Mid West Mountain Sleds?

[AKM7]

I'm not bashing, just curious! I notice a lot of members from Mich, Minn, Iowa and other states asking questions about their long track mountain sleds. Are there really enough mountains around to justify a mountain sled? I would think everyone would have a shorty for speed and performance!

 

[koschak]

Mid West Mountain Sleds

I have a pro x but set it up each year for a trip out west, alot of people trail ride their mountain sleds in the flat lands and then take trips out to the mountains from what I see.

 

[neverenoughsnow]

mtn ridin

most of us only ride out in the mountains. i am from Nebraska, and most of us ride in Wyoming, i dont even ride it at home. once i rode in the mountains ridin back home was boring.

 

[Blk88GT]

There are no mountains around me for 14 hours of driving. I have a shorty (136) and a mountain sled for going out west. Same thing here, after riding out west once, I don't even want to ride at home. But I have to keep the kids happy

 

[team2]

It is shocking how many people from even here in WI actually only ride out west...I have yet to be out west riding and I am sure it is much more fun out in the DEEP pow but I would still have to ride at home when I couldn't be out west. Or I would just move.

Hopefully this year I will be out west...looking at going to burandts!

 

[M.M. 700]

I live in the Midwest. Have a Mountain sled. Never ride here, after going to the mountains 7-8 years ago.

 

[mad1818]

Snow has sucked here for last 10 years. Started going out west in 04. Go 2-3 times a winter. Used to take the short track out there but decided it's way more fun than in MN so bought a mtn sled. It would take 3 feet to make me happy riding in MN so then I could still ride the long track if I really wanted to. I ride a 155". 2 1/2 weeks til I'm out there!

 

[KAWGRN]

In parts of the UP of Michigan the boondocking is as good as any where just not as high!!!I keep a renegade with a 2inch for michigan and my out west ride is a dragon T and a XP800

 

[mtncat800]

I rode once last year in Iowa, 18" of hard pack, thought it may be worth an hour or so, resulted in a fractured rt tibia and a torne ACL. 10 days before a trip to Togwotee, and said never again. Rode the mountains 5 times last year and plan on at least 4 this year.

 

[AKM7]

We'll, after hearing all this I better stop complaining about having to drive 2 hrs when the 1 hr riding area doesn't have enough powder.

 

[neverenoughsnow]

mtn ridin

akm7, you are so lucky to live that close to spectacular riding. some of us drive 8 to 12 hours, one way to ride in the mtns. if the weather is bad it can add hours to our drive, sometimes they shutdown the interstates, and guys will drive hours and have to turn around. since we travel far we try to stay for 2 to 3 days.

 

[1M800]

I go out west once a year and ride my mountain sled here in MN. Long track is way more fun ditch banging and boondocking anyway!

 

[AKM7]

WOOOOWWW! I made someone mad! I got a crimson reputation now because of this post! To bad they aren't man enough to post public!

 

[xrated]

300 inches in the UP of Michigan. pretty central for upper midwest guys between west trips.

 

[AlaskaS3]

For years, I could ride the mountains out of my garage, now I ***** about the two hour drive. Thanks for putting that in perspective.

 

[batman]

xrated has a good point, there is actually quite a bit of snow that falls in the LES belts around here. that's kind of a hidden gem about this area that not too many people not from this area know about. this of course when considering we have nothing compared to the big mountains.

an easy solution is to have a couple of sleds. i have an 08 xp 800 for a round here and a mc 151 900 for our trip out west.

we're headed up to the north shore of MN next week. they have 4' of snow and are supposed to get another foot this weekend. should be fun.

hands down, nothing compares to the mountains...but we manage to get into a little trouble around here w/ what we have available.

and we have al franken. what could be better. (shoot me)

 

[squarehead55]

The people from midwest should rent mountain sleds when they come out, it would help the local economy, AKM7, I helped your rep out a little

 

[batman]

many do squarehead....and i see your point, but there's a certain "something" that i like better about knowing i can smash up my own machine and not care, or at least laugh about it, that's the end of it....and off to the parts shop we go.

half the fun is not caring about your machine when it comes to using a tree for traction, rock, etc.

it's also part of the good juju about having your own machine and bringing it out west. truck...sleds...trailer...good stories....etc...


we've gotten to know a guy out in West that rents machines...and you wouldn't believe how personal it is for those people. one scratch, ding, or totalled sled....and he thinks it's a personal attack on him and his equipment. then he badgers the people that did it when in reality...they look at it like it's a rental man....i'm gonna beat this thing up for a day...

just like the rental car jumping. did any of you see that? some guy on snowest.com was the dude that did it. was a youtube clip...hilarous.

i would hate the rental biz.

 

[diggerdown]

The people from midwest should rent mountain sleds when they come out, it would help the local economy, AKM7, I helped your rep out a little

Pull into Gillette and try to rent a motel room before you tell me about how the economy of Wy. needs help! Renting sucks. Very expensive, sleds are dogs, and you are afraid to ride them because of the way they hit you when you bring them back and always find something you did to hurt their sled. Rent the same sled 2 months later and it banged up worse than the first time you saw it. I wonder how much they made on "repairs"!

 

[AKM7]

Swamps

We do have a lot of Swamp area's (flat marshy) that some people do 90% of their ridding with mountain sleds. As Xrated said, I've been in 3+ ft of powder on rolling hills that most definetly required a long track.
I went to West Yellowstone a few years ago and most of the rental sleds were dogs! Having your own sled with the mod's you like is most definetly the prefered route!
We have some real good sled rental places here in Anchorage if anyone is thinking of coming up!!!!
Thanks for the reputation boost