2nd Annual Riley Suhan Invitational Backcountry Race April 6
So you think you’re a pretty good all-around rider but not sure how you actually stack up in the mountain snowmobile world?
The Golden Snowmobile Club provides you with exactly those testing grounds by way of the Riley Suhan Invitational snowmobile race. The event tests riders on a course that includes trees, creek draws, meadow corners, and hill climbs in a 7-minute circuit of Quartz Creek.
Last year was the first annual event with 40 riders registered. This year the event will be bigger with nearly double the number of riders registered. This year, riders are also getting the opportunity to do solo laps after the main event to try to improve their lap time. Otherwise the key ingredients are being kept the same—it’s a relay race with randomly selected teams; each team starts individually but close enough that there will be head-to-head racing with tactical passing; there are lots of rad prizes from event sponsors; and the pre-event meeting and post-event party are guaranteed to be good times.
2nd Annual Riley Suhan Invitational Backcountry Race
The Club gets a lot of questions about why the teams are randomly selected. It’s mostly to set up an even playing field—nobody wants to be trying to beat a team that includes the Pukas brothers and Riley Suhan! By having random teams we can split the professional racers amongst all the teams as captains. The individual laps, which you can do repeat tries on for $40 each this year, allow the riders to try to get a personal best time or see how they stack up against all the pros.



The Riley Suhan Invitational will take place on Saturday, April 6 at Quartz Creek. There is the mandatory pre-event meeting on Friday at 7:00 pm, where teams are drawn and the final avalanche safety briefing is delivered.
– Magi