Yukon Hard Water Racing held its fourth annual snowmobile races on Pine Lake from March 15 to 16, featuring over 100 participants from the Yukon, Northern B.C. and the N.W.T.
“People came from all over. Some people came from Watson Lake (and) Atlin. Actually, this year we had some people travel down from the N.W.T., from Inuvik and Fort McPherson, which was pretty cool,” said event organizer Cory Magnuson.
The weekend snowmobile races included competitions for kids, adults and women, with cash prizes awarded during the final cross-country race a a three-kilometre course built using a heavy equipment snowcat machine, Magnuson said.
Magnuson explained that three race tracks were constructed over three weeks leading up to the race around the Pine Lake area, which is approximately nine kilometres from Haines Junction. During the weekend of races, contenders raced on three tracks designed for the kids' races, drag racing and a cross-country track for the main event, featuring moguls, bumps, jumps and challenging corners.
The main cross-country event took place on March 16 with cash prizes up for grabs. First-place finisher Isaac Lenny won $4,000, Jason Adams placed second with $2,000 and Scott Smeaton took third with $1,000.
The main event involved qualifying heats and a final race, which Magnuson noted attracted many spectators.
The emphasis of the event was to bring the community together for a weekend of fun and family-friendly races open to anyone with a snowmobile, according to the organizer.
“We just tried to make it more of an affordable, family-oriented event where everybody who has an old beater in their backyard can come out, race and have a good day,” Magnuson said.
Children from communities in the Canadian North lined up to race in groups of five at a time, completing three laps over a specially built track.
Magnuson mentioned it took him about three weeks to build the track. The kids' track is separate from the adult cross-country and drag racing tracks, making it a family-oriented event with something for everyone, he said. He added that organized snowmobile racing fizzled out around 20 years ago but that the organizers with Yukon Hard Water Racing wanted to bring back the sport for Yukoners to enjoy in a relaxed setting.
"There was a lot of it (motor sports) 20 years ago. The societies and volunteers were just getting worn out and somewhat beat up, I guess. So it kind of all just seemed to fizzle out. So we kind of just tried to rejuvenate it, with not as much of an aggressive racing approach, as far as trying to get pro racers or anything like that," Magnuson said.
Although Yukon Hard Water Racing's annual event wrapped up last weekend, another organized snowmobile drag race is set to take place on Watson Lake on March 29.
Contact Jake Howarth at jake.howarth@yukon-news.com
