Snowmobiling in Cooke City, Montana

Untitled Document Tinger whips out the Sno Pro on a cliff drop

by Cory Tomesh
photos by Tim Langille

I've noticed a trend the past few years that whenever smack talk among snowmobilers reaches such a heated level that exaggerated stories can't determine whose riding prowess in the mountains is greater, the only solution is to hold a backcountry shootout where the riders skills can be observed side by side.

We met a group of hardcore riders from Ontario at Haydays in 2007. After a few times hanging out, a lot of stories told, and a few beers drank we knew we had to leave the trash talk at the bar and head to the hills to see which crew shreds the mountains harder.

The two groups headed to Cooke City Montana this past May. The terrain around Cooke provided numerous jumps drops and climbs and we had almost a full week of warm sunny weather. It was an awesome trip and we will be heading back next season.

You can catch some of the action from this trip on the latest video from Braaap Films, and a little bit in Boondockers AliVe. Check out the Cooke City photo gallery on the Boondockers website for some more still shots of Tinger.

Keep reading to see who won which awards and finally which crew claimed the title of Shooutout Champs.

Check out the rest of the pics from Cooke City>

The Clark Griswold Award Awarded to: Tinger Crew: Excons Points awarded: -1 Tinger wins the Clark Griswold award, a thumb down, and earns his team negative one points for this super touristy photo.
The XBOX High Score Award Awarded to: Buck Sexton Crew: Excons Points awarded: +1 I don't even know if they played any XBox on this trip, but I'm sure if they did, Buck got the high score on whatever games they played.
The Chris Vincent Best Wreck Award Awarded to: Blair McGuire Crew: Canadians Points awarded: +1 Point The photo to the right looks pretty sweet, and the jump was pretty sweet at that point. But, Blair landed on a little bit of a knuckle that kicked him forward. That wouldn't have been too bad, but his bars loosened and he went over the front of the sled and what do you know, it plowed right over him. It was a huge jump and quite a wreck. One up Canadians.
Da true Yooper Award Awarded to: Tinger Crew: Excons Points awarded: -1 Point Someone needs to tell Tinger that high visibility orange is for snocross racers, highway workers, and deer season. He's lucky this picture was taken right after he took off his flannel over coat and chopper mitts.
Your fashion is clashin' Award Awarded to: Nathan Monk Crew: Canadians Points awarded: -1 Point Nate rocks a large DC Shoes sticker on his REV. He rides in work boots. I don't need to say any more about what a style paradox he's entered here.
Highmark Award Awarded to: Tinger Crew: Excons Points awarded: +2 Points This one's pretty self explanatory, except the extra point. Not only did Tinger have the high mark on the hill, he did it on Canadian Tim's sled....borrowed sled - bonus point.
Fat to Flat Award Awarded to: Blair McGuire Crew: Canadians Points awarded: +1 Point Blair spent a good amount of time shovelling the lip perfectly on this hit. Turns out when they sessioned it the landing was a bit flat and harsh, but it didn't matter to this hardcore ripper, he kept going big on it.
The Ryan Seacrest Award Awarded to: Tinger Crew: Excons Points awarded: -1 Point Well, Tinger just looks gay in this picture. Happy homobiling to you.
And the winning crew is....the Canadians with just one point edged out the Excons with a total score of zero. That makes sense, bunch of no talent hacks anyway...... Ahhh, defeat sure sucks, eh Tinger? (we're required to say "eh" now, since the Canadians won the shootout)

Check out the rest of the pics from Cooke City>

Untitled Document