Just as in years past, this film is all about modified sleds,
and of course, Greg Painter's "ultimate trailer." There were essentially three
repeating elements in Mountain Mod Mania
6. Fist was the sleds, including detailed descriptions of the various sled
modifications and identification of the respective aftermarket manufactures. Second
was footage of the modified sleds in action, and Painter takes you to several
of the premier sled completions to let you see first hand what these monster
mods will do. Finally, Painter documents his road trips and own snowmobile
outings throughout the film, which is a little like watching somebody else's
family videos, but don't let this deter you as these are mostly introductions
to the real action to come.
As in past Mountain
Mod Mania films, Painter takes you to the Big Dawg and Fairview Shootouts. The
main event of the shootouts is an uphill drag race. The Big Dawg shootout takes
place near Whistler, BC, in late April when most people have put their sleds
away for the year. This year at the end of April during the shootout it was
cold. People had to dig holes in the ground to keep out of the weather, and the
wind chill was mentioned to be around minus 20 degrees F. in April! Up hill
drag racing doesn't get much better or more sophisticated than at the Big Dawg
shootout. Any kind of mod you can think of with a lot of horsepower was on the
starting line. The people with stock snowmobiles were just spectators at this
event. Mike Irmen was crowned Big Dawg this year with his borrowed
Impulse-turbo Yamaha Nytro, which his friend Paul Horschel built.
The Fairview Shootout was another great uphill drag race
worth watching, but one sled in particular caught my attention at this event.
Painter talks with a guy who built a two-stroke drag sled from an Arctic Cat
which had over 400 horsepower. On asphalt the sled could go 162 mph in 8.34
seconds, and on grass do 120 mph within 500 feet and 4.34 seconds. The sled was
set up with a small lug track, so it likely didn't fair to well on snow in and
up hill race, but on the grass it was lighting fast. Image that, a sled that
does better off the snow than on it.
My favorite segment of the DVD was YamaFest at Revelstock, BC.
This event was essentially the equivalent of the Jackson
Hole hill climb for four-strokes. The event took place at 1,500-vertical-foot
chute referred to as "monster-chute," which this year was covered with several
feet of new powder. While this competition didn't have gates that the rider
must maneuver through, the climb was so steep that you can't even ride your
sled back down it without going end over end. In fact, one rider got out of
their line and ran up (not into) and over the top of a pretty good sized tree. The
modified Yamahas used to climb monster-chute had no problem with horsepower and
speed needed to conquer the mountain, but after the fist few riders the ascent
started to require skill to navigate through the trenches of the previous
riders. It's just amazing how deep a trench a 300-plus-horsepower sled can
make. Oh, and for those that didn't make it, the mountain was not respecter of
sleds, as it would destroy a $30,000 mod just as quickly as a "cheapo" sled.
Again, this movie is all about the sleds, and you won't find
more sophisticated or technically radical mods in one place than in this video.
On the other hand, the riding is ok, but the engineering is more impressive. In
the bonus footage, Painter shows this year's upgrades to his "Ultimate Trailer."
The film would likely rate PG rating for some language.