Levi LaVallee has spent plenty of time in city of Duluth. From a young age, he participated in Snocross races at Spirit Mountain, the local ski resort, and often wondered what it would be like to take his sled off of the course and onto the steep streets of the city itself.
“We would race at the bottom of the ski slope, and I would often stare up the hill and imagine racing around the entire resort,” said LaVallee. “To be given the chance to finally make that day dream into a reality is amazing. I found myself thinking I needed to pinch myself on the scout days riding around the resort.”
“Snowmobiling At Its Finest” is LaVallee’s latest project turning the historic port city into his personal snowmobile playground.
Remember when LaVallee did this in St.Paul, Minnesota?
“Having already been through a project like this in St. Paul, I wanted to be more creative this time around,” said LaVallee. “You cannot do the same tricks as before, so with this new blank canvas of a city, we wanted to make it bigger and better. The comfort and familiarity with past jumps and projects lends itself to being able to paint the canvas with broad strokes and create an even bigger picture than imagined. I can’t say that it was any easier than the first urban snowmobile video but it was not harder either, just different.”
Shot over the course of a week, and racing against the changing of the winter into spring, the snowmobile project showcases many of Duluth’s famous locations. The high-flying action starts on the slopes of Spirit Mountain before taking the scenic Skyline Parkway into downtown. From there, LaVallee flies down Lake Avenue, clearing a Duluth Police cruiser, and leaping over Duluth Fire’s newest fire truck. Making his way to the Superior Lakewalk, Levi races alongside the Duluth Zephyr on the North Shore Scenic Railroad before launching into the first ever snowmobile backflip over a moving train. The project culminates in a three-barge lilypad jump across Lake Superior.
“When I would drive on Lake Avenue in Duluth, I would always get the thought that this road would be easy to jump something on,” said LaVallee. “Its naturally built for jumping with its steep slope. We had to use it in the project. Duluth offered us the chance to add some twists and turns in comparison to the St. Paul project and we had to capitalize on that.”
LaVallee constantly pushes the boundaries of what is possible on a snowmobile, and he continues to innovate the sport by incorporating styles from BMX, Freestyle Motocross, and Snowboarding into his tricks. He has won 13 X Games medals in six different snowmobile disciplines, making him one of most successful athletes in X Games winter event history. He was the first person to attempt a double backflip in a competition at the 2009 Winter X Games and broke the World Record for Longest Snowmobile Distance Jump [412 feet] in 2012.
“You find inspirations from so many other sports and I have always tried to incorporate them into my freestyle riding,” added LaVallee. “Being a Red Bull athlete has taken me to so many events and has brought so many athletes into my life, each of them have inspired me and I try to bring those elements into my riding. It was Red Bull who helped make my freestyle career happen. In 2007, all I had done was race, so when X Games was adding Speed and Style and Freestyle to their competition lineup, I wanted to be a part of that. With two months to go, Red Bull built and got me a ramp to train on. I won gold in both Speed and Style and Freestyle and was voted action sports male athlete of the year. All due to great partners.”
Levi LaVallee filming for Red Bull Portside in Duluth, Minnesota on 05 March, 2021. // SI202104070519 // Usage for editorial use only // 
Levi LaVallee filming for Red Bull Portside at Spirit Mountain Ski Resort in Duluth, Minnesota on 04 March, 2021. // SI202104070518 // Usage for editorial use only // 
Levi LaVallee filming for Red Bull Portside at Spirit Mountain Ski Resort in Duluth, Minnesota on 04 March, 2021. // SI202104070515 // Usage for editorial use only // 
Levi LaVallee filming for Red Bull Portside in Duluth, Minnesota on 03 March, 2021. 
Levi LaVallee filming for Red Bull Portside in Duluth, Minnesota on 01 March, 2021. // SI202104070508 // Usage for editorial use only // 
Levi LaVallee filming for Red Bull Portside in Duluth, Minnesota on 28 February, 2021.
When he’s not flying through the air, Levi and his wife work year around running Team LaVallee Snocross Racing and are based in Longville, Minnesota where you can find him bringing the fun back to racing for a good cause.
“Sometimes the fun gets lost in the competition and I wanted to create and charity race to benefit Wings For Life, a charity dear to my heart and backed by Red Bull for spinal cord research,” said LaVallee. “Imagine Red Bull Flutag but with snowmobiles. The winner is judged on how many laps they complete, creativity and most importantly overall awesomeness. A previous winner was dressed up as Dumb and Dumber and their sled was dressed up as Mutt Cuts from the movie.”
If you want to donate head to www.levistri5.com click donate or if you are motivated, register to race!
When asked whats next, LaVallee was coy about it saying, “the sketch book of ideas is full. Just wait.”