Dan Canfield

I have been riding snowmobiles for nearly 30 years now and have owned and operated a snowmobile repair and performance shop for the last 18 years. I've served on manufacture and industry advisory councils over the years and have riden and given feedback on several pre-release prototypes. I've traveled all of the US and Canada riding and experiencing all the snowmobiling has to offer. I have owned too many different sleds over the years to even remember them all and currently own 660 Polaris Escape, a 910 Escape and a stock '09 Dragon 800 163.

For all-out performance the M8 is going to be tough to beat. And although we picked the M sled as our Mountain Snowmobile of the Year, if you are looking at the more aggressive HCR or the Crossfire crossover you are going to see similar performance.

The biggest surprise for 2010 is what's NOT in the line-up, but there is still plenty to like for the hill-climbers, boondockers, flatlanders and touring bunnies.

From the mountain sleds, performance and cross-overs, to the touring and utility models, here's what's coming your way for the next snow season. We didn't love everything, but it's going to be a good one from the 'Cat.

There is no doubt that the RUSH is a big deal in the Polaris lineup, but don't make the mistake in assuming that the only thing Polaris is doing for 2010 is giving us a new trail weapon.

For 2010, the improvements and additions to the Yamaha lineup make it clear that the team at Yamaha is a group of snowmobilers that loves what they do and what they do is make some dang cool 4-stroke snowmobiles.

What snowmobile made our editor say today, "I think I'm buying a new sled next year.". Hint - the answer is in one of the pictures in the My.Off-Road Gallery. But there are still two days of sleds left to check out, so you never know.

As tracks have increased in length, paddle height has grown, and suspension travel has increased, the job we ask our hifax to do has become increasingly more difficult. Add to the mix the fact that the trails are packed down more with less loose snow to cool the hifax and you have a recipe for melting and sticking. Mountain riders have an especially difficult time as the big paddle tracks don't do a very good job of keeping the hifax lubed and cooled. And if the hifax issue wasn't a big enough deal, you also have to worry about keeping the coolers bathed in snow so that the engine runs cool. All in all a pretty difficult proposition if you are riding in low, packed, or spring snow conditions.

If you're going to race your snowmobile during the warm weather seasons of grass or asphalt then you're going to need a way to keep your engine temperature in control.

The only thing worse than unbearable heat is a winter with marginal snow. To ease the pain of low snow periods I retreat to my basement to watch snowmobile videos while a fan blows over a bowl of ice. When I was a kid, VCR?s were not invented (in fact, I even had to get up to change the channels), hence, no VCR videos. So I was left cruising my stacks of magazines. Since then, many new production companies have begun to produce a wide array of snowmobile videos, from Snow-Cross to Hillclimbs to loons in the air.