris); 2. Kyle Tapio (Arctic Cat); 3. Brennan Mulvahill (Ski-Doo).
Improved King: Luke Rainey
600 Mod: 1. Wes Selby (Ski-Doo); 2. Toby Shepherd (Polaris); 3. Russ Tapio (Arctic Cat).
700 Mod: 1. Cole Thomas (Polaris); 2. Colby Crapo (Polaris); 3. Calvin Irmen (Arctic Cat).
900 Mod: 1. Keith Curtis (Polaris); 2. Justin Thomas (Polaris); 3. Toby Shepherd (Polaris).
Open Mod: 1. Keith Curtis (Polaris); 2. Mason Rutledge (Ski-Doo); 3. Blaine Mathews (Ski-Doo).
Mod King: Keith Curtis
Pro Master Stock: 1. Erin Beukelman (Polaris); 2. Carl Kuster (Ski-Doo); 3. Trent Handsaker (Ski-Doo).
Pro Master Improved Stock: 1. Erin Beukelman (Polaris); 2. Carl Kuster (Ski-Doo); 3. Kyle Tapio (Arctic Cat).
Pro Masters Mod: 1. Kyle Tapio (Arctic Cat); 2. Eric Beukelman (Polaris); 3. Tony Zollinger (Arctic Cat).
RMSHA Juniors: 1. Braden Dickey (Ski-Doo); 2. Dylan Pugmire (Ski-Doo); 3. Jhett Johnson (Ski-Doo).
Non-Pro Masters: 1. Dustin Pancheri (Polaris); 2. Bryan Pack (Ski-Doo); 3. Ryan Carpenter (Ski-Doo).
Amateurs: 1. Landon Archibald (N/A); 2. Austen Madison (Polaris);. 3. Deven Gnehm (Polaris).
Semi Pro Stock : 1. Dylan Hart (Polaris); 2. Harper Handsaker (Ski-Doo); 3. Colton Knox (Ski-Doo).
Semi Pro Improved: 1. Colton Knox (Ski-Doo); 2. Harper Handsaker (Ski-Doo); 3. Colten Taylor (Polaris).
Semi Pro Mod: 1. Kaden Rainey (Polaris); 2. Austin Rogers (Ski-Doo); 3. Dylan Hart (Polaris)./
Women’s Stock: 1. Sammi McKeachinie (Ski-Doo); 2. Tayler Peck (Polaris); 3. Tayler Meyers (Polaris).
Women’s Improved: 1. Tayler Peck (Polaris); 2. Sammi McKeachinie (Ski-Doo) ; 3. Shelley Ferguson (Ski-Doo).
Women’s Mod: 1. Sammi McKeachinie (Ski-Doo); 2. Tayler Peck (Polaris); 3. Shelley Ferguson (Ski-Doo).
Vintage: 1. Landon Archibald (N/A); 2. Deven Gnehm (Polaris); 3. Joe Anderson (Ski-Doo).