SnowShoot "2010"

SnowShoot "2010", in the powder of the Rocky Mountains......
Ah the mountains, what an amazing place to try out the 2010 line of sleds.
The OEMs and the snowmobile media get together each year to review the new sleds for the upcoming year. There were tech classes for one day, and then we had four days of intense riding and evaluation on the 2010 sleds.
The road from Denver into the distant mountains......and snow...
Tech day, where we spend class time with each OEM, and here we are learning about the RUSH.
The OEM's put out a impressive line of rides, what a stable to choose from!We pick similar sleds when we ride each session, so we are comparing "apples to apples" when we switch sleds between riders. After picking up our first group of sleds, it's off to the mountians......
Fresh powder.......We ride them all, event the utility sleds. Yes, they are a lot of fun in the wilderness. Over four days of riding we ride them all in different terrain and weather conditions. The next shots are an overview of sleds and locations where the SGC and STV crew is working in the wind at 12,000 feet.
Snow moves in fast in the mountains.That's Martin Convery from STV and Bob Island from SGC. What a week of hard work. I will be adding more pic's to the blog later this week, stay tuned!

Eganville's Bonnechere Cup.

The small town of Eganville has a population of about 1200, but that grows to 5,000 on race weekend. If you want a room you need to go to a nearby town, and park amongst the many touring sledders that overnight enroute to other areas.

Friday it was +10 and raining but by Saturday morning it was -24 and everything was frozen solid. It was "go time"!

The view from the tower is great, and this is where race director Marcel keeps a watchful eye on the action.
After thirty years of watching from the stands, it was my turn to put on my old Ski-Doo leathers and hit the ice oval in vintage single cylinder racing. What a blast!

The view from the top of the hill is great, and the local trail runs right through the grounds.

Yes, those are ATVs with studded tires racing on the track. It was very popular with the crowd.

Here is a familiar name and number. The number 74 and the name Wahl are a succesful combination here at Eganville, and the Wahls have raced here for several decades.

1st Live on Skis Vintage Snowmobile Rally

Shawn Horner and his wife were host to the 1st Annual Live on Skis Vintage Snowmobile Ride on Saturday, Feb.28th The ride was held in Alliston,Ontario and though the snow was mostly absent the cold temps and some quick thinking by Shawn provided everyone with enough snow to ride their vintage iron. I counted 50 sleds in all with a good selection from the Big 4 as well as a number of brands that were popular in the 70's and 60's.




Andy Stubbert from Kingston, Ontario travelled a long way with his dad to show off his 78 Arctic Cat Eltigre 6000. This sled was in mint condition and its been a long time since I have seen one on the snow. Andy did the complete restoration himself. Thanks for making the trip Andy!



Here is a rare site! In 1972 Polaris built only two models of the TX. On the left is a TX 500 Ltd. The first production built three cylinder sled that was not a race sled, and the 72, 335 ATX. The ATX was a limited build 340 Stock racer.




This is 1969 Marshall Wells Snowmobile. They were built by Polaris Industries, Beausejour, Manitoba. Back in the mid to late 60's everyone wanted in on the snowmobile business. Polaris repainted the Colt model sleds and sold them to Eaton's under the "Viking" name, Marshall Wells Hardware Stores, and others. This is a very rare sled.


Jeff Brown brought a 63 Ski-doo Olympique. I took it for a ride and you cannot believe how far snowmobiling has come in 40 plus years. The only similarity is two skis and an endless rubber track and a Rotax Engine.



This is a 1975 Columbia. You could order this sled with your choice of suspension, hood color and other options. This sled sat in a the warehouse of Home Hardware for 20 plus years before it was discovered still in the crate.