Cute vid on getting sled out of overflow (frozen in overnight)

[EagleRiverDee]

A guy in Alaska posted this one up on another forum. Pretty creative!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpMJYL1CE5o&feature=youtu.be

Ok- whatever the secret is for getting the actual video embedded, apparently I'm not smart enough. Sorry. The link is there.

 

[Powerage]

Ya thst what we do up here too. If its so stuck in slush it won;t budge just let it freeze in and then cut it out. Normally only have to do it with the sleigh you're pulling though not the actual machine. Usually you can just flip it on its side and clean the slush out of the rear suspension and then lift the sled on to better snow and go again though.

 

[obile]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZpMJYL1CE5o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[4Z]

Some of my worst memories are derived from overflow. I still get a twinge in my gut thinking about a patch on the Yentna.
A girl gets stuck (after being warned to haul but through it), then all the guys come to her rescue ("...I'll save you!!" was the chant). But the patch of overflow was like fly paper. Each rescuer was now stuck. 3 hours, 7 belts later we had them out.

 

[PJ-Hunter]

Dumb question? What is "overflow"

and you used the word cute????

 

[tudizzle]

I believe

when the ice breaks....and water flows over top of the ice...and is so cold it freeze's almost instantly

 

[4Z]

diz is right.
Typical after a big dump where the snow load pushes the ice down and water flows up on top of the ice and turns to wet mush. Once that stuff gets in your suspension, yur done. First time I was dumb enough to stop and investigate, I smoked my belt and almost burnt up the sled.

 

[theultrarider]

Dumb question? What is "overflow"

and you used the word cute????

After a heavy snow at times you can have anywhere from a few inches to a couple three feet of water on top of good solid ice. If it's just water, no problem, skip it! But, when it's mixed in with the snow and turns into 2-3' deep slush, it can become a real problem.

 

[EagleRiverDee]

I called it cute because the guy made the video look like a movie preview- did you notice all the fake "awards" and "quotes"? It was creative and I thought it was well done. And of course the video itself is educational.

As to overflow, it doesn't freeze instantly. But if you're stuck and have to abandon your sled overnight, it will be froze in by morning. Overflow is a real issue for us in Alaska because some areas NEVER freeze even with consistent below zero temperatures. When you get into overflow it's that heavy mash potato snow and you just sink in it. Very difficult to get out. And of course anyone trying to get it out is going to get wet, which can be dangerous. It's actually the reason I wear knee high 100% waterproof winter boots instead of the popular snowboard-style or stomper style boots- because keeping my feet dry is more important to me than having light boots.

 

[Powerage]

Also near the end of the year where i am from its not really overflow. Its run off from the snow melting on the islands on our lake. Slush is the worst thing that can happen to you when sledding. That stuff is like glue. Or as mentioned already. Mashed potatoes.. Hahaha Never heard that before.

 

[The Fourth Wolf]

That was me that got stuck. Embarrassed but grateful for the help.

Overflow is no joke. On lakes and ponds what happens is a dump of snow settles on ice before it thickens. The weight of the snow pushes down on the ice enough the let water ooze between the ice and snow. Then the snow insulates the water underneath preventing it from freezing further.

I knew better but had a case of new sled wahoo. Just about any sled can run across a lake with overflow...so long as you maintain speed and pick a line that leaves you an exit. You make an initial run and check your backtrail. If there's overflow it will wake. My eff-up was rolling out there and commiting to carving. I layed it over hard to the left, broke through, got the clutch wet and it was over.

I ride this area often and most of the lakes freeze hard and are perfect to play on--powder on ice, but this little pond is an overflow monster.

I spent the next 20 minutes in 33* water up to mid shin trying to get the machine back upright. My buddy was afraid to venture out there for fear we'd both end up stuck. He finally did and got my sled back on it's skis but the skid was in 16" of water.

It was about -15 and getting colder so we bailed before my feet froze. Two middle aged fat guys riding two up on an Assault on a tight, treed, heavily drifted trail that hadn't been ridden in two weeks proved to be an ordeal. It took 4 hours to go 8 miles. I walked (postholed) about a mile of it.

As the vid shows (the "full length", 30 minute feature is in the works so I'm told) we sawed/chipped it out the next day. Skidded it back to the lodge on a UHMW toboggan behind a Bearcat. Put it in a warm shop and used a mallet to tap-tap-tap most of the ice out of it. Got everything dried out and it fired right up. Fortunately I didn't smoke the belt and there was no other damage.

Overflow seems to be a mostly far north phenomenon but it can occur anywhere the temps get and stay below zero. If it occurs where you ride take it seriously.

 

[AKSNOWRIDER]

We end up with lots of it where we trap at..try pulling loaded sleds thru it...gets interesting for sure..but I will say..we do use it to keep peeps away from some of our best riding places...cause we know 95% wont ride thru it...was out on a pond getting ready to get a river otter one time....sleds parked about 50 ft behind my buddy and I..middle of january, -40 and about 30 miles from the nearest camp.....we both broke thru the ice..my buddy got lucky..he went into his hips and managed to fall forward on thicker ice in frt of him...got his bunny boots wet..but otherwise he was pretty dry..I went into my armpits...soaked..he helped me get out..we ran back to the sleds and I told him..fast as possible to camp..keep up..well..when we got to camp..I was froze solid..couldnt move..he had to pry/drag me off the sled and inside...took about 4 hrs to unthaw enough to get my gear off...we live in an extremely dangerous place..and so far..been dang lucky to survive it all..but man is it a blast..I have tons of great stories from over the years out there...

 

[AKSNOWRIDER]

I called it cute because the guy made the video look like a movie preview- did you notice all the fake "awards" and "quotes"? It was creative and I thought it was well done. And of course the video itself is educational.

As to overflow, it doesn't freeze instantly. But if you're stuck and have to abandon your sled overnight, it will be froze in by morning. Overflow is a real issue for us in Alaska because some areas NEVER freeze even with consistent below zero temperatures. When you get into overflow it's that heavy mash potato snow and you just sink in it. Very difficult to get out. And of course anyone trying to get it out is going to get wet, which can be dangerous. It's actually the reason I wear knee high 100% waterproof winter boots instead of the popular snowboard-style or stomper style boots- because keeping my feet dry is more important to me than having light boots.

you called it cute cause you are a girl silly......bwahahaha...

 

[Ox]

I called it cute because the guy made the video look like a movie preview- did you notice all the fake "awards" and "quotes"? It was creative and I thought it was well done. And of course the video itself is educational.

As to overflow, it doesn't freeze instantly. But if you're stuck and have to abandon your sled overnight, it will be froze in by morning. Overflow is a real issue for us in Alaska because some areas NEVER freeze even with consistent below zero temperatures. When you get into overflow it's that heavy mash potato snow and you just sink in it. Very difficult to get out. And of course anyone trying to get it out is going to get wet, which can be dangerous. It's actually the reason I wear knee high 100% waterproof winter boots instead of the popular snowboard-style or stomper style boots- because keeping my feet dry is more important to me than having light boots.

What boot would that be?
Last I knew Sorel quite making the Ice Fisher.
Will be needing to pony up one day again...

???



I have had the same thing happen by crossing open cricks early season when opening trails, with deep powder otherwise. Cross the crick and load the rear, and it kant never git back out b/c your trenching too much. Once you stop - that's all she wrote....

We made camp and chipped it out in the morning. Took 2 of us an hour....



VERY funny about tracking through the slush on the way to secret spots! Don't know if you mean to doo that on purpose or if it just works out that way - but I can see going out of my way to doo that!


Nick Janns has a snippit in his first book (I think) that is about breaking trail through slush with air cooled mini's when they were expecting the big machines to have been through ahead of them, and they didn't go for whatever reason.


Would love to hear more stories.


.

 

[PJ-Hunter]

Thanks for the info. Never have come across it as of yet so now I know.

 

[EagleRiverDee]

What boot would that be?
Last I knew Sorel quite making the Ice Fisher.
Will be needing to pony up one day again...

???

It's not available like that any longer I guess. Baffin used to have the Driller and the Ft. Mac with a high rubber upper that was 100% waterproof. However they've since changed those models to having fabric uppers which is a huge disappointment to me. I have a set of both the Drillers and the Ft. Macs but in the older design with the high rubber uppers.

If I were looking now, I'd definitely look at Sorrel, or even at the Muck Boot Arctic Sport which is good to -50F.

 

[boone]

I blew my motor and was getting towed back by a buddy when we crossed (what we later found out to be) overflow. I saw the tow sled break through and I bailed off to push. Thought surely that we were both going to be stuck but he stayed on it and I kept pushing till my feet slipped into the trench under the sled. I was left knee deep in the trench. He stayed on the throttle and got both sleds through it. Thank god! Another buddy swooped in and picked me up on the fly and we got the he** out of there. Lol. Scarry stuff for sure when you aren't expecting it! Always cautious when around lakes/ponds now.

Boone

 

[03RMK800]

Thanks for the info. Never have come across it as of yet so now I know.

Thought you had been to the Grand Mesa. We get overflow at any time of the season, but the big snowfalls and the spring are the worst. If it doesn't start just because of snowfall, year-around springs and runoff, it will start when the operators are getting the reservoirs ready for run off.
We don't have good cold and we have deep snow, so we don't get Green Mountain/Wolford/Williams Fork style 24 plus inches of solid ice. We get feet of layered ice, snow and water. I need an extension for my ice auger to get through the junk to fish.