Cycle News Staff | June 27, 2023
FMF KTM Factory Racing’s Trystan Hart dominated the Silver Kings Hard Enduro in Kellogg, Idaho, to seal the deal on the 2023 U.S. Hard Enduro Overall Championship, his third title in a row.
Finishing the grueling mountain course in under three hours (half of the allocated six-hour cutoff time for the event), Hart built a commanding 40-minute gap over second place—Rockstar Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Ryder LeBlond—by the finish. Third place went to Factory One Sherco pilot Cody Webb, finishing 10 minutes behind LeBlond.
Trystan Hart dominated the Silver Kings Hard Enduro on his new 2024 KTM XC-W. Hart won every AMA U.S. Hard Enduro Championship round he competed in in 2023 and sealed the championship. Photos: Ryan McCasland
Hart didn’t start in the lead, however. After a fast prologue lap (a shorter mountain course sprint on Friday morning) Hart was in the provisional lead heading into an exciting “Street Rhythm” endurocross-style bracket race that put the top-32 Gold (Pro) prologue finishers into elimination-style head-to-head racing. The results of this event would set Saturday’s main race starting order.
The intense log, tire and k-rail course was built on the main street in front of the Silver Mountain Lodge and gondola house, making for quite the street-racing party. Rockstar Husqvarna’s Colton Haaker knocked Hart out of that competition in the earlier rounds. And Haaker eventually squared off with Rieju’s Alfredo Gomez (who made the trip from Andorra) in an exciting final, taking the win and the pole position start for Saturday’s Gold-course main event. Cody Webb took third in front of a packed street of fans.
Rockstar Husqvarna’s Ryder LeBlond finished second at the Silver King Hard Enduro and secured second in the AMA U.S. Hard Enduro Championship.
On Saturday morning, Gold- and Silver-course racers left in rows of four to tackle the one-lap course (Bronze-course racers raced Friday afternoon). Gold (pro) riders led the way with Haaker jumping out front early, only to make a wrong turn, losing his hard-earned advantage that had him to checkpoint one in the lead.
Hart was charging hard from the second row, battling with Gomez, LeBlond and Webb. By the second checkpoint, Hart was in the lead and checking out while LeBlond and Webb battled for the podium spots. LeBlond eventually made a pass stick over Webb on King Slayer hill, and didn’t look back, charging to second place. Webb finished third. The intense terrain and constant difficulty of this big mountain race resulted in some separation between the top-10, as the early battles in the race separated out as the hours clicked off and the mountain took its toll. The gap to tenth place was over 2.5 hours off Hart’s blistering pace.
Cody Webb raced his FactoryOne Sherco to a third-place finish.
In the Women’s Pro Class, Kylee Sweeten took her GasGas to a win over Hallie Marks’ Sherco. Melissa Harten finished third aboard a Beta four-stroke. The Women’s Pro class rode the Silver course and Sweeten, Marks and Harten were battling serious terrain all day, passing and pushing their way through A-class and Vet riders. Sweeten’s victory performance saw her reach four checkpoints in a little over four hours. Marks made it to three checkpoints approaching the five-hour mark. Harten took her four stroke up high in the field through the first two checkpoints, leading at the beginning and running an impressive pace, but the Beta had issues in the notoriously gnarly Milo Creek, shutting down her chances to reach the third checkpoint, relegating her to third overall.
Hart went undefeated to take the 2023 title, his third in a row.
Running in its second year by the Inside Enduro promotions team, The Silver Kings Hard Enduro (SKHE) took over the Silver Mountain Ski resort and created a Hard Enduro festival from the basecamp lodge in town all the way up to Kellogg peak, 6000 feet above sea level. The popular regional event sold out it’s 500 entries in weeks, with additional entries added to meet demand, resulting in the largest racer turnout of the 2023 USHE Season. Organizers placed 10 classes into four mountain courses (Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron) to challenge appropriate skill levels, allowing racers to experience different levels of difficulty. The event showcased big mountain terrain on a grand scale.
Mens Pro Podium.
The SKHE was also the final round of the IRC U.S. Hard Enduro Premier Championship, Presented by Klim, in addition to the fifth round of the AMA West Hard Enduro Series, Presented by Beta.
The AMA West Hard Enduro Series, Presented by Beta USA, wraps up at the Donner Hard Enduro on September 16-17, in Norden, California. CN
Silver Kings Hard Enduro Results
Men’s Pro
- Trystan Hart (KTM)
- Ryder LeBlond (Hus)
- Cody Webb (Shr)
- Colton Haaker (Hus)
- Will Riordan (KTM)
- Keith Curtis (KTM)
- Matthew Green (Gas)
- Nick Fahringer (Shr)
- Branden Petrie (Shr)
- Ryder Guest (KTM)
Women’s Pro
- Kylee Sweeten (Gas)
- Hallie Marks (Shr)
- Melissa Harten (Bet)
