The cold night air was punctuated with the sounds of hollering from supporters and screaming coming from some racers at Laurentian Ski Hill’s first adult boxcar race.
There was plenty of strategizing going on at the start as competitors lined up their homemade cars. But after that initial push to get started, all their plans quickly went out the window as they went barrelling down the hill.
The rules were simple. The car had to be constructed out of cardboard, tape, glue, and wire.
After that, it was a matter of holding on and hoping for the best.
Andrew Jolyoates and Mat Gooyer took up the challenge, driving in from Val Caron in Greater Sudbury.
“It is an interesting event, I’ve never done it before. I figured it was worth the hour drive, and it was. It was fun, It was something different. We don’t have these types of events in Sudbury,” said Jolyoates.
“There were a lot of unknowns the first time doing it. It didn’t go as well as I thought, but it was a lot of fun. Our car was more or less a big beer box, donated by a friend. I hoped to have won it for his liver’s sake.”
Gooyer’s job was to push Jolyoates down the hill. His strategy was simple.
“Push as hard as I can and hope we cross the finish the line,” he laughed.
“If we do this again, we’ll use a flat bottom on the cart and push harder.”
Noel Turcotte and Jason McCarthy built the “Dirty Santa” sleigh.
“It took two solid nights to make it work. We did a little bit of research and we put it together and we’re out here having a great time. It is an awesome idea. So fun, and a great way to get people out. We were first in our first heat,” added Turcotte.
The men took up the option of having both sitting in the car.
“I felt it made a big difference having more weight going down the hill. It speeds you up. We will definitely be back next year if they do it again,” said McCarthy.
In the end, James Scanlan and his boxcar, the S.S. James got up enough speed to be the big winner, taking home a pair of Toyo Tires Twin Tip Skis by Elan.
“The strategy was to design something that was light and fast, and obviously it did the trick. The whole thing was fantastic. It was a great evening. There was a really good turnout and a lot of really great people. I hope they do it again,” said Scanlan.
“My wife and I have a young family, so we’ll be taking the kids out skiing. I was an avid skier growing up here in North Bay. My wife needs some skis so she can put the ones I won to good use. “
Laurentian Ski Hill general manager Cam Graham said the event was suggested by a member of the ski hill.
Graham said a total of 19 teams signed up for the race.
“We thought it sounded like something different, so let’s try it, and it was fun. People actually came from Sudbury for this, and they had a nice car. It didn’t go very fast, but it was nice,” said Graham.
“The cold definitely made an impact. It was -27 most of the day and then it was -25 at 9 o’clock. It did make the track faster. I think we’ll probably do it again, but we’ll do it differently. We’ve learned a few lessons. Some things we’ll do again, some things we won’t do again, but certainly, the reaction was great.”