X Games Gold Medalist Levi LaVallee - 'Lunch with Levi' - Part 2

Talking with X Games Superstar Levi LaVellee

Levi LaVallee wowed X Games viewers for decades with his penchant for big snowmobiling tricks, and his ability to push his machines to the limit. Levi pulled off tricks previously thought impossible. LaValle is Superman atop a finely tuned machine screaming into the history books.

LaVallee possesses drive, steely focus, rare skill, immense talent, and a little bit of luck. Why hit the trick covered in the manual, when you can go out and become the first person in history to attempt a double backflip on a snowmobile? That's Levi.

LaVallee has a penchant for attempting big, never-before-seen tricks and pushing the sport to the limits of imagination. LaValle has 13 X-Games medals, (7 Gold), a snowcross championship, and holds the world record for longest snowmobile distance jump at 412 ft. I had a chance to sit down with LaVallee to talk about his love of snowmobiling, and the sport that made him famous.

Lavelle Talks Snowmobiling, and More

"Jumping is something that I've fallen in love with. You start off jumping little jumps, and it turns into big ones. And over time, you're like, hey, I wonder if I can backflip. Once I got into freestyle, it really evolved where I was like, holy cow. "

"It's almost like you're dancing in the air doing freestyle tricks, once you figure out how to get there, you flight correct, and then you start jumping off of it, hanging upside down off of it. So jumping's omething that I've thoroughly enjoyed - that's why it's still one of those passions (for me). "

LaVallee took inspiration from the Monster truck shows his dad took him to as a kid. He was amazed watching the trucks crush cars. When his dad bought him his first ATV, he would pretend he was crushing those same cars.

"The influence of my dad, you know, growing up, he was always a little bit wild doing different things. Loved four wheelers, loved snowmobiling. He always liked going fast and doing things like that. Seeing that firsthand was obviously a motivator. He was never pushy."

LaVallee says that a driving force in his life has always been to prove all the naysayers wrong. He wears it like a red badge of unapologetic courage. I wanted to be like Jeremy McGrath, the Supercross legend, or Jack Struthers, the snowmobile racing legend. I was inspired by them, but I'm not that big of a guy - no one expected much from me."

X Games

Regarding the X Games, what could they do to help the sport reach a larger audience?
"That's a tough one to answer because I was fortunate enough to be part of the early years. I was competing in snowmobile racing, freestyle, and it was very fresh. Everything was just progression. When I got into freestyle, doing a back flip was the big trick."

"These things were moving so quick - we were learning. A back flip was really easy for the masses to understand. And now the tricks are so unbelievable. People can't even comprehend what's going on now. It's hard for people to understand it. You have to [simplify] it down a little bit so it's more understandable."

Levi mentioned his sponsor, Polaris Motorsports, and how they support his ability to succeed in the sport. They have evolved together in developing a strong relationship.

"A great example of that is we tried breaking the world record for the longest jump on a snowmobile, and I had a crash. I selected an old mod motor that we had used in the past. Unfortunately, we had a carburetion problem, and that's what resulted in the crash."

"A year later, I was bummed we weren't able to break the record to what we're capable of on a snowmobile. So I went to Polaris. I said that I'm confident if I had a fuel-injected mod motor, then we could do this safely. Everything was right except for the engine that I used. So they (Polaris) developed a fuel injected 800 mod motor for me."

"Not only was it faster than the one I tried using before, but it had absolutely no carburation problems, or issues at all. We ended up breaking the record and being the first in history to ever jump over 400 feet."

You can't talk to LaVallee without mentioning the double backflip. He was the first snowmobile rider to ever attempt the trick. He unfortunately crashed hard during his attempt. Swedish rider Daniel Bodin has since landed the double - the only person to walk away from the trick. LaVallee pondered trying the double backflip again.

"Unfortunately, I have not landed it. But the double backflip, you know, it was unique. It seems a lot easier on paper. My idea was if I go high enough, eventually, I'll rotate twice. And, boy, did we ever go high that first go. I got it around. It would have been nice if I would've utilized some of the landing."

"We pretty much went out too flat. But it was quite an experience because we tried it in 02/2009, and then I had a little string of injuries. Then I tried it again, going into the 2012 X Games, it was right after we did the world record jump. I was gonna go to X Games and try to land the double backflip. I ended up breaking my leg in the foam pit, and it took me out of that X Games."

LaVallee has a storied career - X games superstar, world record holder, and great guy. He's broken down the mental framework of what people believed was possible on a snowmobile, and paved the way for future generations in a thriling sport. He has a great family, a new Web Series (Lunch with Levi), and a lot of adventure in front of him.