Sports

Aklestad, Sullivan zoom to record 6th Arctic Man title

Tyler Aklestad and Marco Sullivan became the most victorious duo in Arctic Man history Friday afternoon in the Hoodoo Mountains.

Aklestad and Sullivan finished the 5-plus mile course in 4 minutes, .65 seconds to win their sixth Arctic Man title.

Wildly popular with spectators, Arctic Man combines snowmachining with either skiing or snowboarding. The skiers and snowboarders zoom down one mountain into a canyon where they grab a towline on their partner's already-moving snowmachine and get pulled up another mountain for another descent.

Aklestad, a former Iron Dog champion, and Sullivan, a former Olympic skier, beat the team of skier Scott Montalbo and driver Tyson Johnson by less than one second. Montalbo and Johnson clocked 4:01.59.

The lack of snow posed a different kind of challenge this year. Instead of avalanche danger, competitors had to deal with rocks, dirt and water. John Thies, a race official, estimated work crews spent about 24 hours throughout the week — at night — moving snow to prep the course.

Sullivan and Aklestad entered the race tied with Eric Heil and Len Story for the most wins in the 32-year-old race. Heil and Story, who first victory came in 1993, placed fifth with a time of 4:10.98.

The highest-profile team in the race — skier Daron Rahlves of California, a three-time World Championship medalist and four-time Olympian, and snowmachiner Levi LaVallee of Minnesota, an 11-time X Games medalist, placed fourth in 4:07.58.

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"The course was tough with the lack of snow for all the teams," Sullivan said. "We just had less mistakes."

Sullivan said there was a moment during the hook-up where he bobbled the tow rope, but he was able to recover and have a great run.

Other winners were Jayson Hale and Tyson Johnson in the men's snowboard division (4:31.65), Faye Gulini and Rachel Kidwell in the women's snowboard division (5:14.45) and Natalie Van Nostrand and Cortni Brown in the women's ski division (4:59.07). Twenty-one teams completed the race.

Moanna Bradshaw of Valdez, who teamed up with Mariah Dugan of Salt Lake City to finished second in the women's snowboard division in 5:22.96, said she used a GPS device to clock her team's top speed of 80.2 mph.

"We finished and that's half the battle," she said. "It was gnar-gnar. My worst fear is looking back and seeing no one there."

Dugan has competed in two dozen snowboard races and competitions Outside, and said there is nothing that compares to Arctic Man.

"You're getting towed 80 miles per hour," she said. "I'm just happy to be standing at the finish line rather than be splattered on the course somewhere."

Dugan said the course was fast and scary. She described coming down from the first summit into the canyon before the hookup.

"There was a rock the size of a football in my path," she said. "I had to ollie (jumping on a snowboard without a ramp) over it and as I landed I was going off course."

Dugan said she was able to stay on course somehow. She also said her driver "was on point today."

The Arctic Man was first held in 1986, the brainchild of Howie Thies. He said the race was born out of a bet he made with a fellow skier.

"We used to ski here in college all the time," Thies said. "I said, 'I bet I could kick your (expletive) from the top of The Tit.' "

Thies said the guy took him up on the bet. Thies said he and his snowmachine driver were drinking tequila the next day before the race, helping to set the tone for the Arctic Man's spring-break party atmosphere.

"The more we drank the smarter we got," said Thies, who said he won the bet and formed a nonprofit corporation for the race the next year.

There were rumors that this year's race would be the last, but Thies said the rumors — which he started — were false.

"I put the rumor out there to get their attention," he said. "Sometimes you've got to keep their attention."

Thies said he plans to create amateur and pro divisions in the future.

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