"We should have saved the partying for tonight," rookie Rebekah Coats of Salcha said after teaming up with Kerre Smith of Government Camp, Ore., to win the women's ski division.
A high-speed rite of spring that draws more than 10,000 fans to the Hoodoo Mountains, action in the 5.75-mile Arctic Man starts atop a 5,800-foot peak. The skier or snowboarder descends about 1,700 feet to the bottom and grabs the tow-rope of a snowmachine that powers through a gully and to the top of another hill. There, the skier or snowboarder sling-shots off the towline and makes a 1,200-foot descent to the finish line
Coats has wanted to compete in Arctic Man for awhile but could never find a skier or snowboarder who wanted to be pulled by her Polaris snowmachine at speeds exceeding 70 mph. Then she found Smith, who races for a ski team in Oregon and was eager to take on the challenge.
"She flew in with two guys from her team, and I picked her up on Monday and we came up here," Coats said. "And she really rallied for us out there."
The pair completed the race in 4 minutes, 57.57 seconds, beating the Anchorage team of Lacy Saugstad and Jamie Hollis by just over two seconds (4:59.45).
The men's race was even closer.
Skier Marco Sullivan and snowmachiner Tyler Acklestad, back for the first time since their 2008 victory, edged Eric Heil and Len Story by one second, denying Heil and Story their sixth championship.
Acklestad, a top Iron Dog competitor from Palmer, raced with an injured knee, an injured thumb and a possible concussion, all suffered in a collision with another sled while inspecting canyons Friday night.
"Tyler kicked ass out there," said Sullivan, a 30-year-old from Truckee, Calif. "He had a limp this morning, but he said he could do it, and he rode like the maniac he is. He turned in a huge performance."
Acklestad drives a Ski-Doo, which now boasts seven wins in 26 years.
The winners clocked 4:17.76 to beat Heil and Story, who finished in 4:18.97. Heil and Story have won a record five Arctic Man races and hold the record for the fastest clocked speed, 91.6 mph.
"The course turned out really good, considering the weather," Sullivan said. "It was bumpy because of the new snow, but that ended up really fun. I think people were running a little slow because of the new snow, but that's to be expected, I guess. It was challenging, but fun, and that's the bottom line."
Six of the 24 men's ski teams did not finish the race, and a seventh came close to not finishing.
UAA skier Ryan Wolosyn did half of the race on one ski after the losing the other on a bump at the handoff point. He and teammate Micah Huss of Willow wound up 17th in 6:25.15, but the team that came after them weren't as fortunate. Wolosyn's lost ski ended up taking out the next racer, John Creel.
Race director Howard Thies said he plans to give Wolosyn and Creel their entry fees back as a reward for the way they handled adversity.
Eagle River's Tyson Johnson, driving a Ski-Doo, won the men's snowboarding race with partner Jayson Hale of Sierraville, Calif. Their time was 5:07.29, putting them well ahead of second-place James Scott of Fairbanks and Casey Boylan of Anchorage (5:27.16).
Six of the 15 men's snowboard teams failed to finish, and one team and none of the three women's snowboarding teams completed the race.
Tesoro Arctic Man Classic
Saturday's Final Results
Tesoro Arctic Man Classic
Saturday's final results (snowmachiner listed last)
Women's ski -- 1) Kerre Smith, Government Camp, Ore., Rebekah Coats, Salcha, 4:57.57; 2) Lacy Saugstad, Anchorage, Jamie Hollis, Anchorage, 4:59.45; 3) Heather Easter, Meadford, Mont., Leilah Crowley, Bozeman, Mont., 21:53.84.
Men's ski -- 1) Marco Sullivan, Truckee, Calif., Tyler Aklestad, Palmer, 4:17.76; 2) Eric Heil, Anchorage, Len Story, Anchorage, 4:18.97; 3) John Love, Girdwood, Cory Davis, Soldotna, 4:28.25; 4) T. Lamarr, Snowmass Village, Colo., Tyson Johnson, Eagle River, 4:28.32; 5) Scott Montalbo, Anchorage, Carly Davis, Soldotna, 4:28.54; 6) Dan McKay, Anchorage, Eric Quam, Palmer, 4:31.33; 7) Peter Kakes, Government Camp, Ore., Todd Palin, Wasilla, 4:34.97; 8) Luke Smith, Girdwood, Scott Smith, North Pole, 4:42.05; 9) Patrick Duran, Aspen, Colo., Robert Graeber, Willow, 4:43.08; 10) Steven Denning, Fairbanks, Jason Gunderson, Fairbanks, 4:44.01; 11) David Duclos, Anchorage, Rick Rodgers, Anchorage, 4:45.37; 12) James Binkley, Fairbanks, John Binkley, Fairbanks, 4:46.40; 13) Shannon Denning, Fairbanks, Kyle Conner, Willow, 4:48.54; 14) Nick Possenti, Fairbanks, Mike Possenti, Fairbanks, 5:15.54; 15) Jerry Riddle, Fairbanks, Jake Wegner, Fairbanks, 5:16.39; 16) Brian Buechler, Fairabnks, Nathan Adamczak, Fairbanks, 5:29.25; 17) Ryan Wolosyn, Anchorage, Micah Huss, Willow, 6:25.15; 18) Chad Smith, Anchorage, Travis Smith, Anchorage, 7:07.62.
Men's snowboard -- 1) Jayson Hale, Sierraville, Calif., Tyson Johnson, Eagle River, 5:07.29; 2) James Scott, Fairbanks, Casey Boylan, Fairbanks, 5:27.16; 3) Jonny Hammond, Chugiak, Larry Levine, Anchorage, 5:36.24; 4) Blake Hurlbut, Tacoma, Wash., Jon Bonilla, Maple Valley, Wash., 6:03.13; 5) Joshua Szmyd, Valdez, Rick Cullen, North Pole, 6:25.24; 6) Sean Wiedmaier, Fairbanks, John Wood, North Pole, 6:38.55; 7) Ben Fagan, Whitefish, Mont., Bradley Simanski, Fairbanks, 6:40.04; 8) Kevin Phillips, Fairbanks, Steve Phillips, Fairbanks, 7:26.91.
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