Tips for dealing with new riding partners

[Panzerdog]

What do you guys think is key points to go over with new riding partners. My usual friends are busy or going riding in sicamous this weekend and I am going to mcbride tomorrow with my sister boyfriends neighbor who I’ve never met before. We’re going to take his truck and trailer and split fuel

There’s probably some things most people overlook I don’t want to spend all day or night looking for the guy

someone must have a good story about going with new people they wouldn’t take again

 

[Rene G]

What do you guys think is key points to go over with new riding partners. My usual friends are busy or going riding in sicamous this weekend and I am going to mcbride tomorrow with my sister boyfriends neighbor who I’ve never met before. We’re going to take his truck and trailer and split fuel

There’s probably some things most people overlook I don’t want to spend all day or night looking for the guy

someone must have a good story about going with new people they wouldn’t take again

I’ve been riding with new people lately, and I’ve gotten pretty blunt. Do you have a shovel, beacon, probe?? Do you know how to use them? Do you have AST? Do you have a radio? Do you know how to use one??

Attitude makes a big difference. If someone is willing to learn and / or listen I’ll help out a lot more. When riding with someone new I go to a easier area and see what they can handle, if they’re ok, I’ll up the difficulty. Unless they’re really experienced or really familiar with the area I always lead on a first ride. Call me bossy but I like to take care of myself and those I ride with.

 

[Rene G]

It’s easier to put a stop to a bad trip before you leave town. You gotta ask the rift questions.

 

[RXN]

I give everyone a fair shot.
Need to remember his riding style may be different from yours. Where you may feel comfortable he may not. Or visr versa.

When I'm riding with new people I let them know my style.
1- I'm not a highmarker. I will play on a hill but not into highmarking.
2- I prefer to spend most of my time in trees and creeks. Searching for meadows and untouched stuff.
3- leave the booze at the room. I'm not a baby sitter and will not waste my day because you are too loaded to ride.
4- stick together, our group will split up. We all have radios and will at times designate a meeting area or last seen spot.
5- make sure the guy behind you, is still behind you. I dont take off leaving one stuck. And I expect the same.

I will also make comments on their gear. And explain why they should upgrade if their gear is old. Even gone as far as burying an old beacon to see if they know their gear.

As far as travel goes I'm easy there. I drive you drive whatever as long as we get there.

Good luck
Have fun

 

[snopro]

Had a guy ask to join us after we signed in at Boulder last year. Had the same sled as us and was by himself. I asked him if he could ride and had safety equipment and he said yes. Said his buddies backed out on the road trip last minute. Now I know why. We rode with him half the day and he kept disappearing and we would go look for him and tell him we were moving on to another area on the mountain. Finally we couldn't find him after another one of his adventures. My buddies were pizzed at me for inviting him. Long story short we ran into another group and knew a guy in the group. Asked if he had seen him. He replied yes and said he latched on with another group that was going to the the backside of turbo. Wasted half our day looking for the guy. Won't be doing it again unless we come across some one that is lost and needs help.

 

[RXN]

Had a guy ask to join us after we signed in at Boulder last year. Had the same sled as us and was by himself. I asked him if he could ride and had safety equipment and he said yes. Said his buddies backed out on the road trip last minute. Now I know why. We rode with him half the day and he kept disappearing and we would go look for him and tell him we were moving on to another area on the mountain. Finally we couldn't find him after another one of his adventures. My buddies were pizzed at me for inviting him. Long story short we ran into another group and knew a guy in the group. Asked if he had seen him. He replied yes and said he latched on with another group that was going to the the backside of turbo. Wasted half our day looking for the guy. Won't be doing it again unless we come across some one that is lost and needs help.

Wow. That would be a major tick off.

 

[snopro]

Wow. That would be a major tick off.

Yeah everyday is precious on the mountain for me. I don't have the time to ride 30-60 days every winter like some. Bad experience for sure. Guy was all about "his" experience that day.

 

[catinthehat]

Ever think maybe he is having the same thoughts? You are assuming you are the better rider to begin with, as said before you need to get answers before you jump into a truck with someone you might not even be able to stand for the drive.

 

[snopro]

Ever think maybe he is having the same thoughts? You are assuming you are the better rider to begin with, as said before you need to get answers before you jump into a truck with someone you might not even be able to stand for the drive.

He was an azzhat. Don't read into anything else. Common courtesy would have been to tell us he was leaving our group for pick any reason. That's what I would do.

 

[TDR]

He was an azzhat. Don't read into anything else. Common courtesy would have been to tell us he was leaving our group for pick any reason. That's what I would do.

I’m sure this is the same ahole I dealt with at Blue River. I’d almost guarantee it. It has soured my desire to say yes to people I don’t know. Turned into a s**t show at darkbas it started to snow. Not again this year anyways. Maybe next year when I forget how angry it made everyone.

 

[lilduke]

You have to ride with new people some times so you can meet new riders, I've rode with tons of different people over the years so now I always
have someone to ride with that I know.

Couple weeks back I was riding with a couple friends from Revelstoke and there roommate Frenchy wanted to come. I never had rode with him before, but what ever, I didnt have to look after him.
He didnt have a truck and other buddies trucks were full so I put this guys sled on my trailer. Brand new 850.


So we head out to our spot, unload head up the trail a few KM and now its time to head into the trees. Frenchy is like, "I don't tree ride". "well there is no choice besides heading back to the truck, told you this before we left town" . (because there is no trail to the alpine on the mountain we were on, just trees)

So I pin it up, Lyndon follows me and having a good old time dangling up this hill. We get to the top get on the radio where are you guys.? Garret says "Frenchy's in a tree, he cant make it".
So Im like "we'll come down", we come down and now Frenchy figures he can make it, so were "alright lets go back up then". He crashes like 50 times but eventually made it up.
So were pissing around in this old cut block and there is little trees every where and Frenchy is crashing into one and getting stuck as **** every 50 feet.

And this point hes screaming "tabarnack I hate the ****ing trees!" Laughing my ass off now, and not helping him get unstuck cause he just keeps doing it.

Garret is like "this isn't even tree riding" lol

Just left him stuck for an hour while we went and burnt some gas. So now its time to go down, every thing goes pretty smooth on the way down, except a broken T-motion bracket.

Garret tells his roommate, "see why we don't always invite you?" Frenchy is like "tabarnack, what ever"


So time to load up and I start up my truck. it is a push button, but the fob has to be inside the truck to start.

I have TWO doors open, driver side. Frenchy comes along and shuts them both,, trucks locks,,, keys are inside.... And my phone.


"Im like WTF you do that for you ****in idiot!" "tabarnack, I wanted to keep the heat in" "what heat, its been running 30 seconds"

Garret calls a tow truck to come unlock my truck. It was 35km out of town so it cost 130$ Frenchy had 80$ so gave me that, gave him a ride back to town.


Long story short, hes not a bad guy but needs to improve his riding before Id go with him again.

 

[Lund]

I always adapt my riding to who ever i might be riding with when it comes to riding style. Unlike alot of others that prefer or strictly ride one style i'll ride what ever you would like, from tree riding to technical, big alpine, even some chute climbs. The only exception is when my wife is along, then i ride with her and her only in mind. Your skill level means nothing to me, i'll ride with newbies even if we end up never leaving the first bowl or hill. Just the same i can hang with some of the most experienced riders out there.
I'm out there to enjoy the day and personally don't give a poops azz on your existing or non existing skill's...BUT i do give a poops azz on the attitude and that's the deciding factor for me.
I choose who i ride with by attitude, not skill's or what they ride and ya I CHOOSE if i'll go home early or even ride with them again, lots of guys i rode with in the pass, i no longer ride with or ride very little with because of attitude. I don't need the stress or the BS.

 

[lilduke]

Ive done plenty of newbie tours to the cabin when I lived in Revelstoke. But now it is too far for me and expensive to come just to ride the first bowl on boulder.

We could have went to a different mountain, had he spoke up sooner.

 

[Lund]

Ive done plenty of newbie tours to the cabin when I lived in Revelstoke. But now it is too far for me and expensive to come just to ride the first bowl on boulder.

We could have went to a different mountain, had he spoke up sooner.

Ya i get that, i don't live far.
I do take my role seriously when i ride as a lead dog or partner. BUT i no longer guide and refuse to do so for liability reasons.
I have taken groups on three day tours as a guide, an example of this is the Dootalk ride that was held yearly in March for several years. I would tour the group but restrained from playing but mostly watched the guys play, also adapted the ride to accommodate the weakest rider's. My attitude was, i was working and carried their welfare in my hands. So i did lots of sitting around watching.

I wonder if Frenchy is the same one i know. Does he work for CN in Revy?

 

[Chronic Cat]

I thought this was just plain common sense, but I guess not...

As a beginner when climbing an average hill in the mountains that's totally climbable and you get stuck, but you absolutely need to make it to the top, you need to cut your losses and turn your sleigh around and head to the bottom and make another poke at it.

We we took a good friend up for his first time and he straight blew our minds most of the day. We were playing at Boulder and we all had to poke over this relatively smallish hill right. Well Byron is the 3rd guy to go after watching a few guys make it with shear ease. He plants his sled up to the running boards about 75' from the top with his sled still pointed straight up the hill. The rest of us cruise past him and stop at the top. We're about 150' away from him but just barely out of sight. We wait 5-10 min and no Byron. So 5 of us fire up the sleds and head over the minor crest to find him trying to drag his sleigh up the hill the rest of the way by himself in knee deep snow lol! We had to inform him that wasn't going to work and that he had to go back down and try again lmao!

 

[ferniesnow]

I’ve been riding with new people lately, and I’ve gotten pretty blunt. Do you have a shovel, beacon, probe?? Do you know how to use them? Do you have AST? Do you have a radio? Do you know how to use one??

Attitude makes a big difference. If someone is willing to learn and / or listen I’ll help out a lot more. When riding with someone new I go to a easier area and see what they can handle, if they’re ok, I’ll up the difficulty. Unless they’re really experienced or really familiar with the area I always lead on a first ride. Call me bossy but I like to take care of myself and those I ride with.

I give everyone a fair shot.
Need to remember his riding style may be different from yours. Where you may feel comfortable he may not. Or visr versa.

When I'm riding with new people I let them know my style.
1- I'm not a highmarker. I will play on a hill but not into highmarking.
2- I prefer to spend most of my time in trees and creeks. Searching for meadows and untouched stuff.
3- leave the booze at the room. I'm not a baby sitter and will not waste my day because you are too loaded to ride.
4- stick together, our group will split up. We all have radios and will at times designate a meeting area or last seen spot.
5- make sure the guy behind you, is still behind you. I dont take off leaving one stuck. And I expect the same.

I will also make comments on their gear. And explain why they should upgrade if their gear is old. Even gone as far as burying an old beacon to see if they know their gear.

As far as travel goes I'm easy there. I drive you drive whatever as long as we get there.

Good luck
Have fun

IMHO, these two posts pretty much sum up the topic of the original poster.

"Take a Friend Snowmobiling" is/was a logo that the Canadian Snowmobile Congress branded some years ago. I don't "guide" per se and I don't charge people anything. First thing is a beacon check. I personally check the group with my Mammut Pulse to find each beacon part way up the trail (I get out of the parking lot first). Lately, I have relied on the beacon checking at the kiosk and I ask each person to go through the process. I have taken expert riders, intermediate to newbies and there are times when I can't keep up to the experts but I will take them to a new to them zone and more or less supervise letting them know that they have to have a buddy close to help as I may not be able to get there. I won't leave them and I have had to walk quite a distance to extract an upside down 146" out of a tree well one day. Took quite awhile to gain radio contact but I found his track. I hadn't been down that drainage before and there were no tracks down it (probably for a good reason), so I parked the 174" and we walked down. We got it out of the tree well and worked our ass off to get it up again; in some places literally pulling it up with a tow rope by hand some of the way to the top. The age old adage, "don't drop down something that you don't know at 3 o'clock in the afternoon".

Last year, my list was a little over 200 riders and this year I am at 96 so far. I put a lot of miles on cruising around looking for peeps who are stuck in out of the way places and answer "where are you" on the radio with "just over here beside this tree" not knowing east from west or up from down. Sure they were with a buddy but the statement "look after each other when you venture off a little" means different things to different people. My job is to get these kind of dudes home safe. This is where the Rino radios are the best with the polling feature. I see a lot of people with radios (BCALink or the Baofeng) but not many with the Rino and that makes finding someone a little harder.

One thing I can add to the above. I will bring up the rear on the way down the trail (with some groups, I know it will be a race to the bottom and I don't agree with that) so that I don't have to go back for a broken belt or whatever. I can come upon them and solve the problem without wasting any time.

Every year, I add to my "sorry, I'm busy list". There are good folks and not so good folks and I decide if I will take them out again and that is the reason for the list. They aren't on the list for lack of talent. It is for lack of following group directions and/or lack of attitude. If they do something stupid and learn from it, I give them a second chance. If they don't learn from it, then they are on the list.

Oh, I have lots of stories, many memories, and met a lot of great people. Most everybody has had fun and those that haven't, stay in the Flatland and ride the bull rushes and stubble fields.

 

[SnowJunkie82]

I’m new. Who wants to go riding? I require you to bring a 24 pack for me, at least two other buddies to help with my excessive stucks and a personal tracking device to put on me so I can wander off whenever I feel like it (mainly so you can find me and get my sled unstuck while I enjoy one of the cold pops you brought)!

All jokes aside riding with new partners is like rolling a dice. Hats off to you guys that do it all the time.

 

[Rene G]

To add to what I said earlier, I really do enjoy going out with new people, especially if I get to introduce some one to the sport, I just make sure they know before what equipment they MUST have before leaving town.

I’ve went riding with good friends who invited others along, gotten to the hill and find out they don’t have the necessities, makes me sick to my stomach.

 

[Quicksand]

I only one time have I ever rode with a stranger found in the lot. Long story short he was WAY better than I was at the time and very familiar with the area, took me into some awesome terrain and we had an epic day just the 2 of us while my group couldn't drag ass out of bed due to shenannigans the night before. (that's something thing pisses me off more than anything, spending all the time and money to go riding with people who end up in the bar until 2-3am and suck **** all the next day) Anyways rode all day with the guy before figuring out we knew each other from racing BMX years before.

I bring newbies a lot, I'll adapt my riding to ensure they have a fun day, but I'll also push them a bit to ensure they progress as a rider. Some cases it's a gentle climb with no trees in sight, sometimes they might have some choice words for me when they get to the top, depends how I feel the riders skill level and comfort level is. Every time it's different, even day to day with the same rider, I've seen people progress super fast and we start going harder places, and I've seen people who take more time to get comfortable being on the sled at all. Play it as it comes.

Attitude and safety are paramount, as is wondering off without a plan. But having your sh*t together in general is huge for me, screw the guy who needs to swap out skis, or go get oil, or fix whatever they broke last year, while I'm geared up ready to ride up the trail. Get your **** together I'm not out here to sit in a parking lot while you do whatever it is you were too f*ckin lazy to do when you should have.

 

[FernieHawk]

IMHO, these two posts pretty much sum up the topic of the original poster.

"Take a Friend Snowmobiling" is/was a logo that the Canadian Snowmobile Congress branded some years ago. I don't "guide" per se and I don't charge people anything. First thing is a beacon check. I personally check the group with my Mammut Pulse to find each beacon part way up the trail (I get out of the parking lot first). Lately, I have relied on the beacon checking at the kiosk and I ask each person to go through the process. I have taken expert riders, intermediate to newbies and there are times when I can't keep up to the experts but I will take them to a new to them zone and more or less supervise letting them know that they have to have a buddy close to help as I may not be able to get there. I won't leave them and I have had to walk quite a distance to extract an upside down 146" out of a tree well one day. Took quite awhile to gain radio contact but I found his track. I hadn't been down that drainage before and there were no tracks down it (probably for a good reason), so I parked the 174" and we walked down. We got it out of the tree well and worked our ass off to get it up again; in some places literally pulling it up with a tow rope by hand some of the way to the top. The age old adage, "don't drop down something that you don't know at 3 o'clock in the afternoon".

Last year, my list was a little over 200 riders and this year I am at 96 so far. I put a lot of miles on cruising around looking for peeps who are stuck in out of the way places and answer "where are you" on the radio with "just over here beside this tree" not knowing east from west or up from down. Sure they were with a buddy but the statement "look after each other when you venture off a little" means different things to different people. My job is to get these kind of dudes home safe. This is where the Rino radios are the best with the polling feature. I see a lot of people with radios (BCALink or the Baofeng) but not many with the Rino and that makes finding someone a little harder.

One thing I can add to the above. I will bring up the rear on the way down the trail (with some groups, I know it will be a race to the bottom and I don't agree with that) so that I don't have to go back for a broken belt or whatever. I can come upon them and solve the problem without wasting any time.

Every year, I add to my "sorry, I'm busy list". There are good folks and not so good folks and I decide if I will take them out again and that is the reason for the list. They aren't on the list for lack of talent. It is for lack of following group directions and/or lack of attitude. If they do something stupid and learn from it, I give them a second chance. If they don't learn from it, then they are on the list.

Oh, I have lots of stories, many memories, and met a lot of great people. Most everybody has had fun and those that haven't, stay in the Flatland and ride the bull rushes and stubble fields.

Great post.

I would also like to add, with the InReach Explorer you can send unlimited free texts (via satellite) between InReach devices and use the embedded GPS locations to navigate to the locations of the other devices.