Each year, the four major snowmobile manufacturers gather in late winter (March or so) to officially present their entire new line ups for head-to-head comparison. There have already been a few "sneak peeks" around the country of some models - like the Polaris RUSH this year - but this is all of them, one place, one time. For magazines, websites and television shows from around the sledding world. We cross our fingers and hope for great weather and even better snow, and then we load up the equipment and descend upon them.

This year we just returned Grand Lake, Colorado, about 90 miles out of Denver.

(Don't miss the Saturday night Prime Rib special at the Sagebrush BBQ and Grill, by the way! For $15, you can't beat it.)

Over four days, the team of 6 staff, writers and riders from Off-Road.com rode, shot and reviewed over 30 sleds. Mountains, trails, cross-overs and even a few two-up touring sleds. There were a few surprises - some that were less than expected, some that pretty much lived up to their previous reputation, and a couple surprises. There were quotes I can't repeat here - both good and bad - but we'll certainly be bringing you the gist of it.

In the coming weeks, you'll be introduced to the 2010 line ups from Arctic Cat, Polaris, Ski-Doo and Yamaha in general. And then we'll bring you our recomendations. For this, we have tapped a name you may be familiar with from early Off-Road.com Snowmobile days - Dan Canfield. Dan rode the hills with us all weekend, and will be compiling all the other rider comments, and stirring in a healthy dose of his own deep technical expertise and strong personal opinions. Hang on - he's going to give it to you straight.

Mixed in with action photos, technical specs and a few video clips courtesy of the snocam.

So keep checking back. We'll be posting new photos in the gallery every day or two, and Dan's stories will start dropping in here next week. "Official" detailed specs from the mfgs are due in 2-3 weeks.