Racer insight spurs sled and gear innovation
The World’s Longest, Toughest Snowmobile Race isn’t for everyone or every snowmachine, or snowmobile, depending in what part of the country you reside. Sure, it takes a highly skilled racer, but equally as important are the parts and pieces of the snowmachine and the gear. The Iron Dog racecourse is the ideal proving grounds for all things snowmachine related. For decades, manufacturers have relied on the experiences and advice of veteran Iron Dog racers to improve upon the snowmachines, riding gear and safety apparel racers need.
Team 7 is breathing easier as their Ski-Doo 600 XRS snowmachines are settled into their Alaska homes and getting ready to put on the miles. Photo courtesy Tyler Aklestad
“For sure, what we learn from our Iron Dog racers is what we use to build a better product,” said Korey Cronquist, owner of Team CC Ski-Doo, who sponsors such racing teams as Tyler Aklestad and Nick Olstad (Team 7), Chad Gueco and Cody Moen (Team 8), Brad George, and Robby Schachle (Team 6), and Greg Strohmeyer and Stan James (Team 20).
Tyler Aklestad of Team 7, and the 2020 race champion, received his revamped Ski-Doo 600 XRS Competition this week, and by the time the race comes around, he and Olstad will have accumulated between 2,000 and 3,000 miles. Every racer who has competed will tell you that those miles are as much about getting in shape as they are about making sure their parts and pieces are Iron Dog tough.
The 2022 Ski-Doo’s “are coming with stronger rear suspension components, better two-ply tracks, and a few other refinements that make it almost ready to go,” Aklestad said. “Now you can just throw some studs on the track, and you are good to go.”
This poster in Team 10’s shop — “Designed in Rousseau, Proven in Alaska” — says it all. Racer feedback helps manufacturers deliver the best in snowmachine innovation. Photo courtesy Team 10
Racer Mike Morgan, of Team 10 was also excited to be on the new Polaris Cross Country 600, which essentially came to him race-ready. He and teammate Chris Olds – two-time back-to-back Iron Dog champions in 2018 and 2019 – provide regular feedback to Polaris on sled function.
“Previously, in every Iron Dog I’ve done, we take a consumer sled and modify it,” Morgan said. “On (the Cross Country 600), they put a lot of the stronger parts on it that we’ve run for years, and the rear suspension that we’ve ran the last few seasons. We’re really happy to see them do this race sled for us.”
Chris Graeber, general manager of Hatcher Pass Polaris, said the Cross Country 600 was made in limited quantities and is only available to racers.
“It was designed during Iron Dog last year,” Graeber said. “It’s exclusive to racers only, and we have close to 26 ourselves at our dealership. I would say at least 90 percent of Polaris racers will be on the Cross Country.”
These improvements show an evolution of snowmachines that not only is resulting in a better product, but also changing the way racers strategize. With better suspension and sturdier shocks, these sleds are better equipped to handle the demands of the unforgiving Iron Dog racecourse. Many racers don’t carry as many spare parts as they once did, as stronger materials and improved technology have made once-easily damaged parts bombproof.
“The terrain up here is so much gnarlier, and there is no rhythm to the bumps,” Morgan said. “You’re just hitting hard edges constantly, and there are parts we break.”
Last year, for instance, they experienced a blown rear shock, and without the spare part readily available, they had to scramble.
“That cost us basically over an hour in Koyuk,” he said. “We had to track down a machine that was compatible and ask, more or less, for the part.”
Walker Evans has led the way in shock technology, helping racers ride better, faster and more comfortably. Photo courtesy Walker Evans
When failures like that happen, it is the prime testing grounds for manufacturers, who can dissect the failure and use it as an opportunity for improvement. Morgan said the problem last year was moisture intrusion into the shocks, blowing the end caps. In all his years of racing, he said it was a first.
“The first rebuildable shock came in the late ’80s and ever since then it’s been crazy,” he said. “We have a lot of control over the shocks, and we can adjust all that during the race. It’s been a game changer.”
Sleds aren’t the only improvements in the industry, either, said Aklestad, who recalls the days of rigging bolts, baskets and auxiliary fuel tanks on machines.
“We always had to get real crafty – you’d have the big old bread basket, and strap on all these bags, but they were never the perfect fit and finish,” Aklestad said. “Now you have a manufacturers that are building these things right in. It’s all plug and play, which is great.”
A tester puts Klim’s snowmachine clothing to the test in the lab. Klim’s Koyroyd helmets, Valdez parkas and Togwotee bibs are some of the most bombproof racer products on the market. Photo courtesy Klim
Dustin Pancheri of Klim, one of the largest Iron Dog sponsors, said like sled manufacturers, Klim also relies on racer feedback to help its products evolve and serve the larger snowmachine population as well.
“We came up with the 840-D (the “D” stands for “denier”) in an attempt to make a bombproof fabric,” he said. “That was a material that took us almost eight years to develop, utilizing some of the Iron Dog racers for durability testing, like Chris Olds and Mike Morgan.”
The 840-D recipe set the standard for cold-weather gear, he said, and subsequent improvements have been built upon it, and will continue to be developed as racers provide feedback.
“As technologies become available, we learn how to incorporate them into the gear to make them lighter, stronger and more comfortable,” Pancheri said. “A lot of the Iron Dog guys are just running our commercial gear – that’s what we’re selling to the public. We have learned that the Iron Dog is kind of the harshest conditions around.”
The improvements suggested by Iron Dog racers get passed down to the everyday consumer, who always wants to stay warm dry and comfortable.
Some of the newer advancements in gear, Pancheri said, include Klim’s recently improved F5 Koroyd helmet, made of the material called Koroyd. “It has a better impact absorption rating, making it one of the safest helmets on the market”, he said.
“If you have a high speed get-off at 90 mph, the Koroyd helmet is going to protect you better,” he said.
The go-to clothing for racers continues to be the Valdez Parka and Togwotee Bib, Pancheri added, which has improved with time, too. The newest versions of these items includes Gore-Tex’s Pro Shell lining, which allows better breathability, addressing the three basics of lighter, stronger and more comfortable.
“Iron Dog racers will put down 1,000 miles of practice in a weekend, I don’t know of anybody in the world who can get me really harsh, see-if-you-can-break-it miles than these guys,” Pancheri said. “They are putting down more aggressive miles, and quantity of miles, than anywhere else in the country. They are highly motivated people, and it’s a great scenario for us to learn.”