Brothers brave snow and cold to seek racing adventures
Snowmobilers have been accused of destroying the environment and causing nearly every problem mankind has ever faced. Some people are even trying to ban snowmobiles from every place that has snow.
But for those that race and love snowmobiles, like the Zollinger brothers of Zebroz racing, it is a whole different story.
“We’re not bloodthirsty motorheads that hate the outdoors,” said Nathan Zollinger. “If anybody thinks about it from a logical standpoint, we’re on top of the snow, so how could we be destroying the earth? In the summer can anyone tell where a snowmobile has been?”
His brother, Anthony Zollinger, added, “We are very self-conscious about the environment. We want it to be as good today in the future.”
Nathan said the situation is similar to a class where all the students suffer because one student upset the teacher. There is a small group of snowmobilers out there that don’t give any thought to the environment, but not everybody is like that, he said.
The Zollinger brothers believe public lands should be for everybody to do whatever they want to do, “as long as they respect the environment,” said Anthony.
With so many people out to destroy their sport and playing grounds, snowmobilers fight so hard to keep their sport going.
“It’s very addictive,” Anthony said. “Once it gets in your blood it’s hard to get out.”
He isn’t talking about everyday recreational riding. Anthony and his three brothers are very dedicated to their sport.
Unbeknownst to many, there is a whole group of people out there who race up near-vertical mountains, risking their life and their sled, just for the adrenaline rush. And maybe the paycheck.
Anthony and Nathan and their brothers Lance and Ryan have been racing snowmobiles professionally since 1998.
They got started because they knew some people who raced professionally. Through their contacts, the brothers decided to give hillclimbing a chance, and they did pretty well.
In 1998, their first year racing, all of the brothers who raced qualified for the world championships at Jackson Hole, Wyo.
They did more than qualify.
That year Nathan raced his way to first place.
“It was sweet to accomplish that much my first year,” Nathan said.
Since that first year the Zollinger brothers have accomplished a lot.
In just their first two years racing, the Zebroz team had 12 world titles, three world king titles and 115 podium finishes. Since then they have added 23 more podium finishes and one more world title to the list.
“I have always liked snowmobiles … just motorized-type things,” Anthony said. “I love the snow. I used to ski a lot, but I gave that up to snowmobile. You can go a lot more places and I enjoy it a lot more.”
Nathan said he snowmobiles because, “I don’t know anything else, I guess. I have been raised this way. I have been doing it since I was a little kid.”
Snowmobiling is like any other sport, Nathan said. It gives a person the same adrenaline rush when they win and accomplish what they set out to do.
Of course, it does have its differences as well.
Instead of competing against others, hillclimbing is, “more against yourself,” Natan explained.
“You’re going against other riders but you are the only one up there [only one rider goes up the mountain at a time],” he said. “You are really going against the clock and the mountain. The adrenaline rush is like playing basketball or soccer or any other sport, it’s what people live for. There is a little more danger involved. It isn’t like running down a court and you can sprain your ankle. You’re flying up the course at 60 mph and you could die, really. That’s what makes it fun.”
For six months out of the year, the Zollinger brothers travel nearly every weekend to snowmobile races in places like Preston, Idaho to Afton, Wyo. and to the world championships at Jackson.
The majority of snowmobile hillclimbing athletes are from Utah, many from the Cache Valley area. This is most likely because the terrain around the area is mostly all hills, so the snowmobilers from this area get a lot of practice, Anthony said.
“We got some pretty steep stuff,” he said.
Even though there are a lot of snowmobilers from Utah, there were not any races held in the state. That changed this year.
The Rocky Mountain Snowmobile Hillclimbing Association came to the Beehive State on Jan. 16 and 17 for the first hillclimbing race held in the state. The motorcycle hillclimbing site, the Widowmaker, invited championship snowmobilers to Morgan, Utah to compete in a race known as “1,000 feet of ice-cold hell.”
The first day of registration, RMSHA received more than 500 entries from snowmobilers all over North America, including Alaska and Canada.
Snowmobile racing is growing in popularity. In the last couple of years, the number of people competing in the Jackson climb has almost doubled. From about 300 riders, it has now grown to close to 600.
“There’s lots more people,” Anthony said. “Lots more competitive people.”
“I think the younger generation are finally starting to get involved in the hillclimbing aspect of snowmobiling,” Nathan said.
-aedmunds@cc.usu.edu
Nathan [left] and Anthony Zollinger are members of the Zebroz team. (Photo by Jennifer Alexander)