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SNOW

MOTION

A SPECIAL PUBLICATION OF THE BOZEMAN DAILY CHRONICLE

2016 A WINTER MOTORSPORTS GUIDE TO SOUTHWESTERN MONTANA

March 11-13 // West Yellowstone

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SNOWMOTION • BIG SKY PUBLISHING • FEBRUARY 28, 2016

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FEBRUARY 28, 2016 • BIG SKY PUBLISHING • SNOWMOTION

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West Yellowstone Snowmobile EXPO returns March 10–13, 2016 West Yellowstone’s annual Snowmobile EXPO & Powersports Show returns for a 26th year Thursday, March 10, through Sunday, March 13, 2016. “It’s the best end-of-season power sports weekend in the West,” said Marge Wanner, West Yellowstone Chamber Snowmobile Events Coordinator. “EXPO is kind of like a family reunion. People bring their friends, look at new stuff and come to have a good time.”

EXPO combines a weekend of snowmobile and snow bike racing, motorcycle freestyle exhibitions, concerts on snow and a snowmobile airshow, along with the premiere of the new 2017 snowmobile models by the manufacturers.

OHVs, boats, trailers, RVs, aftermarket parts, clothing,and more will also be on display at the EXPO hall at the West Yellowstone Holiday Inn Conference Center. A weekend pass is just $16(kids 12 and younger are free), and covers all events at the track and exhibition location. More information and a schedule are available at www. snowmobileexpo.com.

National circuit snow bike racing is new for this year’s EXPO. Snow Bike MX will present Round 3 National Snow Bike Race Series with plenty of knockdown, bar-banging, jaw-dropping, ski-to-ski action featuring really fast guys on really fast bikes.

Open to all snow bikes, practice starts Sunday, March 13 at 9 a.m.; racing starts at 10 a.m. Onsite demo rides will be available too (must be 18).

Arctic Cat manufacturer reps and regional dealerships will offer a chance to not only look at their new 2017 models, but to ride one. Demo rides will be offered during the weekend.

Vintage snowmobiles and vintage racing are more popular than ever, and EXPO provides the opportunity to see both.

The 13th Annual Vintage Snowmobile Exhibit and Show returns on Saturday, March 12, hosted by Western States Vintage Snowmobile Association and located at the EXPO Race Track on Iris Street. This annual show, competition and display is one of the largest gatherings of vintage and antique snowmobiles in the West, with U.S. and Canadian participants from all over the snow belt. The featured

Year Class is 1975, with prizes and special awards for People’s Choice, Best of Show and WSVSA Sled of the Year.

Mountain West Racing (MWR) Vintage Racing returns with expanded classes, races and a specially designed race course. The entire race course is being reconfigured as an oval. MWR Vintage Snowmobile Oval Races start Friday, March 11, at noon two qualifiers. Finals start at 2:30 p.m. Saturday races will follow the same schedule. Classes will include stock and mod single cylinder, 340 and 440 fan cooled, and 340 and 440 free air, plus 440 Early Fan (74 and older), 340 L/C Mod, & 440 L/C Mod. Races are limited to snowmobiles Year 1980 and older. MWR will also run Junior SnoCross Racing, including Junior 10-13, Transition 300 and Transition 500.

Junior SnoCross classes are offered Friday and Saturday morning.

The 120 Western Grand Championship brings upcoming superstars together to vie for the 2016 Champion 120 Title. 120cc racing is a special event for all youngsters, who compete in three classes: 120 Stock, Speed Limited and 120 Champ.

Kids ages 4 to 12 have a chance to try racing or gain racing experience. Open to everyone. Must register; no membership required.

Kids ages 5 to 10 can try out their own kidsized snowmobiles with free M120 snowmobile rides at the M120 demo track located just south of the Vintage Snowmobile Show area on Iris Street.

The free rides are offered from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Bigger “kids” can try out the new 2016 snowmobile models. Manufacturers will be offering free demo rides. Timbersled will offer first come, first served demo rides (proper riding safety gear required) on Iris Street just south of the race track.

We can’t wait to have SWOOP Productions back for another Saturday afternoon exhibition of thrilling, inspiring sport-bike freestyle exhibitions for bike fanatics of all ages. This free show starts at 4 p.m. on Canyon Avenue in downtown West Yellowstone.

Swoop Productions is a rider-formed company showcasing the exciting spectacle of freestyle street bike and Harley Davidson stunts and some of the most talented FMX riders in the world.

EXPO kicks off Thursday night with famous Casino Night, where anyone can become a millionaire (with funny money!), and a Calcutta for the vintage racers. Wild Bill Octane Nights concerts on snow return Friday and Saturday nights, featuring live music, back-flipping snowmobiles, a benefit auction and more.

Taking the stage Friday night are upcoming country western artists Clare Dunn and Chris Janson. Saturday night features Cody Canada and the Departed, with returning favorite Sawyer Brown closing out the show. Between the bands on both nights, Octane Addictions will present an exciting freestyle snowmobile show with X-Game riders Willie Elam, Brett Turcotte and Josh Penner.

Parking is available near all EXPO venues and throughout West Yellowstone. Shuttles will offer pickups and dropoffs at major hotels and downtown locations, including the SWOOP and concert events Friday and Saturday nights.

West Yellowstone offers a full range of lodging options at www. yellowstonedesination.com. For more information on restaurants, shops, snowmobile rentals and other winter activities, visit www. yellowstonedesination.com.play. Or stop by the West Yellowstone Visitor Center at 30 Yellowstone Ave. (406-646-7701).

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SNOWMOTION • BIG SKY PUBLISHING • FEBRUARY 28, 2016

Wild Bill Octane Nights 2016 will feature live music, back flipping snowmobiles, benefit auction and more on Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12, 2016.

The concerts are held on the weekend nights of the annual West Yellowstone Snowmobile EXPO and Powersports Show.

WILD BILL O C TA N E NIGHTS ON SNOW RETURNS

Friday night artists include upcoming country western artists CLARE DUNN AND CHRIS JANSON. Saturday night features Cody Canada and the Departed, and returning favorite, Sawyer Brown, closing out the show. Octane Addictions will also present an exciting freestyle snowmobile show between the bands on both nights with X-Game riders Willie Elam, Brett Turcotte and Josh Penner.

Katrina Mann, founder and director of Wild Bill Productions, says that their organization is also dedicated to giving back something each year. In 2015, contributions were made to the West Yellowstone Football program and two young children battling cancer, states Mann. “This year, a live auction is planned, along with other fun things to benefit a four year old girl who has battled lifelong health problems.”

West Yellowstone’s Pioneer Park is turned into an outdoor concert venue for the weekend.

Snowmobile groomers create the hills for the freestyle jumps and “snow bleachers.” Dress warmly with waterproof footgear and bring a blanket or chair to sit on the “stands.” A large stage and sound systems are constructed on adjoining streets. Within the park, there will be food and beverage vendors, a beer garden and full liquor bar, and porta-potties.

Gates open at 5:30 PM and bands begin at 6

PM. Free in-town shuttles will be available.

Friday night’s line-up starts with Clare Dunn, followed by Chris Janson.

Born on a farm in Southeast Colorado near the Oklahoma panhandle, Clare Dunn’s roots run deep in the heart of Dust Bowl country. Her debut single “Get Out” made her the highest charting independent female artist on the Music Row Country Breakout chart in 10 years. She was also named by USA Today, Boston Globe, Billboard and leading Country music website Roughstock, as “One To Watch” in 2015 and Music Row Magazine named Dunn a “Next Big Thing” for 2015.

Chris Janson has never doubted who he is. He’s a devoted husband, a passionate father, a hit songwriter, a wildly entertaining performer and, now, a Number One country artist. All those elements influence “Buy Me a Boat”, his debut solo album for Warner Bros. Records/Warner Music Nashville. As a first-time ACM Awards nominee,

FEBRUARY 28, 2016 • BIG SKY PUBLISHING • SNOWMOTION

Janson earned three nominations, including New Male Vocalist of the Year, and is twice nominated as both artist and producer in the Single Record of the Year category for “Buy Me A Boat.”

Saturday night kicks off with CODY CANADA AND THE DEPARTED. Canada, Jeremy Plato, Chris Doege and Steve Littleton are reopening the doors to a sonic garage where sounds and stories some thought were gone for good are now being unleashed onto an eager public after a few years of fruitful—even risky—artistic diversion.

Unsurprisingly, fans are exuberantly responding to the inclusion of classics such as “Alabama,” “Dimebag,” and “17” into set-lists for Departed shows. The refitted outfit is channeling the power chords and raw-bone ballads which vaulted Canada into the status as Red Dirt’s biggest name for so long.

SAWYER BROWN closes Saturday night with a long anticipated return to West Yellowstone and outdoor winter concerts. Sawyer Brown was a Far left: Chris Janson Upper left: Claire Dunn Left: Cody Canada and the Departed Below: Sawyer Brown

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favorite at the 2005 Snow Blast. Now, with more than a million miles behind them, 23 albums and more than 50 chart singles, they are back again.

TICKETS ARE ON SALE at wildbilloctanenights. com or call 406-640-0725.

TICKET PRICES are $59.00/night or a combined Friday and Saturday night pass for $99. Children ages

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SNOWMOTION • BIG SKY PUBLISHING • FEBRUARY 28, 2016

Snow Bike Racing

comes to West Yellowstone Snowmobile EXPO and Powersports Show

Picture a dirt bike with a ski in the place of a front wheel and a snowmobile tread instead of a rear wheel, and you have a snow bike! Snow bikes have now been around for eight years and there are an increasing number of different manufacturers of snow bike kits, which fit most modern dirt bikes with a front ski and small track.

O

ne company, Timbersled located in northwestern Idaho, sells kits that convert the lower half of a traditional dirt bike into something that can porpoise through deep powder.

Its bestseller, the “Mountain Horse,” costs about $5,300. Polaris Industries recently purchased Timbersled because they believe they can steer the machines into the mainstream— catering to off-road motorcycle riders who don’t have the money to get into snowmobiling.

The cost of a snow bike kit is far lower than a snowmobile, as long as the buyer already owns a dirt bike. Although snow bike kits are fairly expensive, ($5,000 to $7,000) economies of scale should help to drop prices as bigger players jump in such as Polaris, Arctic Cat and KTM. Snow bike racing has jumped from localized races to a new National Snow Bike MX Series that kicked off with Round One at the McCall Idaho Winter Carnival in January. “Our sport has arrived and is ready to go big-time!” states Ron Dillon, Snow Bike MX organizer. “We are the next big thing and we are proud that snow biking was born in the USA, specifically in Idaho.”

“After tweaking and fine tuning

FEBRUARY 28, 2016 • BIG SKY PUBLISHING • SNOWMOTION

our sport’s one, big annual event, Flashpoint in McCall, Idaho, since 2009, we have grown enough to finally launch a five-race National Series in 2016, and we are already looking at expanding it with more events in 2017 and beyond.”

This sport makes perfect sense for retired, famous pro motorcycle racers like Steve Hatch and Chuck Sun and others. This is exactly what happened when Supermoto began. Jeff Ward, Micky Dymond, Doug Henry and other retired motocrossers jumped on board, anxious to once again compete.

There were a record number of riders and spectators in McCall.

Almost every brand of kit was on hand at the race including: North Idaho’s Timbersled and Moto Trax, Montana’s CMX, (whose machines were fitted with the new Raptor twin-ski front end) Southern Idaho’s 2Moto, Canada’s exotic Yeti and the new Snow Tech MX unit from Utah.

Here in Montana, Snow Bike MX will present Round #3 of the National Snow Bike Race Series on Sunday, March 13, 2016, at the West Yellowstone Annual Snowmobile EXPO and Powersports Show. Practice starts at 9 a.m. at the EXPO Racetrack located on Iris Street, and racing starts at 10 a.m.

Have a snow bike and want to try racing?

Races are open to all snow bikes. Register in advance at www.flashpoint.com or register on the day of the race at the track starting at 7:30 AM. There will be two classes, men’s and the new women’s class.

All engine sizes and mods are legal at this time EXCEPT Nitrous and turbos which are illegal. At each MX event, qualifying runs determine 10-person A Mains, B Mains, C Mains and D Mains for the men and a women’s main event.

Snow bike racing has its own unique machines and tracks.

“We like a track that has plenty of smaller jumps and isn’t too fast or too slow,” explains Ron Dillon. “We don’t use starting gates, we use flag starts and those who jump get a restart and start facing backward, just like old time motocross. Our tracks are always groomed to keep them from getting too torn up.”

Snow bike racers are getting faster every year as they continue to refine their riding skills, and companies such as Fox and Raptor tweak and improve suspension components.

“Snow bike racing is a blast to watch and can be placed right in front of the fans,” says Dillon. “When snow bikes crash, riders rarely get injured, and the machines stop immediately. There is no flying debris…no rocks, no sand, no dust. They do not roll or tumble, so they can be closer to crowds.”

Interested in trying out a snow bike?

There will be snow bike demos on Sunday where the public can try out a snow bike. (You must 18 or older to ride.)

For more information on EXPO and the snow bike racing event, go to www.snowmobileexpo.com.

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SNOWMOTION • BIG SKY PUBLISHING • FEBRUARY 28, 2016

Swoop Motorcycles Doubling Up with TWIN STUNTS

Swoop Productions, out of Boulder, Montana, returns to Snowmobile EXPO 2016 with a smokin’ loud two-wheeled stunt show of favorite riders and TwinStunts, the thrill sport’s newest act out of Valders, Wisconsin.

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“They’re twin brothers, and what they do together is crazy,” said Brian Giordano, Swoop’s owner and main mike man since 2007. “They do tandem stunt riding with two bikes. Then they do wild stunts with both of them on one bike. They’re very, very talented.” Crowds love them, and they’re only going to get bigger, he added.

Swoop’s show of out-of-this-world stunts with audience participation and noise, noise, noise is a free Saturday afternoon exhibition of freestyle street bike tricks and Harley Davidson daring to entertain ages 3 to 73. It begins at 4 p.m., March 12, on Canyon Avenue in downtown West Yellowstone.

Giordano and Harley stunt rider Rob Carpenter started Swoop together, with Carpenter as the rider and Giordano on promotion. It was a small operation that has grown up to be a regular, featured act at the Sturgis bike rally and made appearances at Evil Knievel Days in Butte, MontanaFair in Billings and state fairs across the West.

Carpenter, from Billings, is back this year with his Harley Sportser.

Also returning will be Combat Barbie, who is on her way to becoming one of the top female stunt riders. “Little girls really like her,” Giordano said. “She’s a good competitor, and getting better every year. She just doesn’t give up.”

Also popular with kids and fans of all ages are 20-year-old fraternal twins Sawyer and Shannon Schmidtman, who took their TwinStunts act on the road last November and now have a fan club in South Africa. They ride 2001 Honda CBR500s and a 2015 Honda Grom. They’ve been stunt riding since they were 18 but got their start in motocross when they were four. They raced for years with their dad. Even their mom is a fan of their motorcycle show.

“We start out on our own bikes at separate ends of the street with high-speed team runs, doing the same tricks but in opposite directions,” Sawyer said. “Then I hop on his bike and we ride one together and do stunts. It’s a high intensity show.

Anyone who meets us knows we’re always having fun, we’re always together, and we come as a pair. It’s good to have your best friend with you.”

They do have little arguments, Shannon admitted, “but five minutes later it’s like it pretty much never happened. And no one believes we’re not identical, because there are only very slight cosmetic features that are different.”

The brothers practice three to four hours a day, watch stunt videos from around the world to study technique, work to raise money for their touring, and are a semester away from finishing associate’s degrees. “In the next few years we want to see the whole U.S., travel the world and become two of the top riders. We want to help grow the sport,” Shannon added.

Like all Swoop performers, TwinStunts takes pride in wearing protective gear.

They advise their audiences to do the same, to ride safely and not do stunts in the streets. They practice in fields or the parking lot of their dad’s business after closing hours. “We’re professionals now,” Sawyer explained. “Lately, we’ve been plowing a lot of snow to practice.”

All the Swoop riders will end the show with multicolored, heat-smokin’ tire burnouts. You don’t want to miss the excitement.

FEBRUARY 28, 2016 • BIG SKY PUBLISHING • SNOWMOTION

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SNOWMOTION • BIG SKY PUBLISHING • FEBRUARY 28, 2016

2016

SCHEDULE A L L E V E N T S AT E X P O H E A D Q U A R T E R S­—

T H U R S DAY, M A R C H 10

5:30 pm – 7:30 pm ..............MWR & Vintage Racer Check-in and Registration 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm ..............Casino Night

8:30 pm – 9:30 pm ..............Calcutta for Vintage Racers

F R I DAY, M A R C H 11

WEST YE LLOWSTONE H O L I DAY I N N

8:00 am – 7:00 pm ..............EXPO INFO Desk & Ticket Will Call 8:00 am – 10:30 am.............MWR 120 & Junior SnoCross Qualifying @ Track 9:00 am – 3:00 pm...............Arctic Cat 2017 Model Demo Rides @ south of Track 9:00 am – 3:00 pm...............Timbersled Demo Rides @ south of Track 10:00 am – 10:15 am...........Exhibitor Opening Ceremonies 10:15 am – 6:00 pm.............Expo Exhibit Hall & Tent @ Holiday Inn

10:30 am – 12:00 pm ..........MWR 120 & Junior SnoCross Finals @ Track 12:00 pm – 2:30 pm ............MWR Vintage Oval Racing Qualifying @ Track 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm...............MWR Vintage Oval Racing Finals 5:30 pm.................................Concert Gates Open @ Pioneer (City Park) 6:00 pm – 7:45 pm...............WSVSA Vintage Snowmobile Round Up Registration 6:00 pm – 10:30 pm............Concert—Clare Dunn & Chris Janson

Octane Addictions Snowmobile Freestyle Show

S AT U R DAY, M A R C H 12

7:30 am – 8:30 am...............Drag Racer Registration @ Drag Track

8:00 am – 10:30 am.............Western Grand Championship M120 Races & Jr SnoCross Qualifying 9:00 am – 6:00 pm ..............EXPO Exhibit Hall & Tent @ Holiday Inn

9:00 am – 4:00 pm...............Arctic Cat 2017 Model Demo Rides @ south of Track

9:00 am – 4:00 pm...............Timbersled Demo Rides @ south of Track 9:00 am – 5:00 pm...............WSVSA Vintage Snowmobile Show & Round Up @ Track 10:00 am – 3:00 pm.............Free M120 Snowmobiles Rides for Kids 3-12 @ south of Track 10:30 am – 12:00 pm..........WGN M120 & Junior SnoCross Finals

12:00 pm – 2:30 pm............MWR Vintage Oval Racing Qualifying @ Track

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm...............Octane Addictions Freestyle Snowmobile Airshow Practice (free) 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm...............MWR Vintage Oval Racing Finals 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm...............SWOOP Motorcycle Freestyle Show (free) @ Downtown 5:30 pm.................................Concert Gates Open @ Pioneer (City Park) 5:30 pm – 11:00 pm............Concert—Cody Canada and the Departed & Sawyer Brown

Octane Addictions Snowmobile Freestyle Show 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm...............WSVSA Vintage Snowmobile Association Banquet

S U N DAY, M A R C H 13

9:00 am – 2:00 pm...............EXPO Exhibit Hours @ Holiday Inn Convention Center 9:00 am – 10:00 am.............Snow Bike MX Racing Practice 9:00 am – 12:30 pm.............Snow Bike MX Demos (open to the public) 10:00 am – 12:30 pm..........Snow Bike MX—Round 3 National Snow Bike Race Series

FEBRUARY 28, 2016 • BIG SKY PUBLISHING • SNOWMOTION

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