Harley to Debut Snow Hill Climb at Winter X Games

Harley-Davidson has gotten involved in an increasing number of snow and ice race competitions over the past year. Yesterday, the company announced it has partnered with the Winter X Games to introduce the new Snow Hill Climb race – a medaled event at the tail end of X Games Aspen 2018.

Let's Get Cold:

The H-D XL 1200 CX Snow Drag Bike

Video of the Day: Snowmobile vs Snow Bike

The event is a drag-race style competition in which pairs of riders go head-to-head, racing modified Harley-Davidsons side-by-side up the flat bottom of the SuperPipe course. The machines will all feature extended swing-arms, widened frames, and special gearing, just to name a few of the changes. Every heat a rider will be eliminated until a gold medalist is crowned.

“There’s a story behind every mile you ride on your Harley-Davidson, and I’m honored to be one of the first to ride mine up the Snow Hill Climb during X Games 2018,” said Josh Mueller, who’ll be racing a modified Sportster.

“For 115 years H-D riders from all walks of life have expressed their freedom from the seat of America’s favorite motorcycle, so it’s natural for us to continue to blaze trails – this time off the road and in the snow,” said Harley-Davidson director of marketing, Scott Beck. “We’ve raced the ice and climbed virtually every kind of hill, and the Harley-Davidson Snow Hill Climb is another way for us to grow the sport of motorcycling. We know our riders, and X Games fans and athletes alike share a passion for adrenaline and speed.”

This move appears to be another part of Harley’s effort to tap into a younger customer base. The company has also been striving to reshape peoples’ perception of its bikes, and by attaching itself to events like the X Games, it will hopefully do just that. It is also admittedly a clever move on Harley's part as far as utilizing an already existing resource (The Superpipe) as the venue/track, after the snowboard/ski competitors have ended.

X Games Aspen will air on January 25-28 on ESPN and ABC. The inaugural H-D Snow Hill Climb airs live on January 28 at 10:45PM EST on ESPN, with the preliminary and qualifying rounds being streamed live on Harley’s Facebook page at 10:15PM EST.