The 2023 KLIM Backcountry Team (KLIM BCT) is an elite group of all-star snowmobile ambassadors who share KLIM's purpose-driven mission to enhance the riding experience while encouraging motorized backcountry users to prioritize avalanche safety. All Backcountry Team members are Level 1 Avalanche Certified and involved in continuing safety education. And most importantly, they’re some of the best riders and racers on Earth.
Dan Adams
Started riding: Started riding snowmobiles in the late 1990s as a way to access the backcountry snowboarding
Race team: Team Polaris Athlete and KLIM Backcountry Team Official Member
Off-season hobby: Owns Blacktop Pros for seal-coating driveways, which he started in 2014 to support his winter business; owns Next Level (NXT LVL), the first-ever backcountry riding clinics started in 2008 for teaching snowboarders the fundamentals of off-trail mountain riding and avalanche safety
Fun fact:
Former professional snowboarder and longtime friend of snowboard legend, Travis Rice
Certified Wilderness First Responder
Social:
https://www.facebook.com/DanAdamsOG
https://www.youtube.com/user/sledneckdan
https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvlclinics
Emil Ahrling
Started riding: Started riding snowmobiles at 12 and sleds at 15
Race team: Team Polaris Athlete – first Swedish athlete on Team Polaris – KLIM Backcountry Team Official Member
Notable racing achievements: First-ever international pro to qualify in Pro Mod class at Jackson in 2022 season
Off-season hobby: Motocross, enduro and trials
Fun fact: Born and raised in Sweden
Works as a machinist building medical devices
Social:
https://www.instagram.com/emilahrling/
https://www.facebook.com/Emilahrling.se
https://www.youtube.com/user/Efilms25th
Chris Burandt
Started riding: Started riding sleds at 6 after being introduced by parents and grandparents
Race team: Team Polaris Athlete and KLIM Backcountry Team Official Member
Notable racing achievements:Legendary big-air freestyle rider; won X-Games Gold in 2007 as one of the first to pull off a snowmobile backflip in competition
Multiple Red Bull Fuel & Fury championships
Two-time Freestyle Sno-X (FSX) Rider of the Year
Off-season hobby: Owns Burandt's Backcountry Adventure, a backcountry guiding business in Colorado, British Columbia and Chile for showing other riders how to improve their skills, which also includes an online parts store and custom builds
Fun fact:
Has own signature series with FOX Shocks
Has own Trails West RPM Chris Burandt Edition Trailer
Acted as a stuntman in Babylon A.D., a Vin Diesel movie in Sweden
Experienced elk bowhunter
Social:
https://www.instagram.com/chrisburandt211/
https://www.facebook.com/ChrisBurandt?sk=wall
https://www.youtube.com/user/BurandtsBackcountry
Podcast: https://chrisburandt.podbean.com/
Brock Buttars
Started riding: Started riding at age 7 on a Honda Big Red 3-wheeler and later dirt bike racing at 24
Race team: Team Timbersled Athlete and KLIM Backcountry Team Official Member
Current racing series:Sea to Sky Hard Enduro, RMX motocross series, AMA National Grand Prix off-road championship
Notable racing achievements: Qualified for International Six Days Enduro
USRA (Utah Desert Racing) class champion
Off-season hobby: Owns Brockstar Performance for bike maintenance, engine rebuilds, custom snowbike builds and shock tuning
Brock spends most of his spare time restoring old muscle cars
Brock is also a Klim streetbike model/rider in the summer months.
Fun fact:
He and wife, Marci, ride adventure bikes on- and off-road in their free time.
Brock has a 12-year-old daughter and twin boys, age 10, who race motocross and grand prix races with him
Social:
https://www.instagram.com/brockstar36/
https://www.facebook.com/brock.buttars
https://www.brockstarperformance.com/
Julie-Ann Chapman
Started riding: Started riding as a kid, professional snowboarder before snowmobiler
Race team: Team Polaris Athlete and KLIM Backcountry Team Official Member
Off-season hobby: Riding and training horses and competing in the eventing discipline; mountain biking and camping
Owns She Shreds Mountain Adventures, the world’s first women’s snowmobile clinics specializing in teaching women how to progress their snowmobiling in the backcountry
Fun fact:
Bilingual (French and English)
One of four professional North American women snowmobilers to have Avalanche Operations Level 2 advanced certification
Social:
https://www.instagram.com/sheshredsmountainadventures/
https://www.facebook.com/SheShredsMountainAdventuresInc
Keith Curtis
Started riding: Started riding snowmobiles and dirt bikes at 4 years old in Polaris, Montana
Race team: Factory Polaris Hillclimb athlete and KLIM Backcountry Team Official Member, Factory One/Sherco USA athlete
Current racing series: Rocky Mountain States HillClimb Association, AMA US Hard Enduro
Notable racing achievements:
54 Snowmobile Hillclimb World Championships, RMSHA - won first world championship in 2008
Third overall, AMA US Hard Enduro, 2022
- First place, Silver Kings Hard Enduro, 2022
Four-time RMSHA Racer of the Year
304 first place finishes
Finisher Erzberg, 2017
Eighth place, Gold Class, Romaniacs, 2016
Off-season hobby:Racing year round snowmobile and moto; enjoys E-mtb in off-time
Fun fact:
6-foot-3
First job was cleaning dad's furniture store, The Dilmart, at age 11.
Social:
https://www.facebook.com/kc711
https://www.instagram.com/keithcurtis711/
https://www.youtube.com/c/keithcurtis711
Matt Entz
Started riding: Started riding around age 4 on a 70s Ski-Doo
Race team: Team Polaris Athlete and KLIM Backcountry Team Official Member
Owns Mountain Skillz with Matt Entz, offering personalized technical mountain riding instruction and motorized avalanche safety courses
Off-season hobby:
Riding dirt bikes and spending time with family
Fun fact: Overall 40+A class winner of at 2022 Shady Burro Enduro in South Fork, Colo. – Top 15 overall on Day 1 and Top 20 on Day 2
Has worked as a potato farmer during growing season
Social:
https://www.instagram.com/mattentzsnow/
https://www.facebook.com/mattentzsnow
https://www.youtube.com/user/entzmatt
Gabrielle Hockley
Started riding: Started snowmobiling at age 3
Race team: Team Polaris Athlete and KLIM Backcountry Team Official Member
Off-season hobby:
Professional women’s wake surf athlete
Fun fact:
Husband, Isaac, is an action sports photographer
She and her husband are both real estate agents
Social:
https://www.instagram.com/gabriellehockley/
https://www.facebook.com/GabrielleHockley
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxxSTdckXg2JLfcA9oh08-Q
Dave McClure
Started riding: Snowmobiles in the 1990s
Race team: Arctic Cat Black Cats factory-sponsored backcountry team, KLIM Backcountry Team Official Member
Current racing series: Retired from Rocky Mountain States HillClimb Association
Notable racing achievements:
Eight-time Snowmobile Hillclimb World Champion, RMSHA
10-time Year-End RMSHA Points Champion
Two King of the Hill World Championships, Jackson Hole World Championship Snowmobile Hill Climb
X-Games Snowmobile HillCross, 2015
Off-season hobby: Owns and operates a landscaping company in the summer
Enjoys single track enduro riding
Fun fact:
Enjoys riding horses with his family
Rides a Scott E-Bike
Enjoys deep sea fishing and hunting caribou
Social:
https://www.instagram.com/dmc150/
https://www.facebook.com/DavidMcClure150/
Mason Rutledge
Started riding: Snowmobiles as a child with his family; started racing in 2019 and went straight to Pro class with several podium finishes
Race team: Team Ski-Doo Hillclimb Athlete and KLIM Backcountry Team Official Member
Current racing series: Rocky Mountain States HillClimb Association
AMA US Hard Enduro (West)
Notable racing achievements: Fourth, Pro Open Modified King, Afton Hillclimb, 2022
Off-season hobby:
Enjoys backcountry snowmobiling and boating
Racing Hard Enduro, spending time with wife, Olivia, and daughter, Rozlyn
Fun fact: Multi-sport professional athlete
Born and raised in Rigby, Idaho – Home of KLIM HQ
Lived in Italy for two years
Social:
https://www.instagram.com/masonrutledge522/
https://www.facebook.com/masonrutledge522/
Jared Sessions
Started riding: Started riding snowmobiles at 15 when his parents purchased a motel in Island Park, Idaho with a snowmobile rental operation.
Race team: KLIM Backcountry Team Official Member
Current racing series:
Notable racing achievements: Former Rocky Mountain States HillClimb Association racer
Off-season hobby:
Builds sleds featured on covers of magazines
Former research and development tester and product developer for BoonDocker
Fun fact: 5-foot-1
Oldest of five brothers
Enjoys riding horses with his wife, Petra
Attended Polaris school to become a certified technician for snow, ATV and watercraft
Has been featured on The Today Show for surviving an avalanche
Social:
https://www.instagram.com/jstuner12
https://www.facebook.com/jared.sessions.9
Andy Thomas
Started riding: Started riding at age 14 on a Polaris Dragon, where he rode in the backcountry outside Afton with some of his friends
Race team: Team Polaris Athlete and KLIM Backcountry Team Official Member
Current racing series: Rocky Mountain States HillClimb Association
Notable racing achievements:
Six-time Snowmobile Hillclimb World Champion, RMSHA
RMSHA’s Racer of the Year, 2017
Snowbike World Champion 2018 and 2019
Jackson Hole Semi-Pro King of the Hill
Off-season hobby: Works as a journeyman lineman doing excavation work on underground power lines with his best friend and business partner
Fun fact: Enjoys riding dirt bikes and mountain bikes in the summer
Social:
https://www.instagram.com/andythomas104/
https://www.facebook.com/AndyThomas0104
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKZzpPwQmOBMRCk1EXwJc4A
Cole Willford
Started riding: As a child cheering for his dad in the early days of the hillclimb race circuit
Race team: Team Polaris Athlete and KLIM Backcountry Team Official Member
Current racing series: Rocky Mountain States HillClimb Association
Notable racing achievements:
Four-time Snowmobile Hillclimb World Champion, RMSHA
X Games
Off-season hobby: Owns a paintless dent repair business and teaches at local gym
Teamed up with Chris Burandt on backcountry guides
Fun fact: Associates degree in mechanical drafting from Colorado Mesa University
Enjoys mountain biking, wakeboarding and boating with his wife, Jill
Former supercross and motocross racer
Brother, Cable, is a professional hillclimb racer as well and both racers are following in their father’s footsteps
Social:
https://www.instagram.com/colewillford252/
https://www.facebook.com/colewillford2five2
KLIM ambassadorapplications are open to the wider public – https://www.klim.com/ambassador-application – in an effort to continue providing a platform for all to directly drive impact.