MIKE CASSIDY
Owner, Fabcraft, Florence, MT
Favorite Riding Areas: Williams Lake area on the Idaho side of Lolo Pass. Second favorite place is Goose Lake area in McCall, ID.
Why There? This area is a blast to ride if you like true backcountry riding. There are no groomed trails or signs leading into it so you only get true backcountry riders. It is a test of your tree riding abilities just to get into the area, but once you're in there is some of the best hillclimbing, boondocking and deep powder riding you will find in the Lower 48.
You follow the trail system out of Lochsa Lodge for about eight miles, then start boondocking through the trees for another eight miles where it starts to open up into higher alpine riding. When the snow gets deep back there it is measured in feet, not inches.
This is one of the areas in central Idaho and western Montana that we are fighting to keep open to snowmobilers. This area is close to home for me and has terrain that will challenge any sled, so it is a great area for us to do R&D work.
How Long Have You Been Riding? I guess if you want to go back to the beginning I was about 6 years old. We tied our saucers behind an old Polaris 340 and tried to stay on them while we took turns ripping around the cow pasture at a break neck speed of 28 mph. I guess this is where I should say don't try this at home because once you pass 40 all those bone jarring frozen cow pies will start coming back to haunt your back each morning when you get up. Sleds have sure changed in the past 40 some years.
Your Current Ride: My latest sled is one using our (Fabcraft) custom chassis, the Nemesis PI, 162x2.5-inch track, Cutler 1150cc carbed twin motor (that's right, you did read carburetor), CMX belt drive. It is built for my type of riding-deep powder and trees. I'm not much of a point and shoot rider so I'm not big on the turbo sleds. I am on and off the throttle thousands of times a day so quick throttle response and quick backshifting is what my sled is set up for. A slow reacting sled is a stuck sled for me.
All my sleds are built to be extremely simple and easy to ride and fix in the backcountry. Where I like to ride you don't just pull a sled home if it breaks down, you fix it on the spot, so the fewer electronics and fancy gadgets I have to go bad the better I like it.
Let's face it, it isn't IF a sled will have problems it is WHEN and I have yet to see ANY brand that isn't having problems of some kind. Simplicity is king in my book, because I haven't found a mechanic who will make a service call with his computer 25 miles into the backcountry.