Here are
our intrepid adventurers dropping spare fuel at the tree line before
heading UP.
This weekend was planned as just a normal ride for the eight of us. We decided
to go to McBride in northeastern British Columbia, where they get 30+ feet of
snow in the alpine per year. The trail in to the good stuff is 20 miles or so
and ungroomed; this keeps the tourists from tracking up our fresh snow every
day. Our group is nothing special, two old guys, four kids around 35 and two
babies just over 20. Machine mix is as you would expect from a group as diverse
in age as this,
This shows
the first valley we came to and the tracks were made by our fearless
leader as we sent him in to see if we could get out again or not. We
have lost a few leaders that way but better than getting the whole group
stuck.
and has 2 700 Yamahas, 2 Summit Xs, one 700 RMK, 2 600 Yamahas, and a 583
Summit. Sorry, no AC representatives in here, but this isn't a contest is it?
Well it never starts out that way but you know how it goes. We haven't even
heard of track studs, and nobody would know a carbide runner if it bit him. We
don't care about mileage, just smiles/gallon as we pack in spare fuel to make
sure we run out of daylight and energy, not fuel. Hard to worry about fuel
economy when it takes half throttle just to move and full bore doesn't usually
cut it on the first try at most slopes. Everybody runs 1.75"x136" or
bigger tracks and well tuned, but basically stock motors. Helicopter rides are
expensive so reliability is about as important as power.
The first day dawned cloudy and cool
(-5C), but by 9 AM the sun was out and we could see the 2 ft of new that fell
overnight.
This is
one of the 20 year olds proving that snowmobiles will fly for a little
while at least.
You have to experience riding in that much powder, in extreme terrain, for hour
after hour, without seeing anybody but your own group, and no end to the snow in
sight, to really appreciate why we do this. For those participants in our sport
that ride in a more controlled environment, you should try the mountain
experience at least once in your career. For the western boys reading this it's
JUST ANOTHER NORMAL WEEKEND. We made it back out to the trucks by 6 pm and
headed for the showers. Did I mention that we had to drive 8 hours after work
the night before to get here? Oh well, it didn't matter now.
Day two. Cloudy and cool again.
This is a
panorama shot of a small bowl we found later in the day. The trees in
the foreground are about a mile from the camera and there was about 20
feet of green above the snow. The top of the ridge, yes we climbed it,
was another mile out there. Neat.
Got to hate it when the sun comes out at 10 am to reveal 3 more feet of new snow
that fell overnight above 5000 feet. Just another day of playing, climbing,
jumping, etc. etc. We were back in town by 5 pm and as we prepared for the 8
hour drive home, the snowmobile gods suddenly smiled bright. As it happened, the
Yamaha Canada contingent pulled in for fuel and we got to see the 2000 prototype
sleds. Neat. Some people even got to ride them. Since I had to be back in
civilization at 8 am the next day, my turn had to wait...........
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