Harley Rider Travis Whitlock Wins First-ever Snow Hill Climb Gold Medal
Harley-Davidson sponsored a new and gnarly twist on the age-old hill climb racing format at recent Winter X Games.
Hill climb events are almost as old as motorcycling itself. It’s man and machine battling nature and physics. This year’s Winter X Games extreme sports competition took place on Jan. 28 in Aspen, Colorado, and for the first time ever, it included a new sport: the snow hill climb. Yes, you read that right: Snow hill climb. As if dirt, mud, and dust weren’t difficult enough to traverse uphill, this event, adds treacherous snow and ice to the mix. The climb is done on a Harley custom built for the event, and it’s one hell of a tough competition.
The snow hill climb is about as extreme a motorsport as you’ll find, with even the most successful competitors finding themselves bruised, bloodied, and exhausted. It makes sense, then, that Harley-Davidson would sponsor the Snow Hill climb event that took place at the Winter X Games. When it comes to breaking the rules and taking risks, Harley-Davidson is a perfect fit.
“People are seeing how cool hill climbing is. Big horse-powered bikes do crazy things,” Travis Whitlock, rider and X Games Gold medalist recently told Utah’s Daily Herald. “It’s a pure adrenaline rush.”
In this harrowing, difficult competition, one competitor stood above the rest and brought home the gold. Travis Whitlock, of Springville, Utah, won the event, which serves as the proverbial cherry on top of his 14 previous national and three world championships.
‘People are seeing how cool hill climbing is. Big horse-powered bikes do crazy things. It’s a pure adrenaline rush.’
To navigate a steep, uphill track on two wheels, you need a cool head, a perfect sense of balance, and expert control of your machine. Whitlock is uniquely qualified. He’s been competing in hill-climbing since he was 10 years old. At 48, he was one of the oldest competitors, and one of the fiercest. He has even trained some of the folks he’d one day face in X Games competitions. “I’ve taught a lot of people I’ve competed against,” says Whitlock.
But this icy terrain was a first even for the veteran Whitlock — a first, and a dream realized.
“I have a bucket list of things for me,” he says. “This is another thing come true.”
As stated above, while he’s been successful in motorsports, Whitlock hasn’t escaped the inevitable: “I’ve been pretty lucky and escaped serious injuries,” he says. “I’ve only had some broken bones.”
That quote should tell you everything to know about hill climbers. They’re a different breed of motorcyclist and athlete — the toughest of the tough. Check out Whitlock’s winning run below.
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