It's true, there are no X Games or Winter X disciplines for ATV riders. What's a brother (or two) to do? Learn how to backflip a snowmobile. The Texan twosome of Caleb and Colten Moore are ATV racers turned professional quad hucksters. One month before WX 14 last year they had never even ridden sleds and after only a handful of practice days they were skilled enough to both post top five finishes. Older brother Caleb earned the bronze medal in Snowmobile Freestyle, bumping veteran Daniel Bodin to fourth.
They created a buzz last year with their rapid adaptation and fearlessness. As "nubes" they had to release videos and give away what they were attempting and at least prove enough competency to compete against guys like Heath Frisby and Justin Hoyer. They brought flips, the flying squirrel and several body varials, like the motocross inspired Volt and Carolla, neither of which had ever been tried at WX. In fact, the first time Caleb had ever tried the Carolla at all was in his second Best Trick run. He crashed but scored honorary hero points for being gutsy.
The duo will have a little more practice this year but not much more. ATV freestyle is a small club and the brothers are two of the best, traveling worldwide to 20 to 25 demos a year with a group called the Bomb Squad. In 2011, Colten was invited on the Nuclear Cowboyz tour to ride with freestyle motocross guys like Adam Jones and Ronnie Faisst. He had to ask the promoters for two weekends off so he could practice. Still, they're confident they can each bring fresh material. "We have a thing or two that no one has ever done on a sled," Caleb said. "We're looking to add the wow factor in this year." Colten is even claiming he is practicing moves never before seen on dirt bikes or sleds (or ATVs). "I'm sure [our competition] knows we're going to be coming with everything we've got so they better be practiced up," Colten said.
With former snocross racers, freestyle motocrossers and now ATV riders, Snowmobile Freestyle at WX has become a true melting pot of talent. It makes Chris Burandt, the gold medalist of the inaugural freestyle competition in 2007, proud. "I think Caleb and Colten are going to be good at this," Burandt said. "This younger generation, they look at the video games and say, 'I wonder how we could do that.' They have the guts and ability to actually try something like that and feel comfortable with it."
But their plan isn't only filled with cliché 'go for broke' bravado. Compared to their competition, they spend very little time on sleds but they want it known that they take WX very seriously, they weigh their two events (Freestyle and Best Trick) equally and they're focused as much on polishing their routines as they are about impressing with eye-popping tricks. "If it's the same as last year the judges want to see not necessarily a run with the biggest and craziest tricks but a run that is smoother and more fluid so that's what we've been working on this year," Caleb said. "Even if they're not the biggest tricks we can do at least they're smoother."