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Tucked into Colorado's Rockies, a triangle of small towns - Grand Lake, Kremmling and Granby - have produced two of the most influential snowmobilers, both named Chris.
We've talked a lot about freestyler Chris Burandt (see Dec. 2008, p. 62), but not everyone knows the other Colorado snowmobiling legend - Chris Ruske, known to many as "Father Summit."
The reason?
The soft spoken Ruske has been the driving force behind Ski-Doo's successful Summit mountain sleds. His humble passion for mountain sledding demands respect from any sledder, but I've been luckier than most. Since 1991, I've taken pictures of, ridden with, and written about mountain sleds. Through many of those years BRP's (Bombardier Recreational Products) Ruske has been a mentor and riding companion during our mountain romps.
A high altitude startRuske's affection for the mountains is natural. Grand Lake is his childhood home and is the high-mountain town where he and his wife raised their daughters.
He's well known in the community too - assistant fire chief, and a member of the Grand Lake Yacht Club, one of the nation's oldest and largest inland sailboat yacht clubs.
In addition to being a big vacation and tourism area, Grand Lake is home to BRP's Summit Research and Development Center and the high-altitude calibration shop for BRP's Johnson-Evinrude outboard boat motors, Can-Am ATVs, Sea-Doos and its new 3-wheeled Spyders.
Years ago, Chris and BRP worked out a plan to assure him that he'd have time for his family. Ruske was determined to balance his desire to build the best mountain sled with his desire to build a successful home and family life.
Before becoming a corporate guy though, Ruske wrenched for his father, who owned a Ski-Doo dealership in Grand Lake. As a young man, Ruske pulled stints as a Ski-Doo district sales manager and western U.S. service manager. He credits much of the current Summit's success to his knowledge of sales, service, dealership operations and racing gained in those early years.
Ruske's search for the ultimate Summit began in 1994 with Ski-Doo's advent of the emerald green 470 and 583 Summits. These were, Ruske says, "The snowmobiling industry's first model-specific mountain sleds."
That Summit was a purpose-built sled, not something that began as a Formula Plus or Mach 1 with rail extensions and a Summit decal slapped on the side.
Good timing The move was well timed as the West was gaining market share and mountain riding was becoming more popular. Stretched flatland Ski-Doo models were becoming antiquated, so a dedicated mountain machine was needed.
As a young journalist at the time, I remember hearing that Ski-Doo had a 10-year plan that would put it on top as the world's leading snowmobile manufacturer. The REV chassis certainly did that, but Ruske's new Summit program helped too as it boosted the Canadian sledmaker's mountain market share.
Originally the Summit began in Ski-Doo's S chassis, which was an OK chassis for mountain use. But when Ski-Doo upgraded to its ZX chassis, Summit sales lurched forward. In addition, 1999 saw a hot 600cc sled and late-build 700, both with a 136-inch track.
Then in 2000, the 700cc 151-inch model brought buyers out in masses and the long-track wars began. (Little known fact: The Highmark 700 151 was first conceived on lunch napkins in 1998 and came to fruition for the 2000 model year.) This was the first mountain sled to really focus on reducing weight, something Ruske continues to advocate for as each new Summit is developed.
In '01 the ZX Summit Highmark received a new Rotax 800 engine and the 800-class battle was set on boil. In the meantime, BRP engineers in Valcourt, Que., were at their design stations drawing the REV. Then bingo, the 2003.5 REV Summit invaded the Rockies.
The REV conquersThe REV Summit Highmark looked vastly different from the '03 pumpkin orange 800 ZX 800 Highmark Summit. The 800 motor was the same, but a new 16-inch wide track and no trailing arms changed the game. Ski-Doo's 151-inch models had proven that longer is better, but the '03.5 proved wider also is better.
Ruske insists that continuous improvement is paramount and by model year 2008 Ski-Doo exceeded expectations by launching the extremely lightweight REV-XP. Loaded with its 800R engine, the sled was the 2008 mountain best-seller.
That sled was developed by Ruske's MTC - Mountain Technical Committee. It's a group made up of sales, marketing, engineering, racing and dealer masterminds that challenged conventional thinking and drove Ski-Doo engineers to start with a clean slate, just as Ski-Doo did with the original REV.
The result this time was a sled 50 lbs. lighter than its predecessor.
Besides overseeing the group, Ruske's job was to validate and verify if the new XP worked. If changes were needed, Ruske and the XP Summit engineers, made the sometimes tough choices to change it. If a specific XP concept did not work, Ruske consulted with the MTC and sent the engineers back to their design stations.
The REV-XP Summit marked another change for Ski-Doo; it was the first time it designed its mountain sled first and passed its technology down to the trail and crossover sleds.
Summit's legacy now includes being the first ultra specific mountain sled, the first mountain sled to stretch to a 151-inch track and use a 16-inch wide track, the first mountain sled to use centralized mass, the first mountain sled to use electronic reverse, and the first mountain sled to hit the magic 450-lb. dry weight.
Ruske, and his humble but competitve nature, has helped sculpt the Summit, and a legacy of his own.