Neil Davidson for Canadian Press

(CP) - When Blair Morgan has a bad day at the office, he can break things. Like his thumb, legs or back.

That’s the downside of racing 400-to 500-pound snowmobiles that can go from zero to 60 in two seconds. “Not only are the machines heavy, they have spikes sticking out of the tracks for traction,” Morgan notes cheerfully.

Under his shiny helmet, the 31-year-old from Prince Albert, Sask., is the face of snocross.

Imagine motocross on snow, with snowmobiles instead of motorcycles. There are bumps, jumps, turns - and more than a dozen other riders jockeying for position.

“It’s pretty intense. Guys banging around, crashing,” said Morgan, known as Air Blair or Superman.

The snowmobiles aren’t the only things hurtling through the air. Sometimes the riders go flying - their machines grinding to a halt when a tether cord attached to the driver comes loose.

While the sport has its own circuit, the WPSA (World PowerSports Association), the marquee event on the calendar is the Winter X-Games.

The X-Games have featured snocross 10 times - Morgan has won five times and picked up a medal on three other occasions.

That kind of success explains why he has his own video game - SnoCross 2 Featuring Blair Morgan, for the PlayStation 2 just came out. He also heads up the Blair Morgan Racing Team and is signed with BRP (Bombardier Recreational Products Inc) to race on Ski-Doo snowmobiles.

Snowmobile racing has come a long way, thanks to racers like Morgan.

“When I started, everyone was running around in pickup trucks with small trailers. There weren’t that many riders at the races,” he recalled in an interview. “Now, it’s like a three-day weekend. Ourselves, we have two 18-wheelers, like 53-foot NASCAR-semis show up at races. And there’s probably 20 of them at the races now.”

Wins mean a lot to sponsors, so Bombardier would have appreciated Morgan’s win last month in Quebec in its hometown Ski-Doo Grand Prix de Valcourt.

Like NASCAR, “It’s win on Sunday, sell on Monday,” according to Morgan.

The Morgan racing team includes three other riders, plus mechanics, truck drivers and team manager. In all, some 12 to 15 people.

The five-foot-11, 165-pound Morgan has not only excelled at his sport for more than a decade, he has changed the way people race.

“Back in the day, everybody kind of just sat down and hit all the jumps sitting down,” he said. “I always thought it was hard on the back, so I always stood up and rode it more like a motocross bike.”

Now everyone does it.

Snowmobiling has been part of Morgan’s life almost from Day 1. His WPSA bio lists 25 years of riding. But he actually started with motocross, following in the footsteps of his older brother.

He still rides today. A two-time national champion, he switches to motorcycles from snowmobiles when the weather turns each year.

Working on a new snowmobile sled, this season was up and down. But it was better than 2003, which Morgan notes “wasn’t a good year.”

“I broke my back and leg in the same accident,” he explained.

He was out for six months, but returned to racing. He went on to break his leg again, but says other than some aches the day after a race, he feels pretty good.

Still the time away from his wife and two young kids takes its toll.

“I’ve lived the life on the road, before. It kind of gets old after a while,” acknowledges Morgan, who lives near his parents’ farm.

He is a proud Prairie boy.

“Lots of room in Saskatchewan to do what you want,” he said.

Morgan has one year left on his BRP contract and sounds like he is looking forward to the day where he can stay at home.

“I don’t know. It’s kind of a tough decision. I’ve been doing it for quite a long time, I’ve kind of accomplished everything I want to do.

“Sometimes it’s tough. I just left (home) for 18 days, it’s nice to be home sometimes, live a normal life. I’ve never really lived a normal life ever, yet.”

See the original article at cbc.ca