It was in 1991 that Whealkate Bluff in South Range coined the slogan, ‘if you’ve got the guts, we’ve got the hill.’ It not only took ‘guts,’ but persistence for any motorcycle hillclimber to crest the peak of the 500 foot bluff.
Mike Kirtland ONLY run to make it over the top
After numerous attempts, only one motorcyclist made it over the top. That was the 2019, and 2020, King of the Hill, Mike Kirtland. Kirtland went on to win this year’s Vollwerth’s Meat’s – MASTERS Motorcycle Hillclimb King of the Hill.
While he held on to the King crown by going 486 feet in the King of the Hill (KOH) runs, it was earlier in the day that Kirtland piloted his Pat’s Motorsports Yamaha over the top. A feat no one else would do the rest of the day.
When asked on the End of the Earth Entertainment live world-wide streaming, Kirtland stated, “No one is going to go over the top. The hill, with all the jumps holds your momentum down. Then right before ‘the wall’ you have the most challenging jump of all. No way is anyone going to make it over the top.”
Kirtland did break the timing beam at the top for a 21.04 second run.
Brad Havela Ishpeming
It was only a few riders that even made it to the jump at the bottom of the wall. Crystal Falls Shane Bandola, Ishpeming’s Brad Havela, and Traverse City’s Chaz Forcia. Forcia is originally from L’Anse.
In the Mod King of the Hill, Bandola set the bar by going up 474 feet. After Kirtland went 486 feet, the fans waited to see what Forcia was going to run.
Shane Bandola Crystal Falls bike in air
“I’m going after Mike. I drove 10 hours to get here, and today was the first time I rode the bike,” explained Forcia earlier in the day.
When the KOH runs began, Forcia suffered mechanical problems with the bike and was unable to compete. That insured Kirtland the crown, with Bandola getting a second.
Class after class, the winners were decided by setting the ‘high mark’ on the hill. This included the Stock and Mod King of the Hill runs. Houghton’s Terry Lahti saved his best run of the day to win the Stock King of the Hill. Lahti edged Mass City’s Erik Brown by a mere 3 yards, 107 yards to 104 yards.
It was Ontonagon’s 10 year old Lucas Solberg that thrilled the fans when he took his 65 cc KTM 186 feet up the hill. Solberg was crowned the Wildlife Refuge Cabins Kids King of the Hill.
Other than Kirtland’s one run over the top, every run ended with an exciting finish. Kirtland also captured the Acciaca Forest Products ‘Crash of the Day’ when he got his bike only a FEW FEET from the timing lights, before the bike went air-borne.
Mike Kirtland Crash of the Day
Kirtland hurt his shoulder on that crash. He went on to the KOH runs. His last KOH run was the 486 foot run. Forcia was still scheduled for 2 KOH runs. When Forcia scratched, Kirtland didn’t need to try to climb Whealkate.
The Hillclimb was a part of the Mid America Snow and Terrain Expert Racers (MASTERS) Racing Circuit Hillclimb series. They will have their WINTERNATIONALS Snowmobile Hillclimb on Feb 5, 2022.
