Photos by RLTPhotos
Delayed and rescheduled from late January due to warm weather, the 2024 RMSHA season opener finally kicked off last weekend at the Salt Pass Border Dash in Geneva, Idaho.
The Rocky Mountain States Hillclimb Association (RMSHA) changed its finals day running order to match what happens at the Jackson World Championships Snowmobile Hillclimb. Essentially now the finals run each class of the displacement category. Finals day begins with Pro 600 Stock, then Pro 600 Improved and Pro 600 Modified, followed by Pro 700 Stock, Pro 700 Improved and Pro 700 Modified and so on.
The change in running order ensures the course is more technical for the bigger-displacement Pro classes as the day progresses.
Pro 600
Carson Irmen kicked off the day's Pro Finals with a win in Pro 600 Stock aboard his Arctic Cat. Irmen had a 5-tenths of a second margin of victory over second-place finisher Jayden Cook. Kyle Heap finished third in the class.
Victor, Idaho, native Riley Kincaid won Pro 600 Improved wtih a time of 1:10.63. Tanner Thomas finished second, with a time roughly two seconds off of Kincaid's. Jayden Cook finished third.
Pro 600 Modified saw Justin Thomas clock the fastest run of the day with a 1:00.43 time, over seven seconds faster than second-place finisher Colton Olstad. Beau Richan finished third.
Pro 700
Taylor Lindy won Pro 700 Stock on his Polaris wtih a fast 1:03.00 time. Cole Thomas finished second in the class with Dylan Hart wrapping up third.
Dylan Hart picked off a victory in Pro 700 Improved wtih a 1:19.05. Tanner Meyers took second with a 1:20.46, followed by Riley Kincaid at 1:27.03.
Justin Thomas kept the momentum rolling with his second win of the day in Pro 700 Modified. Thomas clocked a time of 1:15.89. Dylan Hard finished second with 1:21.45. Kyle Pulsifer took home third with 1:23.30.
Pro 900
Keith Curtis snagged his first-of-four class victories with a win in Pro 900 Stock. Curtis clocked 1:14.60. Factory Polaris Racing teammate Andy Thomas took second with a 1:16.43. Luke Rainey took home third with 1:20.64.
Keith Curtis repeated in Pro 900 Improved, besting his earlier win time by 0.08 of a second. Luke Rainey clocked a 1:15.22 for second and Toby Shepherd finished third in the class with 1:22 flat.
Ski-Doo's Blaine Mathews had his best run of the weekend in Pro 900 Modified to win wtih a 1:12.06 run time. Justin Thomas finished second, just over a tenth of a second off Mathews' time. Sam Peterson wrapped up third wtih 1:14.81.
Pro 1000
The course became more technical through the day, and that showed in Pro 1000 Stock with the tip three riders finishing within one-tenth of a second of each other. Sam Peterson won with a clocked time of 1:17.76. Luke Rainey took second wtih a clocked time of 1:17.854 and Blaine Mathews third with 1:17.855 –– one thousandth of a second off of Rainey.
Afton, Wyoming's Cole Thomas grabbed a vitctory in Pro 1000 Improved over Colby Crapo with a 1:18.24 to Crapo's 1:22.59. Brock Sharp took third with 1:24.12.
Keith Curtis came out swinging in Pro Open Stock after taking a 5th in Pro 900 Mod, getting back on top of the box with 1:15.45 time to win. Sam Peterson took second in Pro Open Stock wtih 1:16.60 and Andy Thomas rounded out the podium with 1:18.36.
Keith Curtis dominated in Pro Open Modified, winning by over three seconds with a 1:11.86 run time. Cole Thomas finished second with 1:14.05 andCole's brother Andy Thomas took home third with 1:14.55.
Kings
Polaris' Sam Peterson won Stock Premier King.
Polaris' Keith Curtis won Improved Premier King.
Polaris' Keith Curtis also won Mod Premier King.
Ski-Doo's Brooke Long won Queen.
Ski-Doo's Brad Sharp won Pro Senior King.
Polaris' Kaiden Rainey won Semi-Pro King.
Click here for full results.