Grand Lake Colorado

Here are a few shots to remind our test team how much fun it was in Grand Lake last March. Gord Avann, Phil, and the 2 Mikes had a great time in the mountains with Chris from BRP. Full stories to come!

Where we come from

Hello and welcome to my first attempt at a blog on SGC.
For those who aren't familiar, my name is Gord Avann and I have been involved in the Snowmobile Media for 23 yrs.

My path to Snowmobiling is likely no different than thousands of others, and some of the many persons that I felt very fortunate to meet in my early years.
Last season I had the opportunity to spend a few days with the Wallace family. The Wallace’s were selected as the OFSC Volunteer Family of the Year for their contribution at the Westwood Hills Snowmobile Club.

My introduction is similar in that our family started snowmobiling Christmas morning 1972. I know my family and the Wallace family's participation in snowmobiling was due to wanting to enjoy and participate in snowmobiling as a family. So it’s great to see that we have logged so many years, but what remains the same is we still enjoy this recreation as a family. Our family with 7 in total were outdoor enthusiasts and only tried snowmobiling with my parents friends. My father saw an opportunity to snowmobile as a family.
Our first snowmobile was a 1971 OMC Snow Cruiser 2011.
I just the other day asked my father why he chose that particular sled, well he said "it was a good buy" and being a boater went with the OMC name. He said he also considered the ski-doo Olympic, I think had he asked his teenage sons they probably would have gone with the ski-doo. Lucky for me my 2 older brothers got bored of the Snow Crusher after a few years and I usually had it to myself. We mostly traveled up to our current home in Keswick on Lake Simcoe from our Toronto home. Back in the 70s we had so many places and parks where these sleds were not quite regulated.
One favorite for hundreds of snowmobiles was Vivian Forest just north of Toronto where you could see all the makes and models. This was also the first year our family enjoyed our first snowmobile race, the “Mark Ten” race series came to the old Markham fair grounds at Markham Road and Hwy.7. I was disappointed that our Snow cruiser didn’t show in the Snow oval, but there were many that did.
The performance bug had bitten my older brothers and they bought there own sleds, a Yamaha 292 for Ken ( now president of the CSRA) and oldest Gary who bought a ski-doo Olympic for $700.00 new and I smiled to think that I had the Cruiser to myself.
I bent so many chrome bumpers and broke so many of those very high windshields. And I finally mastered the reverse without that wailing scream of the not quite meshed transmission.
And yes, I ordered all the I LOVE MY SNOW CRUSIER 3 D decals and stuck them on the family wagon.

We would love to hear from anyone about their own family sledding experiences.

Intrepid on Radio!

Today I put the finishing touches on the scripts for my Intrepid Snowmobiler on Radio features, brought to you in part by Snow Goer Canada magazine. Intrepid airs this winter on stations in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. I head into the studio next week to record them and they should be ready before the end of November!

Why not ask your local radio station if it will be broadcasting the Intrepid Snowmobiler on Radio this winter!

2009 Sled Show in Toronto (Phil's Version)

What a great kick-off for the upcoming season!

Our "STV/SGC Clubhouse" was courtesy of Confederation Log Homes.

In the vintage display, Craig Simpson showed off this beauty Blizzard. I wonder if he'll let me race it in vintage IFS???

A Manta twin-tracker owned by club prez Ed Long.

Oh-oh...Hal Armstrong is tearing apart a Tundra!

Now Hal has Polaris engineers and marketing staff trapped at the RUSH display. Hal started disassembling the 2010 sled and reviewed welding, assembling and machining techniques then he got out his micrometer. Hal is now banned from the state of Minnesota.

2009 Toronto Snowshow

The show was well attended this year which I found really surprising. I guess it shows that sledders are not going to let tough times keep them from enjoying the greatest sport in the world.  Here are some pics from the show. Enjoy!

Toronto Snowmobile Show

Just got back from the Toronto Snowmobile Show and it proved that the economy hasn't hurt snowmobiling one bit. The place was packed throughout most of the three days and people were shopping like mad. Great bargains to be had!

Permit sales at the OFSC booth were brisk and people are eager to get started.

Many Snow Goer Canada readers visited our impressive “log home” set up to talk with the folks who do the magazine and many sledders bought new subscriptions.

All in all, a very encouraging kick off to the new season!

$10 for My Club!

Last weekend, I visited my local Ski-Doo dealer to drop off my completed certificate for the $1 Million Ski-Doo Club Support Program. Each certificate received contributes $10 to your local club courtesy of BRP. That's found money for your club, so even if you are not a Ski-Doo rider, be sure to get your certificate in before November 15th! YOu can get one in various snowmobile magazines of online at http://www.skidoopromotion.com/en/ca-east/reason/3