Widowmaker's challenge to attract dirt bike riders

CROYDEN — If you like it loud, steep and with lots of horsepower, this is your weekend.

The annual Widowmaker Hillclimb is set for Friday and Saturday and will bring hundreds of dirt bike riders to a small patch of land east of Morgan near Croydon.

While there, they'll try to do what only 16 others have done in the long history of the event — make it to the top.

"As long as we've been doing this," Moe Lund, one of the organizers of the event, said, "we've had more than 3,000 people try, but only 16 have made it successfully."

What makes the hill such a challenge is how different it is from normal hill-climb courses around the country.

Instead of a typical 500-foot climb, the Widowmaker goes up 1,000 feet and gets tougher as each specially modified motorcycle chews up the path.

"We've got pros from all over the country coming to try and tackle the longest, hardest hillclimb in the world," Lund said.

Several Utahns will be giving the hill their best shot as well.

Woods Cross' John Smith has made it over the top three times and will be joined by Morgan's Todd Stuart, Sandy's Kevin Greaves and others.

But the two-day event is not just for pros riding machines with massive horsepower.

Axel Compton is back again for his fourth time — he began hitting the hill at the ripe old age of 3.

The oldest participant, Lund said, is 85.

"It's a real family thing," he said. "You don't have to have the biggest or fastest machine on the road to come out and ride it."

Lund said the unique facility — the Widowmaker is held on private property with three different courses that will be rehabilitated and restored after the event — allows for a more exciting weekend than if it were held on public land.

With ample parking on site, as many as 3,500 people are expected to show up to watch Saturday afternoon's championship runs.

Things kick off Friday morning at 7 a.m. as local amateurs attack the mountain.

With $40,000 in prize money on the line, the action will get intense throughout Saturday's runs, with the championship runs starting that afternoon.

Widowmaker Hillclimb

When: June 25 and 26

Where: Near Croyden, east of Morgan

Take Exit 111 on I-84

e-mail: jeborn@desnews.com