Episode 233 – Racing to the Top: The Jackson Hole Snow Devils Hill Climb with Jeff Toolson
Jeff Toolson was born and raised right here in Jackson Hole. He is the owner of Toolson Telephone and a board member of The Jackson Hole Snow Devils.
This week’s episode of The Jackson Hole Connection is all about the Jackson Hole Snow Devils and their impact on the community. Jeff Toolson, whose family has been part of the Snow Devils for decades, discusses the history of the Snow Devil’s, their fundraising efforts, and the 46th Annual World Championship Jackson Hole Snowmobile Hill Climb happening March 23 – 26. Get an inside look into the history of this extreme sport and learn about the challenges riders face during the ascent up Snow King Mountain.
Find out more about the Snow Devils and Hill Climb at SnowDevils.org
This week’s episode is supported in part by First Republic Bank. At First Republic, everyone gets a personal banker who will sit down and learn about you and your financial goals. Isn’t it time you align yourself with a bank that believes in you and your future success? Learn more at FirstRepublic.com. Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender.
Support also comes from Teton County Solid Waste and Recycling, reminding residents and commercial businesses of Teton County’s food waste programs; the next frontier material in the quest to achieve the County’s goal to reduce, aiming for zero waste. More at TetonCountyWY.gov or at @RoadToZeroWaste.JH on Instagram.
Want to be a guest on The Jackson Hole Connection? Email us at connect@thejacksonholeconnection.com. Marketing and editing support by Michael Moeri (michaelmoeri.com)
Transcript
You are tuned into the Jackson hole, connection, sharing, fascinating stories
Speaker:of people connected to Jackson Hole.
Speaker:I am truly grateful for each of you for tuning in today and support
Speaker:for this podcast comes from:
Speaker:I'm gonna begin today's episode with a quote The man who believes
Speaker:he can do something is probably.
Speaker:And so is the man who believes he cannot not.
Speaker:That one is marked anonymous.
Speaker:If you know who, created that quote, send me a note.
Speaker:Love to know.
Speaker:Welcome to episode number 233 folks, and my guest today is sharing the
Speaker:history of the Jackson Hole Snow Devils.
Speaker:I have the great privilege to speak with my friend Jeff Tosen,
Speaker:whose family has been a part of the Snow Devil's and the World
Speaker:Championship He'll climb for decades.
Speaker:all of the folks who volunteer their time to organize and execute a world-class
Speaker:event be, are to be commended.
Speaker:These are the folks who carry on the tradition of gathering as a community in
Speaker:lifting up a community by helping others.
Speaker:The Snow devils have been giving back 1.2 million to this community, and it
Speaker:is still climbing the Jackson Hole.
Speaker:Snow devils are to be commended for the generosity.
Speaker:Which they contribute right back to our community.
Speaker:And trust me, when you hear about what's been going on over there at Sno
Speaker:King over the past 46, 40 seventh Hill climb, you will be absolutely amazed.
Speaker:it.
Speaker:Jeff, thanks for joining me here today at the Jackson Hole Connection.
Speaker:It's delightful to talk to you, even though I don't get to see you.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, we do get to see each other
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So before we get into this, I think it's, important for me to share how
Speaker:we're talking to each other and why we are in the situation that we're We're
Speaker:separated by a wall and the reason we are not in the same room is because
Speaker:every time I have done an in-person interview, I've messed up the audio.
Speaker:So this is the best way to ensure that we have actually good
Speaker:audio for your interview today.
Speaker:For the Jackson Hole Snows
Speaker:I like it.
Speaker:You gotta love technology.
Speaker:I can figure some of it out.
Speaker:Well, That's, that's more important than, not being able to
Speaker:figure any of it out, that's for
Speaker:That's true.
Speaker:That's true.
Speaker:And so we are here talking about Jeff Toolen cuz you drew the shortest straw
Speaker:in the stack of where they didn't provide any straws to talk about the snow.
Speaker:Devils
Speaker:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:I didn't even have the chance to pull a straw.
Speaker:I just kind of got handed this
Speaker:you were voluntold.
Speaker:ball and told yes.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And you've been a snow devil for a few years.
Speaker:Just a few.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I'm 41, so uh, 41 years.
Speaker:I've been a snow devil for 41 years.
Speaker:So you've got your membership to the Snow Devils before you got your V
Speaker:I P membership at the liquor store.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I think I got the v i P membership when I was 16.
Speaker:Oh,
Speaker:no, I mean, I mean 21.
Speaker:21, right when I turned 21.
Speaker:well it could have been 16 drinking age back then.
Speaker:Nah, I was, nah, it was
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:No, people will start doing the math on that and we'll both be in trouble.
Speaker:Oh, we don't wanna get in trouble And you got teenage kids, so we don't need
Speaker:to lead them in the wrong direction.
Speaker:Teenagers, you can't drink alcohol right now.
Speaker:no
Speaker:No, buy it.
Speaker:Don't buy it.
Speaker:Teenagers, anybody under 21 don't do it.
Speaker:so you were born here in Jackson?
Speaker:I was born and raised in Jackson.
Speaker:No kidding.
Speaker:yes,
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:One of the few left.
Speaker:there used to be a bunch of us, but now there's fewer and fewer of us.
Speaker:you say us, does that mean the tosen.
Speaker:I think, no.
Speaker:Well, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:No, we can do that.
Speaker:We could do that.
Speaker:Um, yeah.
Speaker:My, my, my sister doesn't live here anymore.
Speaker:My mom and dad don't live here anymore.
Speaker:they all live in Star Valley now.
Speaker:But, when I say yes, I just, I think about, you know, we're.
Speaker:the kids that I went to school with and, and, uh, and there's, there's a
Speaker:handful of them that are still here, but a lot of them are, are not anymore.
Speaker:So,
Speaker:You married one, didn't you?
Speaker:I did marry one.
Speaker:Yes, I did.
Speaker:That's how you kept one of them
Speaker:That's how we kept one of 'em around.
Speaker:Exactly, exactly.
Speaker:or she kept you around
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, it depends on who you ask.
Speaker:And how far back does your family go to being here in the valley?
Speaker:So I'm gonna, I'm gonna guess that it was 1970 when my, well,
Speaker:no, I'm gonna backtrack there.
Speaker:My mom was born here.
Speaker:so, you know, the Tosen name didn't show up until, uh, 1979.
Speaker:but you know, my mom was born here.
Speaker:I think.
Speaker:Her mom was born here.
Speaker:Oh really?
Speaker:so yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, it goes back a long way.
Speaker:So we've got a little bit of, we got a little bit of Clark, that's
Speaker:what my, my mother's maiden name is.
Speaker:And the, and then the Tosome side, you know, they came from, they came
Speaker:from Casper in the seventies and, and my dad graduated high school here.
Speaker:I think he moved here when he was a junior, a senior.
Speaker:and that's where they, you know, mom and dad met, was in high school.
Speaker:And, my grandfather was actually moved here to work for Mountain Bell,
Speaker:which was, The now Century Link.
Speaker:Um, so the old , you know, telephone line, copper infrastructure
Speaker:that's running around Jackson.
Speaker:he worked for Mountain Bell and, my dad also worked for Mountain Bell.
Speaker:they moved, they had him move to Green River, my mom.
Speaker:They moved to Green River and, and, he worked for Mountain Bell down there.
Speaker:And then they, they transferred back.
Speaker:Him back up here and, uh, uh, 1984, my grandpa quit or retired from Mountain
Speaker:Bell, and started Tools and Telephone.
Speaker:And a few years after that my dad quit Mountain Bell and
Speaker:came to work for, my grandpa.
Speaker:And, yeah, the rest is kinda history.
Speaker:it's quite the deal.
Speaker:So we've been here for a long time.
Speaker:They probably weren't laying Cat five wire in 1984.
Speaker:Were they
Speaker:was, there was no such thing as Cat five wire.
Speaker:Matter of fact, when I, when I get, I get to talking to my dad about, about
Speaker:what we, you know, are doing these days, it's up and over the top of his head.
Speaker:some some people say, why don't you just get your dad to come
Speaker:down and help you in the summer?
Speaker:And I say, well, cuz I had to retrain him all over.
Speaker:So
Speaker:would be a funny short
Speaker:that would be
Speaker:training your dad
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:I don't know if I wanna be part of that anymore.
Speaker:they say old dogs can't learn new tricks, that might be one of them.
Speaker:That is exactly what they're talking about right there.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:So you were born into the Snow Devils to be a part of that, cuz
Speaker:what your parents were a big part of the Jackson Hole Snow Devils.
Speaker:They were, yeah, so they've, you know, they've been members for, for a long time.
Speaker:I mean, probably, probably when they moved back from Green River,
Speaker:so around, you know, 1980 or so.
Speaker:they've been members of the Snow Devils and, know, my, my dad sat
Speaker:on the board for a while and then was president for a while and.
Speaker:And up until a few years ago, he would, he would make the drive from his winter
Speaker:home in Solom, Arizona just to stand on the starting line, at the hill
Speaker:climb to, to turn the racers loose.
Speaker:So
Speaker:Huh.
Speaker:he was, he was in it, he's in it a little harder than, than I would
Speaker:have ever imagined him be in.
Speaker:But, you know, to make that 14 hour drive each direction to.
Speaker:Come hang out with us.
Speaker:It was, uh, it was, it was pretty cool.
Speaker:Pretty cool deal.
Speaker:He
Speaker:shows its commitment to that organization and what it meant to him.
Speaker:absolutely, And maybe we can just take from this, that his golf game's
Speaker:gotten a little better in the last two years and , he doesn't wanna give that
Speaker:up for a snowy drive into Wyoming.
Speaker:he can't blame the guy on that one.
Speaker:No, absolutely not.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:And the snow devils existed before your parents joined.
Speaker:do you know the history of the snow devils as to why it started, how it got together?
Speaker:You know, I mean, there was, there was just a group of people and the
Speaker:Snow Devils is, I, I'm gonna be honest with you, I don't know what year
Speaker:the Snow Devils came into existence.
Speaker:But there was a group of people in, 1975 I believe, that, uh, that
Speaker:decided they wanted to race their snowmobiles up Snow King Mountain.
Speaker:And so that's kind of how how the hill climb started.
Speaker:But the snow devils were intact, uh, before that, you know, and, and I don't
Speaker:think it's anything what it is now.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:And I think we're maybe talking 20 or 30 people that got together
Speaker:and, you know, did a, did a club ride every once in a while.
Speaker:Or a chili cookout, cookout, or, you know, did something fun with
Speaker:the families while it was, while there was snow on the ground.
Speaker:I don't think it was.
Speaker:You know, whoever put this club together, I'm pretty sure didn't
Speaker:have aspirations of it being what, what it has turned out to be.
Speaker:And.
Speaker:What has it turned out to be?
Speaker:Well, it turned out to be, A couple years ago we had, we had over 400 club members.
Speaker:Woo.
Speaker:That's a big club.
Speaker:yeah, it is, it is a big club.
Speaker:It is a big club.
Speaker:And it was, it's a, it's a cool deal.
Speaker:You don't, you know, we're primarily a snowmobile club, but, but you
Speaker:don't have to, don't have to have a snowmobile to be part of our club.
Speaker:the, the amount of money that, that we give away, Is
Speaker:what kind of draws people in.
Speaker:You know, you get, you get those types of people that wanna be part of groups
Speaker:that, that give back to the community and give back to people in need.
Speaker:and they'll, they'll crawl, crawl right in there and, and give you a hand
Speaker:at, at your events or, or help, you know, sell raffle tickets or whatever.
Speaker:And, and, kind of a pretty cool deal.
Speaker:It's a pretty cool deal.
Speaker:Do you have an idea of, say, over the past number of years, how much money the Snow
Speaker:Devils has provided back to the community?
Speaker:I do.
Speaker:So, you know,
Speaker:Heidi prompted you.
Speaker:She gave you a sheet of paper
Speaker:Heidi's, Heidi's in Miami right now.
Speaker:So she has no idea that this is even happening.
Speaker:She'll soon.
Speaker:She will soon.
Speaker:She will soon.
Speaker:So, We're up over 1.2 million right now, on donations back to the community.
Speaker:and that is, that's probably since 2000.
Speaker:Around, probably around the year 2000, I would think, is when, when that we
Speaker:started giving enough money away to kind of keep track of who we were giving
Speaker:it to and how much we were given away.
Speaker:and I, I'm pretty sure that this all started out with, uh, a donation to St.
Speaker:John's Hospital where they, they kind of set a goal for, you for the next
Speaker:five years, we're gonna donate a hundred thousand dollars, over those five years.
Speaker:and that kind of spiraled not out of control, I should say.
Speaker:It snowballed.
Speaker:It just got bigger.
Speaker:so once we met that goal, then more people started paying attention
Speaker:and, and, and offering us.
Speaker:Ways that we can raise money.
Speaker:And there was a, there's a group out of Utah called the Zebras.
Speaker:And the Zebras came to us one year and said, Hey, we
Speaker:wanna give you one of our old.
Speaker:Mod sleds, which if you follow the zebras or know who they are, getting one of
Speaker:their mod sleds is, was quite the deal.
Speaker:I mean, it, it's a custom-built snowmobile from the ground up.
Speaker:And they weren't racing it anymore.
Speaker:So they, they gave it to us and we raffled it off.
Speaker:And I think we raised, you know, $15,000 that year.
Speaker:And so we were able to, you know, give a bunch of money to the Shriners Hospital.
Speaker:the next year they came to us with a little bit of a newer snowmobile.
Speaker:And we raised another good amount of money.
Speaker:And the year after that, you know, it was a brand new snowmobile.
Speaker:A and it's, it's gotten, it's gotten crazy now, to where, last
Speaker:year at the, at the bottom of the hill, hill climb on one day.
Speaker:We had the Shriners down there and I think they sold about $15,000
Speaker:worth of tickets in one day.
Speaker:Oh bananas.
Speaker:That's a lot of tickets.
Speaker:It is.
Speaker:A lot of tickets.
Speaker:It is a lot of tickets.
Speaker:So, you know, it's, it's just, it's cool.
Speaker:It's, it's cool to be part of it and cool to, to, watch the money get
Speaker:donated to these people that need it.
Speaker:Yeah, for, for sure.
Speaker:the generosity of the snow devils is remarkable and it feels as
Speaker:though that you have an event that was created in around that event.
Speaker:is, it is, it's more of a method to, to raise the money for what
Speaker:the purpose of the snow Devils is.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:might look like . It's a, it's a huge fundraiser, but we want it to
Speaker:be two things as the snow devils.
Speaker:We want it to be, you know, the best snowmobile race
Speaker:that anybody's ever watched.
Speaker:In person or, or on their computer, you know, on our live stream.
Speaker:and so there's, you know, there's, there's a lot to it with the, with
Speaker:the fundraising side of things.
Speaker:but the, the, one of the, the biggest part of it is definitely to make
Speaker:it the best race for the spectators and for the racers that show up,
Speaker:to run their sleds up that hill.
Speaker:So, Yeah, it is a, it's a great, it's a great event to, to raise
Speaker:money and, you know, whenever, you see a, a Shriner walking around in
Speaker:that goofy looking hat, your wallet starts jumping outta your pocket.
Speaker:And, and so it's a, it's a, it's a good thing, you know, you get a little bit
Speaker:of beer in people, and their spending habits get a little bit more generous.
Speaker:So it's, it's good.
Speaker:It's a good, it's a good place to, to.
Speaker:Fundraising like that.
Speaker:Now, let's go back to the beginnings of the hill climb, if we can.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:You said that there was in the seventies a group of people who decided they
Speaker:wanted to race their snowmobiles up.
Speaker:Snow king.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And so nowadays it's not a, it's easy for those snowmobiles to get it up there.
Speaker:It's not a big deal
Speaker:it's easy for the snowmobiles to get up there, but uh, keep somebody
Speaker:attached to 'em is a whole nother story.
Speaker:but what was it like in 75 when they were running snowmobiles up there?
Speaker:It had to have been a different, different show.
Speaker:yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:And I, you know, I wish I would've been able to see but it.
Speaker:If you, if you look, if you look back at videos and there are videos, I mean,
Speaker:these guys were, these guys were making it maybe halfway up the mountain, and, you
Speaker:know, and, and basically getting a high mark, which is, you know, as high as you
Speaker:get on the hill, um, within the gates.
Speaker:and that's how, that's how they were, they were winning it.
Speaker:until, The early eighties, I think maybe mid eighties, was the first time somebody
Speaker:took a snowmobile, you know, over the top.
Speaker:so yeah, back in, back in their, those days, you know, they were, they
Speaker:were on snowmobiles that came from the local John Deere or Arctic Cat
Speaker:dealer with, know, metal cleats on their tracks and, just trying to get
Speaker:a under horse-powered snowmobile as high as they could up on that mountain.
Speaker:Now when the first person made it up over the top, did he have a modified snowmobile
Speaker:or he had just one right off the floor?
Speaker:No, it was definitely a modified snowmobile.
Speaker:So, you know, I mean, in, in 75 they were, they were doing what,
Speaker:you know, what they could do.
Speaker:And then people start getting into it and they start modifying their stuff
Speaker:just to climb this, this mountain.
Speaker:And,
Speaker:Like a moonshine,
Speaker:Like a moonshine.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:modified the car.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Gotta make it go a little faster.
Speaker:yeah, so, that was a modified snowmobile that went over the top,
Speaker:and I'm gonna really go out on a limb here and say Was the first stock
Speaker:snowmobile that went through the lights.
Speaker:Um, so he broke the, he broke the timing lights.
Speaker:Local guy, Tom Roby, didn't get credit for being the first stock snowmobile
Speaker:over the mountain because he didn't go over the top, but he did break the
Speaker:timing lights, which are below the top.
Speaker:and so.
Speaker:I think the first stock snowmobile over the top was a guy named Mark Thompson
Speaker:in 96 or 97, and that was a stock Skidoo right from the dealer, you know,
Speaker:snowmobile that that went over the top.
Speaker:And from there, It's crazy.
Speaker:We've had our first woman over the top.
Speaker:We've had our second and third woman over the top.
Speaker:We've had, you know, 17 year old kids that are racing semi-pro go over the top.
Speaker:what's the youngest that somebody has been to go over the top?
Speaker:I think, boy, that's a good question.
Speaker:I'm trying to remember the, there was a young kid.
Speaker:That came off of the rim, Shaw circuit, which is kind of a, that's the snowmobile
Speaker:circuit that runs throughout the winter.
Speaker:And, and we, we pull rider from that circuit to come race this.
Speaker:I'm, I'm thinking he was probably 17 years old, probably 17 or
Speaker:18 years old, running semi-pro.
Speaker:And uh, I can't remember his name right now, but I can see his face.
Speaker:But, 17 years old probably is our, probably our youngest over the top.
Speaker:And when you're talking about running these snowmobiles up this
Speaker:hill, Can you describe it to me?
Speaker:Because I've skied the hill and I know what it, skiing it's like.
Speaker:So describe it as what this
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:is experiencing, what they're seeing.
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:So, So it's a, it's a backward ski slalom is what it is.
Speaker:So, you know, if, if you're on skis in a slalom race, then you're coming down
Speaker:the hill in between your gates and if you miss a gate, then you're kind of done.
Speaker:but you're, and you're going as fast as you can.
Speaker:And so that's what the hill climb is in reverse, is you leave the bottom
Speaker:of the hill and we, there's a set of.
Speaker:All the way up to wherever the timing lights are, and you have
Speaker:to be in between the gates and you just go as fast as you possibly can
Speaker:without wrecking your snowmobile and sending it down that mountain.
Speaker:and what's the angle as they're getting up?
Speaker:steep.
Speaker:It's steep as hell.
Speaker:I don't, I don't know what the angle is.
Speaker:I think that's 1500 vertical.
Speaker:Is from, is what is basically what the bottom of s snowing is to the top.
Speaker:it's that it's steep and it's, um, when you're going up of something that steep
Speaker:and trying to keep it, trying to keep your snowmobile in between the gates,
Speaker:it's not like a little frolic down the trail to, to granite hot springs.
Speaker:it's I raced forever.
Speaker:I think I've maybe combined, you know, from, from un qualifying, we only
Speaker:go to the first cat track and you gotta be as fast as you possibly can.
Speaker:I mean, you're, you're tens, hundreds of a second between racers and so if
Speaker:you're, you know, a little bit slow in a corner that can, you know, that
Speaker:make you be done for the weekend.
Speaker:You don't, you don't get qualified, to run for the top.
Speaker:So, but.
Speaker:It's one of those things where you take a breath at the bottom and you,
Speaker:and you tell yourself to breathe, you know, and then all of a sudden
Speaker:you leave and you're at the first cat track and you're out of breath,
Speaker:number one, because you didn't breathe.
Speaker:And number two, because you're holding onto the handlebar, like somebody's
Speaker:trying to rip you off of them.
Speaker:so a little bit of arm pump, and, little bit out of breath, but One of
Speaker:the biggest adrenaline rushes that, that I've ever experienced is, riding a
Speaker:snowmobile up the side of that mountain.
Speaker:And, and I think that's, I think that's true with, with everybody that
Speaker:leaves the bottom of that hill, on a snowmobile to go up it, whether they,
Speaker:whether they only, you know, they only.
Speaker:To gate 18 and they're, they're stuck or they get it clear
Speaker:over the top of the mountain.
Speaker:I think the, the amount of adrenaline is what, what drives some of these guys.
Speaker:and gals,
Speaker:And gals.
Speaker:And gals, exactly.
Speaker:Have you run your snow bill up over the top.
Speaker:I have not been over the top.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:I've, um, I've been to what they call.
Speaker:The second catwalk.
Speaker:Uhhuh
Speaker:And at that point, you know, I've, I've lost the snowmobile to the
Speaker:world famous catch net before.
Speaker:it's a lot, it's a lot easier to, to, uh, get it, to just get it unstuck
Speaker:out of the side of the mountain, you know, if you get stuck instead
Speaker:of sending it to the catch net.
Speaker:and, and much preferred on, on whoever.
Speaker:Wallet it is that you're riding their snowmobile up there and . If the
Speaker:snowmobile goes to the net, there's gonna be some broken parts on it, most likely.
Speaker:Oh, snaps.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Hey Jeff, we're going to take a quick break to get a word from one
Speaker:of our sponsors, and then we're gonna come talk more about the
Speaker:Snow Devils and the Hill Climb.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Jeff, welcome back.
Speaker:You just spoke about, how you made it to the second cat track in the hill climb.
Speaker:I'm curious to know for these racers, there's other hill climbs, aren't there?
Speaker:There are other hill climb.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And is this like the cherry on top for people to come compete in
Speaker:It is, yeah, we, we call it the World Championship,
Speaker:damn straight
Speaker:and and we, uh, you know, that's, that's why we spend so much time
Speaker:making the race what it is cuz you know, the experience for the racers
Speaker:alone, they absolutely love it.
Speaker:So.
Speaker:There, there is another circuit, rim shots of Rocky Mountain States Hill
Speaker:Climb Association and they, they kick off their season every January and have, you
Speaker:know, three or four racers races before Jackson and then we have Jackson, and
Speaker:then they, they, you know, depending on snow levels, they'll try and do three
Speaker:or four more at, at other locations.
Speaker:so it's, it's not necessarily, you know, rim Shaw has their points, champ.
Speaker:but REM Shaw also kind of has a unlimited, uh, number of entries that they can have.
Speaker:Where Jackson, you know, we're, we're kind of, we're on some time constraints.
Speaker:We've got it down to a science on how many snowmobiles we can final
Speaker:on Sunday, and so that kind of takes into account how many snowmobiles we
Speaker:can bring in to attempt to qualify.
Speaker:So we don't get every Rimshot racer here because their, their circuit is so big,
Speaker:so they don't count, they don't get, they don't count in Jackson as a points race.
Speaker:So you can kind of look at Jackson like, like an all-star game in the
Speaker:n nba in the middle of the season.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:m l b, you know, they go, you get, you get all your, your big guys in one location.
Speaker:do that for a weekend and then they move on to the rest of their season.
Speaker:So that's kind of what it, it compares to.
Speaker:a lot of people don't, don't understand why they continue to race after Jackson,
Speaker:but that's why, they have a points championship, you know, set up to where
Speaker:guys accumulate points at all the races.
Speaker:And then at the end of the year there's, there's, there's money and, and
Speaker:trophies for those points, champions.
Speaker:now, is there money for them to win here in Jackson?
Speaker:And where does that money come from?
Speaker:there's a lot of money for them to win in Jackson.
Speaker:Yeah, so we're, um, the money, the money we're a hundred percent
Speaker:payback in Jackson, so that means, you know, a racer's entry,
Speaker:a pro racer's entry is $175.
Speaker:And so every bit of that, $175 goes back into the, into the payout.
Speaker:know, it depends on the amount of guys in a class, that's gonna, you know,
Speaker:kind determine what the payout is.
Speaker:So if you, if you've got, you know, 40 guys in a class, then you take that
Speaker:$175, and multiply that that there's a pretty good pile of money in there.
Speaker:Uh, and we, we pay out, our top five.
Speaker:So yeah, you can, these bigger classes pay out a lot of money, plus the Snow
Speaker:Devils every year, you know, with the help of our sponsors, our local
Speaker:sponsors, you know, like the liquor store and, and, uh, the marketplace.
Speaker:Can I do that?
Speaker:Can I plug your businesses, Stephen?
Speaker:Sure
Speaker:They
Speaker:some bigger sponsors than Jack, than the liquor store.
Speaker:Jacksonville argument like, uh, Clarine
Speaker:yes.
Speaker:and, and.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:All the, all the manufacturers, right?
Speaker:Polaris, art, cat Skidoo.
Speaker:climb is a huge sponsor.
Speaker:What is Kline?
Speaker:climb is a, is the, the clothing,
Speaker:Oh,
Speaker:gi, the gear.
Speaker:Um, they build snowmobile gear, they build motorcycle gear,
Speaker:and they're a huge sponsor.
Speaker:You know, the even, I mean, we, we get money from the, from the Jacksonville
Speaker:lodging tax, uh, every, every year.
Speaker:So, you know, huge.
Speaker:That's huge.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:so this, so back on the money thing, you know, with all these sponsors,
Speaker:the Snow Devils can, can usually in another, you know, 25 grand.
Speaker:into the, into the pot.
Speaker:So, so these guys make money, a lot of money, you know, it's for, for
Speaker:the amount of time that they're, they spend on the hill, right?
Speaker:I mean, you, you figure you're a, a two minute run to the,
Speaker:to the top of Snow King.
Speaker:for, for a combined 20 minutes at work.
Speaker:I mean, I've seen pay payday of, you know, 30,000, 35,000.
Speaker:I wouldn't mind walking away with $35,000, but my guess is their snowmobile
Speaker:might cost a little bit more than that.
Speaker:The Yes, yes, you're exactly right.
Speaker:You're exactly right.
Speaker:I think some of these guys, you know, and, and some of your, some of your
Speaker:top guys are, are sponsored by, by the manufacturers and, and by all
Speaker:the aftermarket guy, so, you know.
Speaker:The snowmobile might be worth $35,000, but they probably don't have that into it.
Speaker:However, these guys travel from a long ways away to get here, you know, and
Speaker:then, and then all they're lodging and everything and, and the fuel to get here.
Speaker:So, you know, this is not a, it's not like winning the masters or
Speaker:anything, where you walk away with a million or $2 million, but.
Speaker:they, they make pretty good money on it, so it's good.
Speaker:And they probably understand what the Snow Devil's is doing.
Speaker:When you guys are raising, you're putting on a great event.
Speaker:A show, but you're also raising money for the community and you
Speaker:know, for people that need it, and they're probably behind that.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:They're absolutely behind it.
Speaker:I mean, there's, we've, we've got a, this is just a, a small bit
Speaker:of it, but it, it's, it's cool.
Speaker:Uh, the Snow Devils has a little cook tent that we have set up
Speaker:in the parking lot down, kind of away from, away from the public.
Speaker:And, and what that's for is to, feed our crew and to
Speaker:supply food for our v i P tent.
Speaker:And here a few years ago, the racers kind of caught onto it and.
Speaker:You know, they'll come by and, and grab a hamburger and they'll throw a hundred
Speaker:dollars in the, in the tip bucket.
Speaker:and you know, last year, I think, I think we got about $3,700 out of the,
Speaker:out of the racers for , you know, some hamburgers and breakfast burritos
Speaker:and maybe a couple of Gatorades, but.
Speaker:Yeah, they, they're totally, they're totally into it.
Speaker:They, they know what, they know what we do.
Speaker:They know what we're about, and they're, I think every one
Speaker:of them is behind us on that.
Speaker:Now are other Hill climb events around the country doing.
Speaker:What the snow Devil's is accomplishing here with raising money to give
Speaker:back to say, the Shriners Hospital or the local hospital or some
Speaker:other organization or individual.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You know, I haven't.
Speaker:I can't say yes or no for sure on that, there's a hill climb in Afton, down
Speaker:there at Grover Park that, you know, the, the local snowmobile club down
Speaker:there puts on and, and they make money.
Speaker:And I don't know what they're, I don't know what they're donating to or, or
Speaker:you know that, but I can tell you this.
Speaker:There's.
Speaker:You know, 8,500 people standing at the bottom of that mountain watching it.
Speaker:so, you know, I'm sure that they, I'm sure they make a little money and they
Speaker:can, they can do something with it, but they just don't have the venue.
Speaker:that, we have kind of had, and, and been able to use for the last 46 years.
Speaker:Hmm, and what is the Snow Devil's goal this year?
Speaker:Do you guys have a goal?
Speaker:think there's lots of goals.
Speaker:I think the , I think the main goal, the main goal is to just put on another
Speaker:quality event and, and get through it.
Speaker:and, every year it's, it's just, it's, fun every year watching the
Speaker:amount of money that we get to give away now, you know, that being said,
Speaker:stuff's getting more expensive things.
Speaker:Things are getting more expensive to, to put on the, the hill climb itself.
Speaker:I mean, just that, you know, we got, we gotta pay for all of our video
Speaker:production and, and all the sound on the hill and everything like that.
Speaker:And so it's, it's getting, it's getting more expensive.
Speaker:So I think the, that's, that's what we gotta do is we gotta, we gotta
Speaker:put on a quality event that, that keeps, that continues to bring people.
Speaker:so that our donations can get bigger each year.
Speaker:it's a tough one.
Speaker:Mother nature has everything to do with, with what our numbers
Speaker:are at the bottom of the hill.
Speaker:I mean, our racers are gonna be there regardless, but it's 10 below zero,
Speaker:and half the crowd doesn't show.
Speaker:And the half the crowd that does show up doesn't drink twice as much beer as
Speaker:the regular crowd was that showed up.
Speaker:Then, you know, our, our beer sales go down the, the gates, the gate
Speaker:sales go down and then, you know, your, your overall money making
Speaker:goes down and, and that's what's, that's always the tough part, right?
Speaker:You get a bright, you get a good four days of sunshine and no rain.
Speaker:no.
Speaker:We could set records this year, but you just never know.
Speaker:And you guys have had a few years in the past where you couldn't have
Speaker:it because there wasn't enough snow.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Not enough snow.
Speaker:we couldn't have it because of Covid a couple years ago,
Speaker:Yeah, I remember
Speaker:that one.
Speaker:was tough.
Speaker:but yeah, there's been two years.
Speaker:Two years here lately that we, that we couldn't do it.
Speaker:Uh, I think 2016 we were low on snow and you know, 2019 was
Speaker:the, or 2020 was the covid year.
Speaker:Yeah, it's 2020.
Speaker:So you mentioned streaming.
Speaker:So for those of folks who, want to be in front of their flat screen,
Speaker:pay for the streaming and donate money, they say the gate fee that
Speaker:they would pay if they were there.
Speaker:How do they go about doing that?
Speaker:so the streaming is free, right?
Speaker:You just get on, get on the Snow devils.org, website, snow devils.org,
Speaker:and we'll have a link on there and you can watch the Hill Climb, but.
Speaker:On the top of the page, there's a Donate Now button.
Speaker:So you know, any bit of, any little bit of money we can,
Speaker:we can get is always helpful.
Speaker:we've charged for the streaming in the past, but the amount of people that
Speaker:complained to us, it wasn't worth it.
Speaker:So, And it wasn't due, you know, maybe a little bit of technical difficulties.
Speaker:Maybe our sound wasn't working quite right for five or 10 minutes.
Speaker:But, you know, I'm, I'm guessing that the majority of them were, were self-inflicted
Speaker:problems with their computer equipment.
Speaker:So decided to just, you know, let this go.
Speaker:Like they didn't have their computer on.
Speaker:Like they didn't have their computer on, like they forgot to turn it on before they
Speaker:Hi.
Speaker:My computer doesn't work.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So it's free.
Speaker:The streaming is free.
Speaker:I know we played at the store, at the liquor store on our screens.
Speaker:That's, that's a, that's a, it's quite the event, you know, we've, we've
Speaker:got a, a awesome production crew that comes in and, it's funny, there used
Speaker:to be camera guys all over that hill,
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:know, with these, with these massive cameras that, and that's
Speaker:a steep incline up there, right?
Speaker:So when you're standing on a hill and you're looking the camera with
Speaker:one eye and your other eyes open because you're watching the snowmobile
Speaker:that's coming right towards you.
Speaker:That gets a little crazy for footing.
Speaker:So now these guys, these guys are running these cameras from the bottom of the hill.
Speaker:They're just set up there on a tripod and they're controlling
Speaker:them from the bottom of the hill.
Speaker:It's insane.
Speaker:and a lot, you know, there's, there's a lot less human life in danger.
Speaker:with just a camera sitting on a tripod.
Speaker:and you guys have some drones flying over.
Speaker:No drones?
Speaker:No, no drones.
Speaker:The, uh, well, the Forest Service, the Forest Service had a shut down on drones,
Speaker:um, because that, that, you know, the, for people that don't know, the upper part
Speaker:of Snow King is Forest Service property.
Speaker:and the Forest Service said, you know, no drones, um, because when people
Speaker:fly drones, Other people fly drones without asking, and we just don't
Speaker:wanna have any drone crashes, over the top of that, over the top of our race.
Speaker:So it's, it's kind of just easier to just say no drones than have one
Speaker:drone flying through the air and somebody else goes and gets theirs
Speaker:out of their truck that they have.
Speaker:And pretty soon we gotta go find out who's got their remote control for that one.
Speaker:And, Yep.
Speaker:Just kind of, uh, um, don't open that can of worms situation.
Speaker:So what's the website again that people can go to, to livestream and donate
Speaker:It is Snow devils.org.
Speaker:snow devils.org.
Speaker:And, and tell me about you, you mentioned the, the food that
Speaker:you guys have for VIPs and such.
Speaker:So I'm used to going.
Speaker:Jazz Fest in New Orleans and they're, the foods just bomber people die for the food.
Speaker:What type of food can people look forward to at the Hill Climb
Speaker:because it sure does smell good.
Speaker:Yeah, so, so the, the one that I was talking about earlier is not really
Speaker:for the public, uh, to come get, but we do have food vendors there.
Speaker:Uh, pinky, pinky Cheese will be there with their truck, have a
Speaker:slice of pizza, the Elks Club.
Speaker:give them a spot at the bottom of the hill so that they, they
Speaker:cook cheese steaks every year.
Speaker:And so, you know, the Elks Club is another, they're, you know,
Speaker:they're, they're just another club like the Snow Devils that
Speaker:just gives back to the community.
Speaker:So, where, where we can give to a, to another club that does that.
Speaker:we, we absolutely just roll out the carpet for 'em, let 'em have the
Speaker:space, and they go to making cheese steaks and, and making some money.
Speaker:You're providing the space and the event for the Elks to sell cheese steaks.
Speaker:That's extremely talk about, paying it forward and giving upon giving.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And that's just, that's just what, that's just what the Snow Devils is about.
Speaker:I mean, you can't I can't say it enough.
Speaker:That's, that's what we do.
Speaker:That's what we do.
Speaker:We give, we give back and we put on a hell of a hill climb.
Speaker:Yeah, you do bring a lot of people to town too,
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:is awesome.
Speaker:Hey, Jeff.
Speaker:I so appreciate you taking the time to do, share all this information about
Speaker:the Hill Climb, the Jackson Hole, snow Devil's Hill climb, and your, your family.
Speaker:are you gonna be, dropping the flag for the first racer like your dad used to?
Speaker:Who
Speaker:You know, I'm not, I'm not, I've, I have, um, drawn another short straw
Speaker:in that to be the race director.
Speaker:So I'm kind of, I'm kind of in charge of keeping the race under control,
Speaker:making sure that the hill is safe, um, making sure if we don't have,
Speaker:you know, if we have any issues on the hill, that we take care of 'em.
Speaker:so I wish I had that, of that, uh, job.
Speaker:Telling a racer to go ahead and go on up the hill.
Speaker:But, it's a little bit, it's a little bit of a bigger scope than that,
Speaker:uh, what I've got going this year.
Speaker:So, you know, we, we got another guy that's gonna tell him to leave,
Speaker:go ahead and go up the hill, but, Not gonna be George, he's gonna
Speaker:be playing golf, guaranteed.
Speaker:So, but no, I will be at the bottom of the hill, um, probably for the next week
Speaker:and a half , to put on our four day event.
Speaker:And, uh, yeah.
Speaker:And then, and then we'll just, we'll just go on from there.
Speaker:Well, I can't think of a better person connected to safety
Speaker:j other than Jeff Toolen.
Speaker:I, I mean when I hear safety, it's Jeff, the first name, that
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:right guy.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Well, cheers to another successful event for the Snow devils.
Speaker:How what year will this be?
Speaker:Of the Hill Climb?
Speaker:So this is the 47th annual?
Speaker:47.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Crazy.
Speaker:It's crazy.
Speaker:that's, that's almost as old as me.
Speaker:It is as old as me.
Speaker:It's even got me by a few years.
Speaker:Yeah, you're the little young guy.
Speaker:good.
Speaker:Jeff, take care.
Speaker:Thanks for the information.
Speaker:I appreciate this.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Thanks for having me on.
Speaker:You got it Later.
Speaker:To learn more about the Jackson Hole Snow Devils and the World Championship
Speaker:Hill Climb, visit the Jackson hole connection.com, episode number 233.
Speaker:Thank you, Michael, for doing the editing of this podcast and marketing.
Speaker:Folks.
Speaker:If you want to have your own podcast, you can reach out to Michael Morrie.
Speaker:His information is in the show notes.
Speaker:That's what Michael does.
Speaker:He helps people create.
Speaker:Podcast and bring them to life.
Speaker:Thank you, Laura, my life, my love for supporting me, and of course,
Speaker:the boys, Lewis and William, who give joy and surprises every day.
Speaker:Thank you folks for your time, and I truly have enjoyed sharing my time
Speaker:with you today, and I look forward to seeing you back right here for the next
