Macartney, Fletcher earn Arctic Man titles

Macartney, Fletcher earn Arctic Man titles{mosimage}SUMMIT LAKE, Alaska – Olympic teammates Scott Macartney and Rosey Fletcher, plus snowboarder Ryan McDonald have a new title to stick in their portfolio: Arctic Man champion.

In a speed contest blending horsepower with athletic skill, two-member teams – one piloting a snowmachine and the other skiing or on a snowboard – tackle two courses, located outside Fairbanks. The skier or rider starts at a summit elevation of 5,800 feet and drops 1,700 feet in less than two miles to the bottom of a narrow canyon where he or she hooks up – on the fly, via a rope tow – with his or her partner, driving the snowmachine.

The driver pulla the skier 2.25 miles back uphill at speeds in the 80s (record: 89.3mph). Near the summit, the skier or rider lets go and sails over a new ridgeline, then plummets 1,200 more feet to the finish line.

Fletcher, the 2006 Olympic parallel giant slalom bronze medalist, won the women’s snowboard division earlier this month while Macartney, who had a breakout season on the alpine World Cup – including a second-place finish in super G in Germany and his second Olympic Games, won the men’s skiing title. The men’s snowboard winner was McDonald, who, like Fletcher, is one of U.S. Snowboarding’s top alpine riders, while Julie Pierre Leclerc won the women’s ski class.

“The field was down a bit this year in the four classes, but it still was a great competition,” said Brian Burnett, World Cup men’s waxing and service coordinator for the U.S. Ski Team, who drew Macartney to the 21st edition of the pulsating annual event and made certain his skis were rocket fast.

“We had about 10,000 people on hand, maybe a little more, and ‘Scotty Mac’ was awesome,” Burnett added, “He knocked off Eric Heil, who’s won Arctic Man four times and holds the record.
“And then you’ve got Rosey and Ryan McDonald winning the snowboard titles. That’s pretty sweet, too. Three out of the four wins go to U.S. Ski Team and U.S. snowboarding athletes.”

Macartney and his driver, Tyson Johnson, won in just over four minutes, and were just 10 seconds off the mark set by Heil and driver Len Story. Heil and Story were second, 11.6 seconds off the pace set by Macartney and Johnson.

Fletcher, who was the first American to make an Olympic Snowboard Team – before the 1998 Olympics – and the first U.S. woman to earn an Olympic alpine (PGS) medal this February, was pulled by Julie Thul. Their winning time was 5:48.0, nearly 20 seconds ahead of the runnerup.

McDonald was driven by 1998 Olympian Sacha Gros, who retired from the U.S. Ski Team in 2003. They were 37 seconds ahead of the No. 2 team, winning in 5:15.1.

USSA