A lot of surprises met everyone involved in the hopefully (?) first annual Wallowa Mountain Thunder Challenge, held in beautiful downtown Joseph Oregon, a very rural spot on the map in the northeast corner of the state. The locals had never seen the likes of an event like this, and a small group of the Wallowa County Gamblers Snowmobile club busted their butts for many weeks to put together an event no one would forget. And no one likely will.

Kick the weekend off with a long, stern lecture from MWR officials, seemingly carried forward from at least one prior event. Maybe even prior seasons. Something about sportsmanship, safety, common sense. Not being regular followers of the series, we were as lost as the junior members sitting baffled and squirming in the room. I think there is a long story behind that somewhere, but I think we just won't ask some questions.

Not to harp too much on the racers or officials, the topic then moved on to the track itself. Being the first-ever snocross race the local club had hosted, and the first that many would honestly ever see, they were kind of working with the best information they could put together about track design when Mother Nature doesn't cooperate. When early teams arrived and gave their first impressions, 24 hours before racing was to start, they hit it with a bulldozer and started over. By the time most of the racers got a first look, some were still concerned about it being too narrow, too much sand, too short, too sharp of turns with not enough banking.

One walked the track Friday afternoon, and simply said, "Sweet."

There was a very heated discussion about whether the event would offer racing points at all so riders would ride safely on the narrow course. Race officials thought if no "real" points were on the line, then the riders would just have fun and be careful. Of course, riders that actually wanted to chase a championship weren't very happy with that, and then the debate was on.

By a very narrow vote, it was decided that some sort of modified points schedule would be used. Racers that made the long haul to Joseph would receive points, but there wouldn't be huge rewards for laying it all out on the line on the track. Even now, we don't quite understand what the final plan will be. Watch the MWR website for the final postings. The MWR scoring ladies are rocket scientists with the points, and I'm sure they'll clear it all up. (Besides, they are just too dang nice!)

So after Joseph surprised the racers with less-than-welcoming race conditions, and a loud handful of racers surprised Joseph with less-than-grateful appreciation of the work that went on to put on the opportunity, both sides stumbled out the door to JUST RACE.

Weather came and went all day, but luckly the harsh near-blizzard winds held off during the 5 hours of action. A little blue sky, a little grey, but nothing to chase the spectators away from the bonfires and BooKoo. They came to watch, and they weren't disappointed.

First practice proved that yep, that one turn really was an odd angle, sharp and narrow, as racer after racer either blew straight through the corner or laid on the brakes and began a multi-sled pile up. After a few laps and a class or two, riders seemed to be getting a handle on where they could race, and where they had to single-file it and use their head.

The only injury of the day came very early on, when # 222 Tyler Morris came over the finish line double jump, was bucked off, then t-boned and run over by another rider. He dragged himself off the track as best he could, and put the track EMT's to their first test of the day. It was a few hours later until word came back from the local hospital - we have heard it may be a broken shoulder, but will confirm with race officials tomorrow.

When we left trackside, scoring was still finalizing a few of the classes, so we'll bring you 120's and Women tomorrow. Also, stay tuned for hundreds of photos of the action, on and off the track, audio interviews and racer features.

In the meantime, here's your top 5 in the other classes, based on finish in each of their motos: