Keith Curtis’ uncanny and historic domination of snowmobile hill climb racing continued at that sport’s biggest event, as the lanky Polaris racer from Dillon, Montana, won all three “king” titles at the 2023 World Championship Snowmobile Hill Climb event in Jackson, Wyoming, on March 26.
One year earlier, Curtis set a new record by being the first person to win seven “king” titles at Jackson in the Pro classes. On Sunday he added three more King titles as he swept the Pro Stock, Pro Improved Stock and Pro Mod runs on the rough and rugged course.
Dominating any facet of snowmobile racing is a major accomplishment, but the rigors of hillclimb racing at Jackson make Curtis’ fete downright startling. Each racer attacks the hill with reckless abandon as they run a gated and highly rutted-out course on an extremely steep slope. It requires racers to run right on the ragged edge of control, jumping over the seat multiple times to influence the sled and throwing the skis high into the air sometimes as they clear trenches, moguls, rocks and other obstacles. See the post below that Klim put on Youtube of one of Curtis’ runs as proof.
Additional buzz at the event was created by Kyle Tapio, who raced a Catalyst chassis Arctic Cat in Pro Mod with a turbocharged 800-class engine and took it over the top.
Over the course of the weekend, competition was held in 13 Pro classes plus other Pro Masters, Women’s, Juniors, Semi-Pro, Vintage and Amateur divisions. At the end, class winners then face off on the hill one more time for King titles, to determine division championships.
Top Stock Results
In the Pro Stock division, there were four different winners in the five classes, and three of those four were on Polaris sleds.
Keith Curtis was the lone racer who doubled, as he won the 900 Stock class by tackling the hill in 1 minute, 23.4 seconds, which was 4.4 seconds faster than veteran Ski-Doo racer Jay Mentaberry, who finished second, with Andy Thomas third.
Curtis won again in Open Stock with a time of 1:24.3, which was five seconds faster than second plan Blaine Mathews, with Andy Thomas again third.
The coveted 1000 Stock class was claimed by Polaris racers Luke Rainey, with Mathews and Thomas also finishing second and third in that class. Cole Thomas won 700 Stock on a Polaris 650 with a time of 1:33.3, with Sam Peterson and Dylan Hart close behind.
The lone non-Polaris victory in Stock came at the hands of Garth Kaufman, who guided a Ski-Doo Summit up the hill in 1:57.7 seconds, and won ahead of Dylan Boyce.
Those winners weren’t the only drivers and brands that got to make a run for the Stock King title, however. In a first, a Lynx sled won a class when Josh Tatro of Boulder, Wyoming, took the Pro Stock Masters class for drivers 40 or older.
In that King run, Curtis and Thomas were actually the only two drivers to make it to the top of the hill and log a time, and Curtis’ run was 11 seconds faster than Thomas’.
Improved Stock
Polaris racers swept the regular Improved Stock Pro division, although like in the stock division another brand was added when you included the Pro Masters racers.
Luke Rainey took the top prize in 1000 Improved Stock, guiding his modified RMK up the hill in 1:27.2. Kyle Tapio grabbed second place by one-tenth of a second over Colby Crapo.
Curtis was the victor in 900 Improved, with a run 6 seconds faster than Rainey in second and 15 seconds faster than Colten Taylor in third. Cole Thomas led a Polaris podium sweep of 700 Improved ahead of Sam Peterson and Tanner Meyers. Taylor Lindy of Gallatin Gateway, Montana, edged the Ski-Doos of Garth Kaufman and Wes Selby in 600 Improved.
The Masters winner was Kyle Tapio, who took his Arctic Cat over the top in 1:39.8, besting second place Trent Handsaker by nearly 14 seconds. The rest of the drivers in that class were scored as highmarks after failing to reach the top.
For the King run, with was Curtis again with a time of 1:28 flat, which was 6 seconds faster than Tapio, who made a strong showing in second.
The Mods
The Mod class has always been very intriguing at Jackson, and this year was no different, with roaring engines and swooshing turbos. But the winners all had familiar names, with Curtis winning Open Mod, Justin Thomas taking 900 Mod, Cole Thomas winning in 700 mod and Wes Selby breaking through in 600 Mod.
Kyle Tapio was a big talker in the division, though, with his turbocharged Catalyst chassis that he took over the top.
In the King run, once more Curtis showed the way with a run of 1:24.7.
Other Classes
Ski-Doo racers Sammi McKeachnie of Francis, Utah, was an unstoppable force in the Womens division, as she swept the Stock, Improved Stock and Mod titles. Kaden Rainey of Thayne, Wyoming, fell one spot short of doing in Semi-Pro. He won the Improved Stock and Mod titles in that division on his Polaris but Ski-Doo racer Colton Knox edged him by .2 seconds in Semi-Pro Stock.
Here are the full results, as posted on the host Snowdevils website.
2023 Jackson Hole World Championship Snowmobile Hill Climb Results:
600 Stock: 1. Garth Kaufman (Ski-Doo); 2. Dylan Boyce (Ski-Doo); 3. Brandon Titensor (Polaris).
700 Stock: 1. Cole Thomas (Polaris); 2. Sam Peterson (Polaris); 3. Dylan Hart (Polaris).
900 Stock: 1. Keith Curtis (Polaris); 2. Jay Mantaberry (Ski-Doo); 3. Andy Thomas (Polaris).
1000 Stock: 1. Luke Rainey (Polaris); 2. Blaine Mathews (Ski-Doo); 3. Andy Thomas (Polaris).
Open Stock: 1. Keith Curtis (Polaris); 2. Blaine Matthews (Ski-Doo); 3. Andy Thomas (Polaris).
Stock King: Keith Curtis (Polaris)
600 Improved Stock: 1. Taylor Lindy (Polaris); 2. Garth Kaufman (Ski-Doo); 3. Wes Selby (Ski-Doo).
700 Improved Stock: 1. Cole Thomas (Polaris); 2. Sam Peterson (Polaris) 3. Tanner Meyers (Polaris).
900 Improved Stock: 1. Keith Curtis (Polaris); 2. Luke Rainey (Polaris); 3. Colten Taylor (Polaris).
1000 Improved Stock: 1. Luke Rainey (Polaris); 2. Kyle Tapio (Arctic Cat); 3. Colby Crapo (Polaris).
Improved King: Keith Curtis (Polaris)
600 Mod: 1. Wes Selby (Ski-Doo); 2. Taylor Lindy (Polaris); 3. Toby Shepherd (Polaris).
700 Mod: 1. Cole Thomas (Polaris); 2. Justin Thomas (Polaris); 3. Wes Selby (Ski-Doo).
900 Mod: 1. Justin Thomas (Polaris); 2. Keith Curtis (Polaris); 2. Andy Thomas (Polaris).
Open Mod: 1. Keith Curtis (Polaris); 2. Toby Shepherd (Polaris); 3. Zac Mathson (Ski-Doo).
Mod King: Keith Curtis (Polaris)
Pro Master Stock: 1. Josh Tatro (Lynx); 2. Trend Handsaker (Ski-Doo); 3. Shad Free (Ski-Doo).
Pro Master Improved Stock: 1. Kyle Tapio (Arctic Cat); 2. Trent Handsaker (Ski-Doo); 3. Brad Sharp (Ski-Doo).
Pro Masters Mod: 1. Trend Handsaker (Ski-Doo); 2. Kyle Tapio (Arctic Cat); 3. Kraig Gates (Polaris).
Pro Senior Mod: 1. Brad Sharp (Ski-Doo); 2. Faron Gilbert (Ski-Doo); 3. Scott Long (Ski-Doo).
Juniors: 1. Lucas Conger (Ski-Doo); 2. Mason Erwin (Ski-Doo); 3. Emmett Mackey (Ski-Doo)
Non-Pro Masters: 1. Norris Brown (Ski-Doo); 2. Dustin Pancheri (Polaris); 3. Bryan Pack (Ski-Doo).
Amateurs: 1. Noah Squires (Polaris); 2. Raf Greene (Ski-Doo); 3. Cameron Chimenti (Ski-Doo).
Semi Pro Stock : 1. Colton Knox (Ski-Doo); 2. Kaden Rainey (Polaris); 3. Tanner Thomas (Polaris).
Semi Pro Improved: 1. Kaden Rainey (Polaris); 2. Austin Rogers (Ski-Doo); 3. Daxon Zollinger (Polaris).
Semi Pro Mod: 1. Kaden Rainey (Polaris); 2. Harper Handsaker (Ski-Doo); 3. Austin Rogers (Ski-Doo).
Semi Pro King: Kaden Rainey (Polaris)
Queen of Queens: Sammi McKeachnie (Ski-Doo)
Women’s Stock: 1. Sammi McKeachinie (Ski-Doo); 2. Tayler Meyers (Polaris); 3. Hadley West (Polaris).
Women’s Improved: 1. Sammi McKeachinie (Ski-Doo); 2. Shelley Ferguson (Ski-Doo); 3. Tayler Peck (Polaris).
Women’s Mod: 1. Sammi McKeachinie (Ski-Doo); 2. Tayler Meyers (Polaris); 3. Shelley Ferguson (Ski-Doo).
Vintage: 1. Blaine Mathews (Ski-Doo); 2. Jay Mantaberry (Ski-Doo); 3. Luke Rainey (Polaris).
Editor’s Note: Every Snow Goer issue includes in-depth sled reports and comparisons, aftermarket gear and accessories reviews, riding destination articles, do-it-yourself repair information, snowmobile technology and more. Subscribe to Snow Goer now to receive print and/or digital issues.
