High-Flyin’ Polaris Snowmobile Freestylers Are Among Favorites to Win Winter X Games Gold
MEDINA, MN (Jan. 11, 2007) – Aleksander Nordgaard has discovered one sure way to minimize track wear on his Polaris snowmobile: Spend more time in the air than on the ground.
Nordgaard is one of the world’s leading snowmobile freestyle riders and he is one of three Polaris riders who are favorites to win medals in the first-ever Snowmobile Freestyle Competition at ESPN’s Winter X Games in late January near Aspen, Colorado.
He is also one of the few freestylers who can successfully complete a back flip on a snowmobile. The high-flying Norwegian amazed the crowd at the X Games freestyle qualifying event held recently at Park X in Hill City, Minnesota.
“Aleksander was doing back flips like there was nothing to it. It was unbelievable,” said Joe Duncan, longtime snowmobile racing promoter who is managing the X Games freestyle competition for ESPN.
Joining Nordgaard at the X Games will be Polaris freestyle pilots Sam Carver and Ryan Britt, both of whom live in Valdez, Alaska, which is home to several freestyle riders. Carver finished second at the X Games qualifying event, less than a point behind Nordgaard, while Britt finished fourth. The first alternate for the X Games freestyle contest is Polaris rider Daniel Bodine of Sweden. In the qualifying competition at Park X, 19 competitors battled for five available spots in the X Games.
Although Carver is only 24 and Britt is just 22, they are freestyle veterans who have appeared in several snowmobile freestyle videos. Britt has been riding Polaris snowmobiles since the summer of 2004, when he performed freestyle tricks at Polaris 50th Anniversary celebrations in Roseau, Minnesota, and St. Paul.
He performed on wood chips at those events, and even in the summer heat, his Polaris snowmobile performed flawlessly, carrying him to stunning heights during jumps.
X GAMES SET FOR JAN. 25-28
The Winter X Games will be held January 25-28. The snowmobile freestyle elimination round will be held Thursday, January 25, with each competitor performing two 75-second routines on the course dotted with jumps of various sizes and heights.
Competitors with the top four scores will advance to the semi-finals on Sunday, January 28. The four will be split into two head-to-head duels, with the winner of each advancing to the final, where the gold and silver medalists will be determined.
The competition will be broadcast on an ESPN network with highlights possibly shown during ABC sports programming. Check local listings for times and channels.
There will also be nearly a dozen Polaris snocross racers competing for X Games gold in Aspen, including last year’s silver medalist Levi LaVallee. Snocross preliminaries will be run on Friday, January 26, and the finals will take place Saturday, January 27.
About Polaris
With annual 2005 sales of $1.9 Billion, Polaris designs, engineers, manufactures and markets snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), Victory motorcycles and the Polaris RANGER for recreational and utility use. Polaris is a recognized leader in the snowmobile industry; and one of the largest manufacturers of ATVs in the world. Victory motorcycles, established in 1998 and representing the first all-new American-made motorcycle from a major company in nearly 60 years, are rapidly making impressive in-roads into the motorcycle cruiser marketplace. Polaris also enhances the riding experience with a complete line of Pure Polaris apparel, accessories and parts, available at Polaris dealerships. Polaris Industries Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange and Pacific Stock Exchange under the symbol “PII,” and the Company is included in the S&P Small-Cap 600 stock price index. Information about the complete line of Polaris products, apparel and vehicle accessories is available from authorized Polaris dealers or anytime from the Polaris homepage at www.polarisindustries.com.
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