Press Release –

Dan Ebert Leads Nearly Flag to Flag in Super Stock; Christian Salemark Battles from Mid-Pack for Victory in Open

Arctic Cat pilot Dan Ebert capped his first major race of the season with an emotional victory in Semi‐Pro Super Stock this past weekend during the Bad River Lodge and Casino National in Ironwood, Michigan.

Ebert snared the lead on the first lap of the 15‐lap final and didn’t look back, while his teammate Cory Davis kept pace for a one‐two punch at the finish.

Completing the box at the final was Polaris rider Ryan Carey, who scored a second place finish in Duluth. Ryan held off a hard charging Tim Tremblay of Quebec at the line on the last lap giving him the final podium position.

The final wasn’t so smooth for top qualifier Christian Salemark of Sweden, who holeshot the pack but had a lap‐one “get‐off” shuffling him back to tenth.

Salemark then proceeded to post the fastest laps of any racer in the main event, eventually working his way back to fifth at the line. The victory for Ebert was an emotional one.

Unable to compete at Duluth due to a wrist injury, Ebert competed at Ironwood with his wrist heavily wrapped giving him limited movement and range. It appeared to have little impact.

“This is unbelievable,” said Ebert during the post race celebration. “My goal was to just make the final this week, I can’t believe I won it!”

In the Semi‐Pro Open ranks, the roles were reversed as Ebert nabbed the holeshot and it was top qualifier Salemark who emerged in fifth midway through the first lap.

However early in the race Ebert over‐shot a berm near the top of the track relinquishing the lead to Ski‐doo pilot Paul Bauerly.

But soon it was Salemark once again posting the fastest laps on the track and by mid‐race claimed the lead from Bauerly. Behind them it was Ebert and teammate Cory Davis swapping positions throughout the second half of the race followed by Ryan Carey on a Polaris and Bobby LePage also on a Polaris.

In the final laps, Ebert finally took over the final spot on the box from Davis for good as LePage did the same to Carey to round out the top five.

“It was nice to be out front early,” said Bauerly after the race. “Dan (Ebert) gave me a bit of gift when he went off the track, but Salemark ran a good race and was just too fast for me today.”

Christian Salemark who made the trek to North America to compete for the entire season in the AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series commented on the challenges of coming from another country to compete.

“It’s not easy,” said Christian. “I’m thankful for all the people who have helped me since I’ve arrived. It has been a lot of fun so far.

About ISOC – The International Series of Champions (ISOC) is the premiere snowmobile race sanctioning organization in North America and sanctions a national snocross tour in addition to three regional circuits. Visit www.isocracing.com for more information, fan and racer memberships, schedule details and more.

Press Release –

Tucker Checks-Out in Pro Main Events; Polaris Fills Remaining Pro Podium Positions while Arctic Wins Both Semi-Pro Classes

Tucker Hibbert continued his win streak in the still young AMSOIL Championship Snocross Season, picking up where he left off in Duluth winning both Pro Main Events driving away.

This time however it didn’t come without effort, especially in the Pro‐Open showcase race as Hibbert spun at the start and emerged mid‐pack at the close of the first lap.

The Bad River Lodge and Casino National featured a long .5‐mile track with multiple elevation changes and two dramatic up and down hill runs.

Described by competitors as a national motocross type track with multiple lines and passing opportunities, virtually every final featured intense racing throughout the pack.

Such was the case in the Pro‐Open main event, as a string of talented Polaris riders led early but were eventually hunted down by Hibbert.

In the early going it was Brett Bender with the holeshot and lap‐one lead only to be ejected while “bombing” the downhill portion of the track. This opened the door for fellow Polaris pilot TJ Gulla, followed by Ryan Simons on his Arctic Cat; Levi LaVallee on a Polaris and Ross Martin also on a Polaris.

But soon Hibbert was on the gas, picking off riders with spectacular set‐ups and passes. Averaging lap times as much as a second faster than his fellow competitors, Hibbert took over the lead by lap 8 and then proceeded to post taillights for the remainder of the 20‐lap final. At the checkered it was Hibbert followed by the Polaris duo of TJ Gulla and Levi LaVallee.

Rounding out the top five was the much improved Arctic Cat pilot Garth Kaufman and last year’s Pro Open year‐end champion Ross Martin. Factory Yamaha made their first final of the year in Ironwood, and Steve Taylor turned in an impressive 8th place finish. Ski‐doo’s top finisher was Dave Allard in 11th.

“I spun at the start,” said Tucker after the race. “I wanted to get out front early because the snow dust was pretty bad. I saw TJ and Levi were starting to pull away and I knew they were gonna be tough to pass so I didn’t want to waste time. I found some really good lines which allowed me to catch them before they got away.”

Earlier in the day, Hibbert won the Pro‐Stock final in a more familiar fashion – nailing the holeshot and riding away in the 20 lap final. Early on fellow Arctic rider Ryan Simons rode a strong second but a lap six bobble bounced Simons back to fourth, as TJ Gulla and Levi LaVallee slipped by.

While Tucker proceeded to checkout, Levi pressured his teammate Gulla and at the halfway mark Gulla was bounced on a downhill portion of the track. That allowed Levi to slip by and moved Polaris rider DJ Eckstrom into third while Simons hung onto fourth.

The top four remained the same for the remainder of the race, but a great battle shaped up behind them, as the Polaris trio of Ross Martin, Shaun Crapo and Brett Bender battled in a tight‐knit group with Martin eventually picking up the fifth place finish at the line.

After the race Levi commented on the battle between Gulla and himself. “TJ was flying,” said LaVallee. “Once I got behind him I was pushing him pretty hard as we were doubling on the downhill. Then he just snowballed and I had to check‐up… he’s pretty sore but I’m glad he’s okay.”

In Semi‐Pro action, it was Arctic Cat again atop the box with a compelling victory by Dan Ebert in Semi‐Pro Super Stock and Christian Salemark from Sweden capturing the win in Semi‐Pro Open. Other winners on the day included Carly Davis on her Arctic Cat in the Pro Women Super Stock class and former top pro rider Justin Tate on a Ski‐doo in the Pro Plus 30 Super Stock class.

About ISOC – The International Series of Champions (ISOC) is the premiere snowmobile race sanctioning organization in North America and sanctions a national snocross tour in addition to three regional circuits. Visit www.isocracing.com for more information, fan and racer memberships, schedule details and more.

Press Release –

For a company with a small window of opportunity to market its product (September through December), Klim USA has made that window shine.

Because many people in the apparel industry might not know much about the snowmobiling and off-road motorcycle gear market, this Rigby, ID-based manufacturer felt inspired to self-nominate for the All-Star Award, according to John Summers, marketing manager with Klim USA. What it has accomplished in its niche has easily earned it the award.

Klim USA began as Teton Outfitters, a producer of custom clothing for people who made their living in the outdoors, such as search and rescue workers and ski-lift operators. The company queried many a worker to learn what they’d like to see in a product, and crafted clothing to meet those needs.

Its activities led the company to uncover an unserved niche in the outerwear marketplace: the snowmobile market. While the snowmobile industry had evolved dramatically — snowmobiles were more technologically advanced, and many riders were taking the sport to a much more extreme level — apparel for snowmobiling had not kept pace with the industry.

“Early on, we noted how outmoded the first snowmobile clothing was,” says Summers. “It remained heavily insulated, lacked waterproofing and tended to be ill-suited for the backcountry situations people now find themselves in, as machines take them into territory even more remote.”

In 1999, Teton launched Klim USA, targeted specifically to the snowmobiler. The clothing, to a great extent, has become survival gear, and that’s how the company (now known more by its brand name, Klim) now views its products.

The company has taken the market out of the “dark ages,” says Summers, with new technology that includes, among other things, a layering system that Klim developed specifically for the snowmobiling market, and comfort mapping, put in place this year, which more effectively controls rider comfort levels.

The company also has worked diligently to educate its customers about synthetic fabrics and their ability to transport moisture away from the body.

Taking out the middleman

When Klim USA introduced its first line, it had to build its customer base from scratch. Traditionally, snowmobile apparel and equipment had been sold through distributors, but Klim wanted to skip the middleman and go straight to the dealership so that it could be closer to the customer.

“By going through a distributor you lose that communication with the dealership to some degree,” says Summers.

In 1999-2000, the first winter of its operations, Klim landed five customers. Today the company sells to 450 dealerships, from which it receives steady feedback about its products that it plows back into development.

Now it’s possible to see Klim USA’s snowmobile apparel line worn by ski-resort operators and those employed in other outdoor occupations. Years ago, Summers explains, this never happened because snowmobiling apparel was extremely bulky and also featured designs such as checkerboard and flame patterns that did not lend themselves to crossover applications.

Now the company takes many of its design and technology cues from other areas of the outdoor industry, which has come a long way in recent years both in the areas of fashion and performance.

Critical partner

In its efforts to take control of the wheel with respect to performance, Klim partnered with GORE-TEX, which has been instrumental in helping the company to develop and improve fiber and fabric technologies. This year, for example, through a concept called comfort mapping, Klim has designed a jacket around the specific needs of the body.

While it “sounds like a ‘no-brainer,'” it’s not always top of mind when designing apparel, says Summers. “There are parts of the body that sweat more, areas where heat needs to escape. GORE-Tex has helped us understand this and, from a technological standpoint, worked with us to place more insulation in certain areas that need it, and less in other areas where it may not be called for.” The result is a jacket with a wider comfort range, he says.

“A lot of people who don our gear compare it to wearing pajamas — it just doesn’t feel like you have anything on. To put it another way, if you don’t notice your clothing, that is a good thing. And when you do notice it, it usually means you’re cold, wet, too warm or uncomfortable.”

As for footwear, Summers notes that traditional snowmobile boots left feet perpetually wet — a problem that has been solved thanks to GORE-TEX, he says. “A lot of people don’t realize that when their feet get wet, it’s not coming from the outside in, but the other way around.”

In short, he says, there is a lot of innovation and technology going into the brand’s apparel and footwear to keep the wearer dry and comfortable.

Information still the solution

From a business standpoint, Summers really believes information is key. The company has customized its Great Plains solution (now Microsoft Dynamics), to provide views into its product-line adoption, which it can sort by rep, by store, by product and so forth. The company can see what specific products its dealers are ordering and if those dealers carry, for example, 90 percent or 50 percent of Klim’s line.

The solution also allows Klim to create dashboards of relevant metrics that allow it to assess at any time how the company stands with relation to its goals.

Integrated with Dynamics is Microsoft CRM 4.0, which the company also customized to its needs, and which it uses to keep on top of its dealers and prospects. It has also recently completed implementation of the Dynamics’ warehousing solution, Maximum Data, which has allowed the company to bar code all inventory and shipments. Now, instead of requiring a human to compare a pick ticket to the product, the bar codes can simply be scanned.

“The information we’re able to derive with our technology is great. If you can create these metrics you can really understand what’s going on and make more sound decisions too,” says Summers. “For example, we know that with our GORE-TEX Adrenalin boot we had a 92 percent adoption within two years. This was the percentage of our dealers who had the boot within this length of time.”

The Klim USA philosophy is simple: Don’t design or build unless it produces a concrete benefit.