2001 summit 800 highmark x

Summit number five. The story becomes sweeter to tell with each passing model year.

Ski-Doo's mountain flagship, the 800 Summit Highmark X with a deep-powder tearing 151-inch track rotating two-inch lugs and an 800 cc twin lunger is mountain killer extra ordinaire.

Of the Summit series AmSnow has evaluated, this is the second with Doo's 151-inch track. Like the '00 Summit 700 the test staff tore up the Rockies with; this 800 X kept the thrashing faith.

AmSnow took delivery of its Highmark X from Tri-County Equipment (208-356-9251), a dealer nestled between Island Park, Idaho and the mountains of Wyoming and Montana. This dealership kept the Summit in muscular form.

For instance, before the second ride, Tri-County called and demanded the Summit be returned; we quickly obeyed. Tri-County learned of a new clutch configuration and the needed springs were traded out and the clutch re-tuned.

Out of the hole, the 151-inch X pulled its shorter 144-inch 800 Summit sisters, and never did the shorter tracked 800s overtake the 151-inch X. Can you say strong?

As compared to the 2000 Summit 700, this '01 800 X was different in these manners. First, and obvious, was the larger displacement motor. The 800 developed more tractor grunt than the 700, but its top end speed was not higher. For mountain climbers top end speed is not all that critical, whereas torque cranking track speed is.

Second, was its slightly narrower handlebars. This gave the drivers the needed post to leverage the sled around. The bars followed Doo's MX Z line.
The third difference laid in the seat. Padding and seat configuration came again from the MX Z line with seat padding molded over the tunnel's edge for butt and leg protection.

Fourth, the X carried an upgraded shock package. Ski-Doo's HPG shocks were perched at all four corners.

Lastly, the X carried a new rear progressive linear rate rear suspension. Unlike the 2000 Summit 700, which rolled on a falling rate suspension - the more the suspension compressed the softer it became - the '01 800 X came dressed to hit the moguls. Sort of.

The motor proved strong and delivered the pull needed to boondock and pull the steep and deep. It seemed to give up some power to the RMKs and Cats, but that feeling was mostly left to driver attitude. Though top speed was down to the other brands' 800s, it never gave up any real estate on the mountain. By the test staff's experience, the Summit, due to its low-end snarl, well packaged center of gravity, and mountain specific tunnel gave the Highmark the highmark most of the time. Rider and fuel weight determined much of a sled's height on the mountain, but the Summit held its own- and more often than not, it led the pack.

The handlebar was somewhat hard to adjust to after years of pulling wider bars. But, these bars proved to give riders the capability to ride standing up. And this is good when pulling a sick sidehill or deep divot. The AmSnow test staff liked the RMK handlebar hooks and added a pair on the Summit, compliments of Starting Line Products and B.J. Hookers. These hooks, a great idea, complemented Doo's snocross bars and mountain strap. Speaking of the center strap, Doo thought safety when it built its mountain bar. It is soft and tall. Drivers at times crack their chin on a stiff mountain bar leaving the bell ringing for a day or two.
Give credit to test gun Chris Ruske, who is one of Ski-Doo's pioneering fathers for the Summit. Seat density is right on. Never did the foam separate or give up when pile driving a knee through the seat's middle. Seat material - again a bull's eye. Seat texture was perfect in the eyes of the AmSnow Mountain Test Staff. Regardless of suit, seat texturing kept a driver's butt from slipping all over yonder and kept a knee secure when snorkeling through the powder.

The seat's contour at the fuel cell and its wrapping over the fuel cell and tunnel, is exactly perfect. There is no fear of bodily harm when jumping off a cornice or riding a wave down a mountain and through the trees.

To complement the cockpit, Ski-Doo places large white-faced gauges on its hood. These are easy to read when shaking down the trail.

Ski-Doo's HPG shock proved better equipped for the goat path ride from truck to mountain, than standard '01 Summits and AmSnow's former 2000 Summit, but when pushed hard, the front end became nervous, the nose bobbed here and there and bottoming out occurred. More compression and rebounding are needed in the HPG shocks. The '02 Summit X cures this.

The linear progressive rate rear suspension did not feel as solid and in control as AmSnow '00 Summit's falling rate. Regardless if the spring blocks were set at their highest settings and the shocks wound to full stiff, the Summit would fully and easily compress and bottom out, even with 135-pound riders. This is one reason, of two, why the Summit fell from number one to number two as AmSnow's top powder sled. Spines and spleens took a beating.

Chris Ruske, part of Ski-Doo's Summit development team confirmed this and stated Ski-Doo corrected this for '02 by shipping the sleds with stiffer rear springs; however, these stiffer springs were available for the Summit, but the AmSnow test staff was unaware. This rear suspension weakness kept the Summit from fully planing as designed when clawing out from the unruly deep. Under the right conditions the Summit would trench when the other 800s flattened out and planed.

The skis appeared slow to react when pulling hard Gs through a windy trail. The big 151 track would bully the skis through a bend giving little room for error.

According to the Doo engineers, the '02 center offset and outside runner skis should correct this.

There was only one other minor complaint drivers had toward the Summit. No rear tunnel mounted gas rack. '02 corrects this as well.

All in all, the Summit 800 HMX 151 package delivered as designed. The motor rendered its torque and horsepower on demand, never balking at a driver's request. Its perfectly balanced center made the sled an unbroken match between sled and driver for heavily wooded hills, long cross cuts across the wickedly steep and when torpedoing through the fluff. Muscles never tire when smacking it around.

Buy it. Drive it. Take the black and gold to the top.