DENVER COLORADO - Winter X Games is bringing back Hillcross. It will be added to the line-up for the 2015 Winter X Games in Aspen, CO, January 22-25.
This event will be invite-only, with 24 athletes competing. Six of those invites are up for grabs at the annual Roost the Butte Hillclimb, held at Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR).
Roost the Butte began in 2013, as the brain-child of Scott Clarkson, marketing director of CBMR and Snowmobile Sport Organizer Joe Duncan. Now in it’s third year, Roost the Butte is the model of building a successful event. Prior to the addition of the Hillcross event to Winter X, CBMR’s has attracted A-list racing teams like LaVallee, Judnick Motorsports and Hentges Racing with the opportunity for high-altitude training prior to Winter X.
With the addition of the Hillcross event to Winter X Games, Roost the Butte is sure to draw a wide gamut of professional and amateur snowmobilers across multiple disciplines. There have been over 100 inquries about qualifying for the Winter X Games Hillcross, so there's going to be some fierce competition for those six remaining invites.
“The X Games are right over the mountain in Aspen, literally fifteen miles from here," said Duncan. "Having the same or similar elevation, X Games athletes are able come out here and actually be able to test. They’re able to not only test their sleds for jetting and clutching, but their bodies, to acclimate themselves to the 9,000-plus feet. Crested Butte provides a great location, so similar to Aspen, so they can be ready for, what of course, is our Super Bowl of snowmobile events, the X Games.”
However, this event isn’t just about the Winter X Games. Roost the Butte has gained a huge amount of traction with is partnership with RMSR, a Colorado-based racing circuit. Roost the Butte includes not only Hillcross, but Snocross, oval, hill drags, vintage, and youth disciplines. RMSR and Joe Duncan both tout that this event really encourages local participation as well as professional competition. Class structures have further supported the whispered motto of Roost the Butte "Run Whatcha Brung." Over 75 competitors attended the event in 2014 and the race had thousands of dollars in payouts.
In a shift to use this event to select Hillcross/Hillclimb talent for Winter X, the 2015 Roost the Butte event has been moved back one weekend to January 10-11, with January 9 as a test and tune day.
More information can be obtained by visiting www.RMSRracing.com or by emailing info@rmsrracing.com.