Expo-West Yellowstone, MT

[supersmith]

AWESOME.....I was prepared to buck up and pay the usual $15 to get in to see the new sleds, but to my suprise admission was FREE!!!!!! Apparently the 4 manufacturers kicked in to pay the bill. WOW, someone is taking into consideration that the economy sucks and we are still buying $12,000 sleds.

 

[Clarke673]

I am heading that way hear in a few. If i get my sled dialed in i think i am going to enter the drags with it just for fun!

 

[racingpit]

I wish I was there racing right now! I have been sick with bronchitis for 3 weeks (it just keeps on getting worse) ! I will be there racing with the Golden West Motel next year!

I read that they had free admision to the vendor areas this year- that is great!!!! Kudos to the West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce and Margi!

 

[05900]

They had to..or give a lot of money back to angry sledders. Vendors still had to pay big bucks to get a booth only to see a "latecomer" charged less.
Get's smaller and smaller every year,if you didn't go don't fret you didn't miss anything.
At the show it was the smallest ever LOW attendance.
Racing was the same as ever although , saw very few in drag races.
Best part was nightlife and meeting a few fellow SnoWesters.!
Thankfully Hillclimb is coming up quick.

 

[Freak]

It seems as tho the inevitable is coming for the expo unless they do something to save it. This obamaconomy is not going to help it either.....

 

[SAWYER]

I really never cared about paying the $15. I mean jesus, it's a whole $15.

 

[Xrider]

I really never cared about paying the $15. I mean jesus, it's a whole $15.

Thank you Sawyer, finally someone that feels the same as I do . I got ripped on another thread for saying the same. $11,000. sleds, trailers, diesel trucks, $5.00 coffee, beer, Klim gear, premium gas........ and once a year you're asked to pay $15. to walk through the Expo and see the new sleds and some other cool stuff. And others said "I would have gone if I'd known it was free" ????? So a $15. ticket makes or breaks the trip. And I know for a fact that some of those complaining can damn well afford it. I'd love to just add up the aftermarket stuff on one of those complainers sleds but when it comes to Expo that's where they draw the line. "They're not getting $15 from me by God". I know it's getting smaller, I've gone every year since it started but my family has a ball and begs me to go every year. I'll be sad when it's gone. Sorry for the rant.

 

[RX1MountainMan]

Thank you Sawyer, finally someone that feels the same as I do . I got ripped on another thread for saying the same. $11,000. sleds, trailers, diesel trucks, $5.00 coffee, beer, Klim gear, premium gas........ and once a year you're asked to pay $15. to walk through the Expo and see the new sleds and some other cool stuff. And others said "I would have gone if I'd known it was free" ????? So a $15. ticket makes or breaks the trip. And I know for a fact that some of those complaining can damn well afford it. I'd love to just add up the aftermarket stuff on one of those complainers sleds but when it comes to Expo that's where they draw the line. "They're not getting $15 from me by God". I know it's getting smaller, I've gone every year since it started but my family has a ball and begs me to go every year. I'll be sad when it's gone. Sorry for the rant.

I wouldn't ***** about $15 either but the show has been on a rapid decline since I first started going in the early '90's when the big 4 would show off the whole fleet and vendors would give great deals on end of the season sales. The last time I went in '07 each of the big four had 5-6 sleds there and maybe a rep or two and I could buy stuff off the internet cheaper than I bought it there. So #15 for the wife and I = $30, $40 for fuel another $40-50 for a couple of meals and you are looking at $110-120 for one day! Plus you had to pay to get into the freestyle show. For that kind of money I can get in 3-4 days of good riding at home and still have beer money...oh yeah I forgot beer up there!

 

[2fun4u]

Expo is finished unless something drastically changes!

They had to..or give a lot of money back to angry sledders. Vendors still had to pay big bucks to get a booth only to see a "latecomer" charged less.
Get's smaller and smaller every year,if you didn't go don't fret you didn't miss anything.
At the show it was the smallest ever LOW attendance.
Racing was the same as ever although , saw very few in drag races.
Best part was nightlife and meeting a few fellow SnoWesters.!
Thankfully Hillclimb is coming up quick.

True words there. <prepare for rant>

• We paid on time and in advance just to find out that several of the last minute booths paid LESS THAN HALF of what we did.
• They raised the booth price this year
• They were down at least 10 booths from last year
• Manufacturers step up so they can get someone in and they do NO advertising of that fact so they can get recognized
• Attendance is way down
• They don't really care if they have good vendors or not as was evidenced by how well they took care of several of them - moving them around at random and not responding to concerns
• 3 days is TOO LONG for a show that should be 1
• Vendors don't get to participate in ANY of the outside events due to hours that are way too long - that's cutting about 75 people out of the fun parts of what could help.
• Then they have a tent that is cold and miserable. There is a fantastic venue there called the Union Pacific hall that would be optimal for this type of show - but they use the tent because the hotel donates it. Once I found that out, I am wondering what the heck they are using our money for since they had to raise the booth fees $75 this year. They won't answer that question.

This show is going nowhere and it's time to bale! I talked to a lot of the other vendors there who have been coming to Expo a LONG time and we are all done. There is not much reason to go back. It's a brutal show and the return is not even half of the expense.

You didn't miss anything. Racing was probably okay, but weather was crappy, so woulda been too cold. Save your money and hit Jackson - better yet, go ride the new snow and have way more fun.

Whew - sorry - couldn't hold my tongue.

<rant over>

2fun

 

[Elevation]

I thought Expo was fine, and enjoyed it. I do think the Hours could be changed like 3 to 9 on Friday and Saturday and 9 to noon or 1 pm on Sunday. I would hate to see it be only one day maybe two would be enough. The flip side of that is that I know of several who went to Expo early both on saturday and sunday so they could ride in the afternoon. I think the free admission was OK--but what about a compromise and the admission is $5.00 to $10.00 (for all days) and the dealers pay the rest. How is the show doing financially? Do the Hotels, Bars and Restaurants help with expenses? They seemed to be very busy. Parking with a trailer was a pain(our hotel was no help)-could the city allow parking on the streets where it is banned just for this weekend?

 

[off road rider]

interesting thoughts

I to feel this show is declining to nothing..We have vended for the last several years, I feel Tammy's pain. It may very well be the last expo trip we make. But I said that last year.
I left this time feeling taken advantage of, not necessarily only from the show but from the entire town, kind of like a bike rally where they raise the prices just for the weekend. Is that the case or is it just small town economic pressure?
having the show stay open till 7 pm. is brutal, especially with so much op for the people that did come.There where several times where very few people where there, understanding that races where going on. We like to have a good time as well.

 

[-Alticity Films-]

I didn't vend at the show because it has not been very successful in the last 2 years. I knew that since I am selling out this tobe stuff for what I owe on it, it wouldn't be worth it. I personally like Marge so I don't want to trash talk, but I do think the show needs a SERIOUS revamp or it needs to go away so Jackson can expand even more and make that an epic spring event.

It didn't help the show that no one wants to travel right now but they could have at least sent a press release to snowest and the vendors so people could have advertised word of mouth about the free entry.

 

[GMCRMK]

$15 Clarified

The $15 used to get you into the show AND the Races. But you never had a just-Vendor Tent option. So, this year the races were only $10 and the tent was free which was good for us.

My take:

Saturday the races were pretty good with drags & freestyle. Weather was awesome. Many Sunday the weather was brutal with winds so we skipped the races and checked out the vendors. I thought the tent was gonna blow away. Anyhow, I spent a few $100 that I wouldn't have otherwise before heading to the hills. There were some ok deals esp with no shipping charges.

The show was small esp compared to other years & other events and I hope they work something out better for you guys next year. It must be hard talking to all us tire kickers. All in all it was fun and the riding was good up top with hardly any people which made the long weekend even better for us.

 

[decarls]

I just talked to some friends who were / are out ther as we speak. They had all the vintage scorpions, you may have seen them They enjoyed it but for most of them it was their first snow show. Said the freestyle & races were good. Also made the coment the scenery wasn't all that bad either The ones who had been there before did coment that it was much smaller than they remember.

 

[Ov3rthetop]

I to noticed that the expo was smaller than normal. But the time I was there i really enjoyed. Our trip was cut short because of my best friends fiancae going into labor. SO we know this kid is going to be a sledder till the end. The one thing at the expo I did miss was the demo rides. I was really wanting to try the new sleds and do some comparing. So once again after the sahkyness of buying a new one its time to build one. Overall I would like to see some changes to the expo but still thanks to the venders who make it possible. Still a good getaway to meet fellow riders.

 

[Xrider]

Our trip was cut short because of my best friends fiancae going into labor

Oh was she the one that got the chopper ride?

 

[Clarke673]

I think that west could be so much better! I think the show was better than it was last year even though it was smaller. Not having the demo's pissed me off! Why would they park the truck there and not let people ride the sleds? The polaris REP told me that they canceled the rides because it was going to conflict with the events…. WHO CARES? I have seen 100,000 freestyles and watching 12 year olds race on the track is entertaining but I wanted to ride a rush and assault!

Why not have an actual freestyle course set up? I know sam and the gang don't do the typical judged freestyles but it would be WAY better and more interesting.

They should also have a sled show for mod sleds so people can show off their sleds. Charge like $50 a sled, hell i would have cleaned my sled up and payed $50 to have it judged.

I spend mot the weekend tuning my fox shocks and setting the engine up. Met some new riding buddies and on Sunday we found some GREAT pow. Only incident i had was i jumped a large cornice which propelled me over the hill and when i toped the hill (still in the air) my friends girlfriend was parked right where i was going to land. I piled into the back of her XP which launched me off the sled. Didn't do much damage, a dented tunnel and bent upper a-arm.

Hear is a pic of a incident I had on Saturday…

 

[Team Wild]

Is there a way to get these ideas to the people who put on the show. If they had some new ideas they could put into place maybe it would help out. I don't want to see the show whither and die. What can all us do to help get it going again?

 

[2fun4u]

Team Wild - that's a GREAT idea! Unfortunately, we have done that every year since we've been vending there and they aren't interested so it seems. Our biggest suggestion was to set up a committee consisting of the chamber, the manufacturers and several (8-10) of the vendors to get sosme good ideas on the table and also to alleviate the issues that arise from putting on something of this size.

I have done the event planning in the past for work and for personal - it's a tough job. I am sure the chamber alone is really struggling with the entire thing and just treading water when it comes to keeping it going. So let everyone help out. They haven't been open to the idea at all and that is where it gets frustrating for everyone.

This thing could be much better planned in relation to the timing of events to work together and getting new ideas implemented.

If anyone knows how to get them to listen that would be really cool!

2fun