Like father, like son.
Matt McCray of Prince George is climbing to the top of the world on his snowmobile, following the tracks his father Kevin set down nearly two decades ago.
Three weeks ago in Afton, Wyoming, 18-year-old Matt topped the list at a Rocky Mountain States HillClimb Association event in Afton, Wyo., to qualify for the world championship snowmobile hill climb.
He was among 21 riders entered in three semipro classes and he won one of them and finished second in the other two to finish first overall. The event was being watched by talent scouts for Polaris, the brand of sled Matt rides, and they punched his ticket for the world championships, March 23-26 in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
"It's awesome, to say the least," said Matt. "This is the race everybody wants to go to. It's pretty cool to say you've qualified for that event."
For Matt, the secret to his success is to never get bogged down. He's been riding up 70-degree steep slopes long enough to know when it's time to get off his sled and push with one leg - as if he's skateboarding - to keep his machine in motion.
"It's pretty technical, on a real steep hill you have to hang your leg over just to keep your momentum going," he said. "A lot of the courses get down to dirt, we chew them up pretty bad. We use traction screws (on the belt). You need lots of momentum so you don't stop on the hill and I try to look ahead where you want to go so I'm always one corner ahead."
The 300-horsepower Polaris machine Matt rides packs 100 more horses than the sled Kevin used to race and the suspension is much more forgiving, with up to 20 inches of vertical travel compared to the four-inch cushion common in racing sleds 20 years ago.
"I'm amazed at how far they've come," said Matt.
Matt started riding sleds when he was four years old and remembers watching his dad race. Kevin competed for six straight years in the world championships (1996-2001) and won his share of big races. For 10 years he was factory pro rider sponsored by Polaris and competed in a 13-race series that used to include a Prince George stop. Kevin hasn't raced in 15 years but he still loves to get out to forested areas like Bear Lake with his two sons - Matt and 15-year- Ryan - to show them the ropes. They practice in mountainous areas but Kevin purposely avoids exposed slopes where their 420-pound sleds could trigger avalanches.
"He's my trainer," said Matt. "I always thought it was cool when he raced and would cheer him on. My mom (Allison) is all for it, we've done it forever. We ride every weekend - just backcountry riding, it helps you train."
Hill climb routes typically follow curvy switchback trails up mountainsides but the steepest pitches are straight-line runs at full throttle.
"It's not dangerous, there's not always an accident," said Matt. "Usually we're going slow when you have to step off (to avoid crashing) and you just dive out of the way."
Matt graduated last summer as an honours student at Kelly Road secondary school. He's now in his first year at UNBC studying business and plans to apply his business skills to the family's construction business, White Spruce Enterprises.
Matt started entering hill climbs when he was 16, having been introduced to drag racing at age 14. Two weekends ago he was in Revelstoke for the Snow Bike MX Nationals snowcross event and finished second in the sportsman division. The race season is just starting to heat up. He plans to be in Vernon for a hill climb event April 14-16, and has several spring races in the U.S. on his calendar.
It's a 20-hour haul from Prince George to Jackson Hole's Snow King Ski Resort and the McCray family will be going there together. The construction business slows down in the winter and that gives the 49-year-old Kevin more time to work on the sleds and travel to races. Riders have to be at least 18 to compete in the world championships and Matt's made the grade as a teenager in his first year of eligibility. Kevin was 24 when he first qualified.
"It took me two years (of applying) to get into it," said Kevin. "My dad taught me but we didn't ride as competitively as we do now. Growing up in a working environment, you've got to work before you play. I didn't start riding until I was 10 or 12 years old.
"Matt's had his leg over something powerful since he was four - a four-wheeler, dirt bike, electric scooter, he's been on it all the time. He has it him - natural balance and the ability and the drive to be good at anything you do. He's a committed kid."
At six-foot-three, 140 pounds, Matt is slightly built but he's wiry and works our regularly in a weight gym and he's in great shape. He has to be, to handle all that torque for a 90-second ride on a bumpy, rutted course.
"It's like riding a bull, you have to keep your head in the game and focus," said Kevin. "Up those hills in Afton there were 21 guys and I think nine of them didn't get up the hill. There's some wild sled manoeuvres going on and crashes and you see them cartwheeling down through the bush."
