Freestyle snowmobiler Heath Frisby would likely be more willing to tweet his social security number than to reveal his hand for the Best Trick and Freestyle competitions at Winter X Games 2012.
The 27-year-old Idaho native will give straight answers to any question except "What are you working on for this year?" A common trait among freestyle snowmobilers: Keep your repertoire under wraps at all costs.
Frisby, a two-time Best Trick medalist (gold in '10; bronze in '11) and three-time Freestyle medalist (bronze in '07, '08, '09) plays it coy. "I've just been riding lately," he says. "I have not gotten crazy into exactly what I'm going to do for Winter X. I've just been working on safe riding and touching up on what I've done before. As we get closer to X Games, you'll see us in the foam pit a lot more."
Yeah, right.
"Of course, I'm working on something for Winter X Games, but I don't think I'll tell you now or later," says Daniel Bodin, who won gold in both Snowmobile Best Trick and Freestyle in 2011. The double dip ended years of Winter X frustration for the 27-year-old from Sweden: He had finished fourth in Freestyle four straight years.
For the past few years, the hot new stunts have been backflip progressions and variations -- many of which make their aerial debut in motocross freestyle before being done by the sled set. Bodin, for one, can flip both vehicles. "I can now do about 10 different tricks upside down," Bodin says. "I just keep building them up harder and harder."
At Winter X 2011, the Best Trick competition culminated with Bodin's top-secret double grab backflip. A snowmobile competition first, the double grab flip secured gold. It was then eclipsed by the double-super-secret tandem Indian air backflip performed by brothers Colton and Caleb Moore -- for zero points, but a permanent spot on the highlight reel.
But Bodin did tip his hand in November, when he unveiled his newest trick at the Red Bull Fuel+Fury event in Chicago. With only a little foam pit practice, he executed a Shaolin backflip; the first ever performed on a snowmobile in competition.
"I was going to save it for Winter X Games, but I just had to do it," Bodin says.
With very few freestyle snowmobile competitions during a given year, the Red Bull event gave an unusual glimpse into Winter X prep.
"It was really good for us to compete that early in the year," Frisby says. "Now I kind of know where the other athletes are at, what they're learning and what they're up to."
Though Frisby is only on the Freestyle roster as of Tuesday, he could end up in both snowmobile disciplines, and he named Bodin as someone he's watching closely. And he should, given that the Swede is the defending double-gold medalist. "Daniel was doing some pretty big tricks, and I think that this season is going to be the toughest one yet," Frisby says.
