:.
The Riders of Team Thunderstruck
Randy Swenson :: 2009 XTREMEY AWARD WINNER, Best Rider in a snowmobile Film, TS7
 

Age: Over 21
Birthday: It's spooky!
Hometown: Summerland, BC (I wish it was called Winterland)

Occupation: Yamaha Guy
Favorite riding areas: Revelstoke, or anywhere with BIG terrain!
Favorite food: I always order the beef ;) Or the pasta
Favorite music: Sirius XM or a boosted 4 Stroke at 11,000 rpm!
His SLEDs: Yamaha Nytro with MC-Xpress , Fresh Apex, with custom MC-Xpress front mount Turbo
Pastimes: Sleddin', Golfin' Skiin', Campin', Sleddin', Moto, WakeSurfin', Sleddin', Downhillin', and whatever my kids want to do :) , avalanche awareness via avalanche.ca before EVERY RIDE.

QUOTE: "Got boost?"

 

   
     
Brett Coupal
 

Age: 37
Birthday: March 15
Hometown: Kelowna, BC

Occupation: Helicopter Maintenance Engineer
Favorite riding areas: Revelstoke, Whistler, Golden, all in British Columbia!!
Favorite food: Steak and lobster @ Zala's in Revelstoke (thanks Melissa!)
Favorite music: Octane Channel, Country
His SLEDs: Custom CBS Turbo Yamaha RX-1 and a Simmons Propane Turbo Yamaha Nytro 174.
Pastimes: Building and tuning custom sleds for some of my best friends. Hanging and playing with the wife and kids, Tracey, Emily and Joey.

QUOTE: "RANDY, YOU GO FIRST!"

 

   
     
Ange Dyer
 

Age: 27 ::: Hometown: Rexburg, Idaho

Marital Status: JAN 16th, 2009 all single men will cry!!!

Occupation: Nada Colada! Going to school
Favorite riding areas: TRAILS....j/k no really- Any place with tons of snow, boon docking, and steep mountains
Favorite food: Sugar Cookies
Favorite music: Mormon Tabernacle Choir ....... just kidding........ Nickelback or Rascal Flatts (country)

Her SLED: The pinkest M8 you will ever see!

QUOTE: I can't decide who is higher maintanence, me or my sled....


   
     
Brad Story, Utah Turbo Hound
 

Age: Mostly 18, but it depends who you ask!
Birthday: April 8
Hometown: Liberty, Utah

Occupation: Yes, but only when I want to
Favorite riding areas: Steep and Narrows or anywhere with great snow
Favorite food: Smashed breakfast sandwich or a great cheesecake
Favorite music: Classic Rock
His SLEDs: Polaris Pro RMK Turbo, M12T, both in the works
Pastimes: Adrenaline junky, Making Debbie (his wife) happy

Quote: "Live your own life to its fullest and all else will take care of itself"

   
     
Julio Eiguren
 

Age: 38
Hometown: Paramatta, New South Wales, Australia, currently in Boise, Idaho

Occupation: Paint Contractor
Favorite riding areas: McCall, Donnelly, Afton
Favorite food: Elk Steak
Favorite music: Alternative
His SLEDs: 2 Yamaha Apexes, both BOOSTED. One MCXpress pump gas with Timbersled suspensions.

QUOTE: I'm Stumped. Dang, I can't believe I took down Phelan at Marysville!!

   
     
Riley Jensen
 

Age: 18
Hometown: Island Park, ID

Occupation: Waitress and sledder
Favorite riding areas: Mt. Jefferson, Island Park
Favorite food: Any kind of food except way hot food!!
Favorite music: All music
Her SLEDs: 2008 SkiDoo XP and 2005 Polaris 900 RMK
Specialty: This chick flat out rocks! Look for good things from Riley in TS9!!

Quote: You never know 'til you try!

   
     
Joe Bushilla
 


Age:
Old enough to drink, not old enough to know better
Hometown: Helena, MT

Occupation: General Contractor
Favorite riding areas: In the DEEP SNOW
Favorite food: Good steak and seafood
Favorite music: Hip hop, netal, Lady GaGa
His SLED: 2009 Yamaha Nytro with an McXpress Turbo and CR Racing tunnel
Specialty: Getting stuck and powder riding. Also takes pics from the chopper!

Quote: Scuba diving or sledding? How about both in the same week?!?

Quote 2: Why wouldn't ya?!?

 

   
     
Shawn Hastings ***2005 XTREMEY AWARD WINNER***
 

AGE: 45
Birthday: July 29
Hometown: Kettle Falls, WA

Shawn won the 2005 award for BEST SNOWMOBILER IN A SLEDDING FILM for his amazing performance in Thunderstruck 3! Nicely done, Shawn!

Occupation: Engineering Tech II
Favorite riding areas: British Columbia
Favorite food: Steak and seafood
Favorite music: Nickelback, Hinder, 80's rock
His SLED: Turbo CAT
Pastimes: Hunting, Fishing, Jeeping, Group hugs...

Quote: "Money? What money? I have hobbies instead!"

   
     
Troy Lakusta
 

Age: 27
Birthday: Sept 27
Hometown: Edmonton, AB

Occupation: Landscaping and Lakusta Sled Guiding
Favorite riding areas: Revelstoke area
Favorite food: chips with salsa and anything spicy
Favorite music: Octane 20 and Jason Ellis
His SLEDs: Nytro boosted with a Impulse race kit,M-10, 174 3" and some other custom parts with a few bends here and there...lol :: Also have a stock xp 154 for the tree bashing deep in the bush days
Pastimes: Deep Revy powder days when the sun is shining,pulling a first accent, a hot summer day on the lake with friends

QUOTE: "I'M CANADIAN, EH!" ....... or thats what MR Story tells me

   
     
Dave Schell
 

Age: 42 going on '32' ::: Hometown: Helena, Montana

Occupation: Chain Link Fence builder, Snowmobiler
Favorite riding areas: Somewhere near Ennis, Montana. Shhh! It's a secret!
Favorite food: NOT SUSHI!
Favorite music: AC/DC
His SLED: 2009 Ski-Doo. . . Big John 860 kit

QUOTE: If I can't go up it, I'll go down it!

   
     
Mark Mesenbrink
 

Occupation: High Voltage Electrician
Favorite riding areas: British Columbia
Favorite food: Anything that will fit in his mouth. . . And he has a LARGE mouth!
Favorite music: Rob Zombie, Staind, Def Leppard
His SLED: M8 Brad Story turbo
Specialty: Climbing and wreckin'

Quote: "Life is divided into two parts, anticipation and memory and if we remember richly then we must have lived richly."

Mark's amazing reputation follows him everywhere he goes and if you ever want to meet him in person, just come to a snow show and visit the Thunderstruck booth! From Karaoke in Puyallup to eating cheese curds at Haydays, Mark is the ultimate gentleman and funny man! Check out Mark in this hilarious commercial he did in sunny California last fall (now you know why we call him the HAIRY BEAR!). Mark also held the Thunderstruck crashing title for 3 years before Doc Nesbo took over with a whirlwind last year! We love you, Mark!

   
     
Julie Marquart
 

Age: Not telling!
Birthday: April 12
Hometown: Kuna, ID

Occupation: Costco Wholesale Marketing
Favorite riding areas: Mccall, ID, Alpine, WY, Revelstoke, BC
Favorite food: Steak and seafood
Favorite music: Alternative; Nickleback, Fuel, Puddle of Mud. All good music, Metal, Country, Hip-hop, no more 80's please!
Her SLED: 2008 Yamaha Apex with a pump gas MCXpress turbo
Pastimes: Boating, fishing, hunting, dirt biking, camping, gardening, cooking

Quote: "Life's too short... So LIVE IT!"

   
     
Scott Marquart
 

Age: 39
Hometown: Meridian/Boise, Idaho

Occupation: Equipment Sales
Favorite riding area: Afton
Favorite food: Mexican
Favorite music: Rock... And Gregorian Chant
His SLED: MCXpress Boosted Yamaha Apex
Pastimes: Anything outdoors

QUOTE:

   
     
Mark Dixson
 

Age: 24
Birthday: August 30
Hometown: Valleyview, AB

Occupation: Hydrovac operator
Favorite riding areas: Revy, Whistler, Blue river
Favorite food: Meat
Favorite music: Classic rock, metal
His SLED: 06 Apex with powderlites turbo kit
Pastimes: Sledding, boating, biking, rocking

QUOTE: "NO GUTS, NO GLORY!"

   
     
Doug Anderson, Utah Turbo Hound
 

 

Occupation: Building Controls
Favorite riding areas: The Towers, Mt. Jefferson, SW Wyoming
Favorite food: Mexican
Favorite music: Thunderstruck II Soundtrack!
His SLED: 2009 Nytro MC Xpress 270hp turbo. Ice age Rails, 162 power claw track, OFT steering system, Simmons gen II
Specialty: Powder, hillclimbing

Quote: Reputation is valuable but character is priceless.

Doug (or 'Dougie') as I like to call him, hails from Utah and is one of the pioneers of Farm Sled Racing. Doug rocks the steep and deep with his custom 700cc turbo. If you line up against Doug, he'll either whoop you or out-crazy you. Either way, you're going to get beat! Taking turbos where they've never been before is #1 in Doug's books. Check out his highmarking picture in our gallery! Long ride THE BANANA!!!

   
     
Wes Little, Utah Turbo Hound
 

 

Occupation: Plumber
Favorite riding areas: Island Park, Utah
Favorite food: Mexican
Favorite music: Anything LOUD
His SLED: 2008 Propane Apex boosted and a Farm sled 700cc Turbo in a custom chassis
Specialty: Scaring all the people at the bottom of the hill!

Quote: Don't tell me I can't do that!

Wes jumped head-long into the turbo world this year and oh boy does he mesh with it. You rarely see a beat up old Polaris chassis pull up next to your $30,000.00 sled and lay some smack on it. Wes has pulled some of the craziest lines I've ever seen and he is just excited to do more. His first ascent of Mt. Jefferson's "Threadmaker" put him on the map as one of the premiere chute climbers this world has to offer.

   
     
Dan Bush
 

Occupation: Construction
Favorite riding areas: British Columbia
Favorite food: Steak and seafood
Favorite music: Britney Spears
His SLED: Ummm. . . Still waiting to find out from Dan!
Specialty: Chute climbing, technical climbing

Quote: "I Like to put a little finesse into it!"

Dan made all Union Bay fans stand up and take note this year as he climbed his way into the deepest realms of chute climbing with his "Snatch" first ascent and some awesome "chopper courage" antics! Finesse all the way!

   
     
Tina Thomas
 

COMING SOON

Age: 37
Birthday: May 8
Hometown: Sylvan Lake, AB

Occupation: Environmental Consultant
Favorite riding areas: Revelstoke
Favorite food: Homemade grits and hummus
Favorite music: The right tunes for the occasion!
Her SLED: 2008 Rev-XP 880 Big Bore
Pastimes: Living to ride and enjoying the outdoors

QUOTE: "If you want your dreams to come true.... don't oversleep"

   
     
Doc Shawn Nesbo
 

Age: 45 and climbing...
Birthday: August 15th, birthday presents accepted.
Hometown: Conrad/Shelby, Montana

Occupation: Medical Doctor, Team Physician
Favorite riding areas: Skyland, Ten Lakes, Revelstoke, Cooper Creek. Any where there is balls deep powder as long as the feller is not too short or saggy.
Favorite food: Steak & Tail with lots of butter, Yummy!
Favorite music: It varies from Rock & Roll to Country Rock. The sound of nature and even silence can be appreciated.
His SLED: Lite weight Boondocker turbo Yamaha apex, modded Artic Cat M-7, Big Bore Honda CRF 450 with 2 moto conversion, Aprilia SXV 550 with 2 Moto conversion, along with a few loaner sleds including Skidoo Scandic 2 track one ski. LOL Have fun! See you there.
What Shawn does best: Leaping scientific boundaries, saving lives, and stamping out disease!
Pastimes: Sledding, motorcycling on & off road,wrenching, hunting,fishing,great adventure, general mixin it up and Smiling.

Quotes: "It's a rental!" ::: "Let's Mix It Up Thunderstruck Style!" ::: "See you at the top?"

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition of mediocre minds" :: Albert Einstein

Shawn is the most dynamic member of Team Thunderstruck and with the TURBO Apex he may well be the fastest, too! Look for Shawn at all the snow shows promoting Team TS and safety while riding! Also, watch for him to dominate in the deep stuff this year!

   
     
Trennis Baer
 

Age: Not sure, but man am I BALD! (37)
Birthday: July 25th
Hometown: Great Falls, Montana

Occupation: Owns concrete/excavating business, Contractor
Favorite riding areas: Wyoming and Revelstoke
Favorite food: Duck and mashed potatos
Favorite music: Older country and 80s rock
His SLED: 2007 Yamaha APEX with Propane powered boost!
Specialty: Hillclimbing
Pastimes: Riding the Harley, hunting, traveling with wife Jamie

QUOTE: "Don't worry, be happy..."

   
     
Cam Hicks
 

Age: 29
Hometown: Slocan City, BC

Occupation: Trained Sled Basher, no sled left unharmed.
Favorite riding areas: Anywhere in the West Kootenays
Favorite food: The kind that I can reach
Favorite music: Depends what HER favorite music is
His SLED: 2008 Rev XP

QUOTE: Good thing someone invented the snowmobile or I wouldn't have anything to spend my money on.

   
     
John Outhet
 

Age: 40
Birthday: Feb 1
Hometown: Star, Idaho

Occupation: Real Estate Appraiser
Favorite riding areas: Locally: McCall and the Trinities. Travel to: Revelstoke and Alpine, Wyoming
Favorite food: Ribeye Steak
Favorite music: Rock and Rap, some heavy metal
His SLEDs: 2007 Yamaha Apex Turbo race gasser, 2008 Yamaha Apex Turbo pump gasser
Pastimes: Sledding, wakeboarding, wakesurfing, dirtbikes, hunting, camping

QUOTE: "THAT'S TOO NARROW FOR AN APEX!"

   
     
Taylor Dyess :: #698
 

Age: 16
Birthday: March 22

Hometown: Pinedale, WY

Favorite Snocross Venue: Salt Lake City

Occupation: Student
Favorite riding areas: Horse Creek in the Wyoming Range, Slocan Valley, Canada
Favorite food: P, B & J!!! Steak and Shrimp (umm, wow who eats steak and shrimp at 16???), Pasta
Favorite music: Anything country
His SLED: 2010 Ski-Doo 600RS, 2009 Ski-Doo 600RS, Ski-Doo 800 154 Summit
Pastimes: When not racing snocross, I like to be in the backcountry busting deep power. When the snow is gone, I can be found fishing, hunting or riding my dirtbike.

QUOTE: ""Snocross... Because Football, Baseball, Basketball, and Golf - all require only ONE Ball" "

Taylor is the only racer Team Thunderstruck sponsors during the racing season and he does us proud. He already had a huge write-up with pictures in his local paper and he has been riding snowmobiles for 12 of his 16 years! Although racing is his passion now, we're going to be getting him on the snow with the big boys soon to have some FUN!

::

 

   
     
Jim Phelan
 

 

Occupation: Optometrist
Favorite riding areas: Copper Creek, Tony Grove, Mt. Jefferson, Lion’s Head
Favorite food: Steak from CRAFTSTEAK in MGM Grand, Las Vegas
Favorite music: Metallica, Linkin Park
His SLED: MCXpress Boosted Yamaha Nytro, LOVE IT! CR Racing tunnel, Timbersled rear suspension
Specialty: Filming, hillclimbing, powder riding

Quote: "Let's all sit around and talk about how awesome our sleds are. . . Then we'll go home."

I'm just sitting here updating everyone's little "file".

   
     
Chris Bohnenkamp :: Meridian, Idaho
 

 

Age: 35
Hometown: Joseph, Oregon
Occupation: Bohnenkamp's Whitewater Customs Owner
Favorite riding areas: Canada, Wyoming, Oregon
Favorite food: Prime Rib off the Traeger
Favorite music: 80's Butt Rock, Anything Rock
His SLED: 2008 Yamaha Apex Propane Turbo
Pastimes: Jet Boating, Dirt bike riding, Hunting, Fishing. Hitting the round bar in Vegas with Phelan.

QUOTE: "In the end only God can Judge me."

   
     
Travis Hyde, Utah Turbo Hound
 

 

Occupation: Fire Alarm Technician
Favorite riding areas:
Favorite food:
Favorite music:
His SLED: MCXpress Boosted 2009 Yamaha Nytro! Yeah BABY!
Specialty:

Quote:

Travis is the epitome of the strong, silent type. Riding the nasty chutes in IP this year, he took his 700cc turbo over a few rocks and bumps to get to the tops of those hills. Watch for Travis' awesome 4 sled "Fireworks" show with the other 3 Turbo Hounds in TSIII!

   
     
Carl Christianson
 

Age: 19 ::: Hometown: Helena, MT

Occupation: Construction
Favorite riding areas:
Favorite food:
Favorite music:
His SLED: 2007 M8 Cat

QUOTE:

   
     
Cody Bahny
 

Age: 19 ::: Hometown: Helena, MT

Occupation:
Favorite riding areas:
Favorite food:
Favorite music:
His SLED:

QUOTE:

   
     
Lyle Sinden
 

<-Click picture to enlarge

Occupation: Concrete
Favorite riding areas: Revy
Favorite food: Breakfast burritos minus the eggs!
Favorite music: TS soundtracks
His SLED: 2008 Yamaha Nitro boosted!
Specialty: Chute Climbing, carving, boondocking

Quote:

   
     
Dan Davidoff the CRAZY CANADIAN
 

 

Occupation: CRAZY CANADIAN, of course!
Favorite riding areas: Steep chutes , Huge cliffs and Big Mountains
Favorite food: Here Kitty,kitty,kitty, Cats taste great...
Favorite music: Anything with a great beat, nice and hard and soft and sweet
His SLEDs:


Specialty: Lover, Chute slayer, hillclimber

Quote: Arctic Cat, BABY!!!

   
     
Shain Stanger
 

Occupation: Brick Layer
Favorite riding areas: All of them!
Favorite food: Steak and seafood
Favorite music: Back Street Boys
His SLED: M1000 TURBO!
Specialty: Chute climbing, technical climbing

Quote:

   
     
"Disco" Dan Richter
 

 

Occupation: Building contractor (www.grandgarages.com)
Favorite riding areas: Island Park, Western Wyoming, Revelstoke
Favorite food: His custom 2" ribeye (it's good, I vouch for that!!)
Favorite music: 13th Step, System of a down
His SLED: Dan isn't even sure what kind of sled he rides!!
Specialty: A little of this, a little of that. . . Does awesome in the helicopter with me taking still photos!

Quote: (from his daughter): "When are you coming home, daddy?"

 

   
     
Wade Durbin
 

 

Occupation:
Favorite riding areas: McCall, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, Togwotee, Afton
Favorite food: Vingladoise (Portuguese pork and potatoes)
Favorite music: Alternative rock and hip-hop
His SLED:
Specialty: Hillclimbing and boondocking. . . Big powder and water crossing.

Quote: Bring it!

Wade is one of those 90 mph-everywhere-he-goes-type riders! The photo above was taken on a day with Jimmy Blaze at Turnagain Pass, Alaska!

   
     
Shane Hedden
 

Occupation: Indoor Sprinklers
Favorite riding areas: Buck Creek, Canada
Favorite food: Bud Light
Favorite music: Linkin Park
His SLED: Propane Apex
Specialty: Freestyle jumping

 

 

   
     
Dan Pate
 

Age: Old enough to know better
Hometown: East Helena, MT

Occupation: Auctioneer
Favorite riding areas: Island Park, Afton
Favorite food: Steak and sushi
Favorite music: Thrash Alternative
His SLEDs: 1200 Arctic Cat turbo built by Brad Story

QUOTE: "Live life the way YOU want to, not the everyone else wants you to."

   
     
Tony Sabol
 

Occupation: ICU Nurse
Favorite riding areas: Copper Creek, Tony Grove, Mt. Jefferson, Lion’s Head
Favorite food: Lasagna or grilled steak
Favorite music: All of it
His SLED:
Specialty: Filming, hillclimbing, powder riding, FUN!

 

   
     
Gerald Walter
 

Occupation: Custom Combiner
Favorite riding areas: Copper Creek, Cooke City, Lion’s Head
Favorite food: Bud Light
Favorite music: Songs about Bud Light
His SLED:
Specialty: Bud Light, hillclimbing

Quote: "Beer!"

 

   
     
Paul Fisher
 

Occupation: Concrete and excavating
Favorite riding areas: Copper Creek, Mt. Jefferson
Favorite food: Shrimp
Favorite music: Death Metal
His SLED: 900 Cat with CPI twins, custom HOOVER paint.
Specialty: Hillclimbing and anything you tell him to do in front of a camera

 

   
     
Brandy Floyd
 

<-Click picture to enlarge

Occupation: Legalized Extortionist
Favorite riding areas:
Favorite food: Grilled Salmon
Favorite music: Anything with a beat AND attitude.
Her SLED:
Specialty: Wearing myself out in the POW

Quote: "I'm a contender!"