Most people see a ski hill and imagine schussing down. Phil Johnson has spent 25 years looking at a ski hill and wondering what it would be like to race up it.
On Saturday at Wilmot Mountain Ski Resort in Wilmot, Wis., he found out. With little hard-pack snow left on Wilmot Mountain’s main slope, Johnson, 42, of Twin Lakes, Wis., nonetheless joined 350 other snowmobilers in Snow Climb ’99, the first snow climb drag race sponsored by the Harmony Snowmobile Club of Johnsburg.
Starting under the midday sun and ending in the evening under the ski slope lights, about 1,000 heats were run. Most races lasted about 6 to 8 seconds as groups of four snowmobilers at a time climbed 250 feet. More than 1,000 spectators cheered them on.
“This is a test of man and machine,” said Harmony Snowmobile Club President Bob Andronowitz of Johnsburg. “It depends on how well the racers set up their machines for the conditions, and how much guts they have to hang on.”
There were no crashes, but many machines went nearly airborne as they reached the top of the climb. Johnson figured that would happen, as he knew the hill better than just about any other racer.
A firefighter in Kenosha, Johnson has worked part time in a number of jobs at Wilmot Mountain since 1974. He said he and other resort employees often talked about running their snowmobiles up the hill.
“We never had the chance till now,” he said about 90 minutes before the races began. “I’m excited. There are some bumps up there, which means there’s a chance to grab some air. If you come down off-balance, you could roll down the hill.”
That risk notwithstanding, Johnson said his race strategy would be as follows: “Sit down, shut up, pull the trigger and hang on.”
Johnson and other racers began arriving four hours before the races started, both to register and pay their $20 entry fee and to tune their machines to the conditions.
The temperature was nearly 60 degrees by race time, which required many racers to adjust carburetors, as most machines were set to run in colder temperatures. Many racers also adjusted the clutches on their machines to improve the grip on the snow, which was hard-packed and slippery.
As evening arrived, the machines had to be adjusted again because the temperature was falling.
The top two finishers in each heat in 11 race classes survived for races to determine the winner in each class. Johnson finished third in the first heat of his 600-cc class race, which eliminated him for the rest of the day. His 18-year-old son, A.J., had a similar result in his first heat. But they both said they had fun.
“We’re looking forward to next year,” Johnson said. “The track was firm but slippery. You had to work to keep under control. Up near the top we got some air. I walked through the crowd afterward. A lot of people were excited about it. When some of those machines got near the top and the skis came 2 or 3 feet off the ground, I heard lots of oohs and ahhs.”
Andronowitz had estimated about 250 racers would participate, but the event ended up with 351 entrants, some from more than 150 miles away.
The idea for the uphill drag races grew out of a desire to get one more snowmobiling event out of the season, which was a poor one for area snowmobiling enthusiasts.
“The mild winters the last couple of years haven’t been conducive to snowmobiling around here,” Andronowitz said.
Mother Nature may not have put down a lot of snow, but the snowmaking machines at Wilmot Mountain did. So the club asked Wilmot Mountain managers about having snowmobilers test their machines and driving skills by racing up the hill. Management agreed to the idea.
Bill Ryan, 36, of Fox Lake is glad they did.
“I tried my best to do a lot of riding this year,” he said as he adjusted the clutch on his Ski-Doo 670-cc sled. “I thought I’d try to get one more time out of it. This will be the first time I’ve done anything like this. I think it will be fun no matter what happens.”
Racers seemed unfazed by the steep climb and fast speeds. Not so some spectators. Lisa Bernstein of Evansville, Wis., admitted to some apprehension as she scanned the pit area in hopes of spotting her husband, Randy, who was waiting to run his first heat.
“This is kind of scary,” she said. “Randy has done drags before, but never anything like this. We had never even heard of an uphill drag race before. We didn’t know what it would be like. But he works on his sled all the time and he likes challenges. I’m sure he’ll have fun out there today.”
