Well where to start? What a trip...Took the sled out for a rip down the River Dec. 16 Everything seems to be working just as it was last year. Loaded up the morning of the 16th, was on the road shortly after lunch, after a quick few stops here and their, we proceeded on our journey from Red Deer to Revy. Got two guys who have never been mountain sledding with me...this should be interesting, Roads started getting sketchy just before Canmore. At this point we had only seen 5 or so fellow sledders, all coming back. Arrived in Revy @ around 7ish, checked in to the Revy Lodge, where they again this year support sledders and give you 10% off your rooms if your sledding. Front desk lady was very rude and got the impression she didn't like sledders. She looked me straight in the eye and said, NO PARTYING; the party stays at the bar. I said to her i wasn't planning on drinking "this" evening, and she replied, "yah right" (what a bitch) Anyways she could have just been having a bad day, small price to pay, when the rooms are clean and you get a nice bed all for under $100 Tax inc. Anyhow got settled in and decided we better go check out the scene, proceeded down to Grizzleys where we sat for 5 mins before i had to get up and ask if we could have a drink...same service as last yr, won $20 on a game of poker, ate some wings and left...Regeant was dead, kept walking and to my surprise the rippers were open, just finished major renovations...looks good, took the already smallest stage I have ever seen and actually made the stage smaller yet all in all Looks good and much needed improvement. 1 waitress and 1 bartender on serving approx 50. Sat here and enjoyed the entertainment, then proceeded to check out the "club" this as well just went through major renovations, and looks very good. Service here was much better, DJ was killing himself. Prob one of the worst DJ's i have ever heard. Left early as this DJ seriously sucked bad. Went to sleep.
Woke up nice and early, had breakfast at the Frontier. Met Randy up at Peaks Lodge, along with the new owner I believe his name is Alex ? (both great guys) got the greenhorns all setup on a 09' rental Summit "X" 800 154" and the other on a 09' Nytro 1000cc (LOL) Warmed up the ol' RMK 800 running good, let's get going, made er 60ft from the truck and my sled died. Tried pullin' her over. Siezed, what a piss off. Now I'm mad, drag the POS back to the truck with the Nytro, load her up and drop her off @ Sled Sheds, Looks like i'll be on a rental as well, Thanks again Randy, got me off on my way w a 09' M8 not too much time wasted so far. Trails were freshly groomed (thanks) Make it up to the cabin by 9:00, 5 or so in ahead of us.
Make it just above the treeline and look back no more Nytro, First of many times this machine was stuck. Get him out, proceed, Turned into a really nice day visability was poor for most of the morning, sun came out around two for a couple hours, Met up with another group of 3 at the super bowl, who didn't know where to go, they followed us and we found untracked powder, made it all the way to turbo, lost the sun decided we better start going back, made it 2 clicks or so and the guys on the two Nytro's with Juice, that we had been seeing all day were broke down, trying to get ahold of a chopper. some kind of ignition problem. Started turning very very cold at this point, it was a long cold windy ride back to the cabin. good snow coverage across the whole mountain. Did not hit or see any landmines all day, a few creeks still exposed.
Rode all three of the Rental sleds my opinion on the Three:
Nytro: Did not like this sled at all, really laggy on the power, it was bone stock, very heavy and got stuck everywhere, very hard to get unstuck as well due to hesitant on power. sucked on the trail as well, good on the bumps.
ch!t-Doo: I do not Like this sled either, it trenches really bad, ssometimes it amazes me how far it digs down and still pulls out. Not too bad in the powder. Very nice to ride on the trails, and whoops. this machine accels on the trails. (not for me)
M8: I was very impressed with this sled, It is a wheelie machine, Very nice to ride in the powder, you can toss this sled around effortlessly, boondocking machine, can climb very well. very good top end and acceleration. hard to get used to when racing on the trails, perhaps the susspension could have been a little stiffer. sucked in the corners, this sled has alot of "roll" to it. All in all very nice to ride on.
Thursday Evening went out for supper at Zala's ***THE BEST FOOD AND SERVICE IN TOWN BY FAR***
Friday: Found out first thing that my bottom end went in the RMK, need a new Crankshaft, Top end looks good. Thanks to the guys at Sled Shed for having a look so quickly. Looks like I'll be on a rental again...I got the M8, Greenhorns both took out ch!t-doos and the Nytro stayed behind. We decided to go to Frisby as the Closure will soon be in effect. Was a little bit cold when we started out, Trail across from boulder to Frisby desperatly needs snow so the groomer can make a pass, pretty pounded out. bare spot with rcks sticking out covered in ice on one hill. once again the groomer did a wonderful job grooming when we got on the trail she was flat out, keep er' pinned to the cabin. Started to warm up was a pretty nice day, found lot's of untracked powder all day. Another cold ride back down, when we got back to the truck she dropped from -12 in the morning to -18 now, left for Red Deer and by the time we hit the Lk. Louise it was -38 Every second vehicle had sleds on it, lost count at over 500. Looks like it was going to be a busy weekend Glad we got to the pwder before the rest of you did.
The trail from peaks lodge conecting to Boulder is in desperate need of a groomer.
Woke up nice and early, had breakfast at the Frontier. Met Randy up at Peaks Lodge, along with the new owner I believe his name is Alex ? (both great guys) got the greenhorns all setup on a 09' rental Summit "X" 800 154" and the other on a 09' Nytro 1000cc (LOL) Warmed up the ol' RMK 800 running good, let's get going, made er 60ft from the truck and my sled died. Tried pullin' her over. Siezed, what a piss off. Now I'm mad, drag the POS back to the truck with the Nytro, load her up and drop her off @ Sled Sheds, Looks like i'll be on a rental as well, Thanks again Randy, got me off on my way w a 09' M8 not too much time wasted so far. Trails were freshly groomed (thanks) Make it up to the cabin by 9:00, 5 or so in ahead of us.
Make it just above the treeline and look back no more Nytro, First of many times this machine was stuck. Get him out, proceed, Turned into a really nice day visability was poor for most of the morning, sun came out around two for a couple hours, Met up with another group of 3 at the super bowl, who didn't know where to go, they followed us and we found untracked powder, made it all the way to turbo, lost the sun decided we better start going back, made it 2 clicks or so and the guys on the two Nytro's with Juice, that we had been seeing all day were broke down, trying to get ahold of a chopper. some kind of ignition problem. Started turning very very cold at this point, it was a long cold windy ride back to the cabin. good snow coverage across the whole mountain. Did not hit or see any landmines all day, a few creeks still exposed.
Rode all three of the Rental sleds my opinion on the Three:
Nytro: Did not like this sled at all, really laggy on the power, it was bone stock, very heavy and got stuck everywhere, very hard to get unstuck as well due to hesitant on power. sucked on the trail as well, good on the bumps.
ch!t-Doo: I do not Like this sled either, it trenches really bad, ssometimes it amazes me how far it digs down and still pulls out. Not too bad in the powder. Very nice to ride on the trails, and whoops. this machine accels on the trails. (not for me)
M8: I was very impressed with this sled, It is a wheelie machine, Very nice to ride in the powder, you can toss this sled around effortlessly, boondocking machine, can climb very well. very good top end and acceleration. hard to get used to when racing on the trails, perhaps the susspension could have been a little stiffer. sucked in the corners, this sled has alot of "roll" to it. All in all very nice to ride on.
Thursday Evening went out for supper at Zala's ***THE BEST FOOD AND SERVICE IN TOWN BY FAR***
Friday: Found out first thing that my bottom end went in the RMK, need a new Crankshaft, Top end looks good. Thanks to the guys at Sled Shed for having a look so quickly. Looks like I'll be on a rental again...I got the M8, Greenhorns both took out ch!t-doos and the Nytro stayed behind. We decided to go to Frisby as the Closure will soon be in effect. Was a little bit cold when we started out, Trail across from boulder to Frisby desperatly needs snow so the groomer can make a pass, pretty pounded out. bare spot with rcks sticking out covered in ice on one hill. once again the groomer did a wonderful job grooming when we got on the trail she was flat out, keep er' pinned to the cabin. Started to warm up was a pretty nice day, found lot's of untracked powder all day. Another cold ride back down, when we got back to the truck she dropped from -12 in the morning to -18 now, left for Red Deer and by the time we hit the Lk. Louise it was -38 Every second vehicle had sleds on it, lost count at over 500. Looks like it was going to be a busy weekend Glad we got to the pwder before the rest of you did.
The trail from peaks lodge conecting to Boulder is in desperate need of a groomer.
