MOUNT SNOW, Vt. – Like last year with UltraCross, a new sport premiered at Winter X 2001. HillCross, a relatively new addition to the world of snowmobile racing, varies somewhat from SnoCross. Racers faced a 2,000-foot long course which climbed more than 1,000 feet straight uphill and was filled with plenty of bumps and jumps.

HillCrossers jumped big obstacles to reach the top.

Competition was tough from qualifying right through to the finals. Many racers sacrificed their sleds along with their bodies to reach the podium. But only one man would be able to boast that he was the inaugural HillCross gold medalist; and that's Carl Kuster of Canada.

"It's awesome. I don't even know if I breathe the whole time up,"said the 25-year-old from Westlock, Alberta, Canada. "I just squeezed the trigger and just try to ride her to the top and not fall off and not make any mistakes."

Kuster's countryman and fellow Arctic Cat teammate Vinny Clark just barely held on for the silver medal.

"I can't believe I've come this far and did so well ... I'm flabbergasted," said Clark. "I'm racing against the big boys. Second place to Carl Kuster; I'd be happy with that any day."

Matt Luczynski, who may be the next Tucker Hibbert of SnoCross, surprised everyone by almost placing second. He hit a big hole at the top of the hill and Clark was able to cross the finish line before him. Still, the 16-year-old from Clarksburg, Mass. couldn't be happier with his bronze medal.

"This is a dream come true. I'm so happy," said Luczynski, who lives only 40-minutes from Mount Snow. "I'm so pumped up ... bronze is good enough for me right now."

Luczynski had plenty of support. Some of his friends showed up to cheer him on with his name spelled out across their bare chests.

"They're awesome. My friends are the best, man ... they pumped me up so much."

The inaugural race didn't go so smoothly for all the racers. The three Zollinger brothers from Utah were hoping for a 1-2-3 finish, but unfortunately only younger brother Nathan made the finals. He finished fourth.

Shane Hart, a flamboyant racer from Lolo, Montana, who wore a blue and white Hawaiian shirt was battling for the lead during his semifinal run when his sled went nose first into the ground – launching him over the handle bars.

"I had a good line going," said Hart, who got a late invitation and drove about 48 hours straight to Vermont to compete, "then the suspension pre-loaded and the springs released ... it just brought the rearend up and just endoed me over the bars. I went and the sled just pile drove me from behind, it was a hard hit."

Hart said he had a few bruised ribs, but was able to walk off the course under his own power.

Generally, most of the athletes seemed to enjoy the course and the atmosphere of the X Games.

"This is so exciting. I love the venue, it has so many people, I'm not use to such a big crowds," said Clark.

"It's awesome. We had some good racers and had some pretty good action. I can't wait to be back next year," Kuster added.

Until next year.

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