We just returned from the Chris Burandts Back Country Adventure and WOW!
Colorado is nothing short of breath taking!!! Although we planned to ride it wasn’t the reason for our trip which was good because at the moment Michigan has more snow than the mountains of Colorado…..almost. Chris made sure he found snow to ride on and we did ride. Our main objective was to install ArcticFX graphics and Sled Solution Carry All’s on ALL the Back Country sleds (10) plus Chris and his (2) guides sleds.
We flew in to Denver on Friday morning via Frontier Airlines which was uneventful. Sandy (Chris’s wife) picked us up at the airport and drove us to the lodge about 2 hours northwest of Denver. Chris was out riding (go figure) when we arrived and we got to work on sleds. Chris and Sahen showed up about an hour after we arrived and those guys got to work on the long list of stuff they needed to do. Normally a mod sled requires many weeks of work for the average “Joe”. Not Chris!! He had everything orchestrated like a Broadway play. Chris and Sahen tore into that sled and in a matter of 3 hours a modded M1000 was complete and ready for the snow. Jordan and I finished up the stickers and Carry All installations and moved on to helping Chris. We got a lot of stuff done in about 7 hours and the Michigan boys retired to bed which was about 3 a.m. Eastern Time.
The accommodations at the Lodge are nothing short of perfect!!! Bev and Sandy take care of all the meals and pretty much take care of you while you are there. Bev’s cooking is enough of a reason to partake in a Back Country Adventure. Eggs, sausage, breakfast burritos, potato’s, Chicken, Pasta, etc…..YOU WILL EAT WELL.
The lodge is very nice! When you pull up you just see Chris’s 30x60 barn which houses all the sleds. Heated floor, tools up the ying yang, TV, Stereo, boot heaters and more. The lodge is Chris’s old house which has been converted to house groups of 6-7 complete with Big Screen TV, DVD player, wireless internet, leather couches, LARGE BEAN BAG (my personal favorite) and heated floors. You’ll find plenty of unique pictures hanging of Chris and his accomplishments.
Friday we stickered sleds for about 8 hours and then helped Chris with sled stuff. We managed to sticker 8 sleds and get a bunch of stuff done to get them ready for the season.
Saturday we woke up and made some minor changes to some of the sleds as Chris isn’t happy unless everything is perfect. We took off for Rabbit Ears to ride but ended up somewhere else due to lack of snow and Forest Service patrol. The snow was thin but we made it up to about 9000 feet and it was getting deeper. We had a couple newbie’s riding with us and they had some machine issues which sent us back early. Our main objective was to test and tune the sleds that were outfitted with turbos and break in the new sleds so it wasn’t a big deal. We spent the rest of the night watching Chris and Sahen work on sleds as the night before finally caught up with Jordan and I and we were beat! We did manage to install two more Back Country Edition graphics kits on two IQ RMK’s that Chris had lined up.
Sunday started out like Saturday…getting some work done and then heading out to ride around noon. This time we went up to Spring Creek which was also thin but about 10,000 feet in looked more like winter. We ended up where the vintage Ski Doo sunk in Slednecks 11 for those that have seen it. Sunday evening we helped him clean the shop and reorganize things in preparation for the upcoming season.
Monday we woke up late as it was the last day and no riding was going to take place. Headed over to Alpine to sticker the last sled that Chris is waiting for and our work was done. We were suppose to take off for the airport around noon but ended up leaving about an hour late. Chris made sure the Duramax dually got us to the Airport in time….even with a gooseneck trailer and Bobcat in tow. Nothing he owns is STOCK…..NOTHING!!!
As I sit here on this plan typing this I think back and can’t believe how down to earth Chris is. I’ve met him before at the Novi show when he was signing autographs in the Arcticfx booth but didn’t spend too much time with him. We spent the last 4 days giving and taking crap from him about everything just like anyone would do with their friends. If anyone is considering the trip out to the Kremmling I would HIGHLY recommend it. We were there for business and we had some really nice accommodations I can’t even imagine what it would be like if we were paying customers.
In retro spec I don’t think I would have done anything different. We really enjoyed ourselves and Chris appreciated all our efforts. Nothing like being a repeat X Game gold medalist and still be so grounded.
As for my favorite part of the trip….I think it was the view. The mountains are so awesome I just stared out the truck window in amazement. Yes it was my first trip out west but not my last….we have plans for a trip back when Colorado has the snow that Chris talks up so much.
So, Thanks Chris, Sandy and Bev for making us feel at home! Jordan thanks bud for the invite!
BTW Chris I’ll get that video footage over to you of Jordan hitting that BIG rock so you can put that into your “What not to do video” along with me burning down the ‘W9’ footage of course.
Colorado is nothing short of breath taking!!! Although we planned to ride it wasn’t the reason for our trip which was good because at the moment Michigan has more snow than the mountains of Colorado…..almost. Chris made sure he found snow to ride on and we did ride. Our main objective was to install ArcticFX graphics and Sled Solution Carry All’s on ALL the Back Country sleds (10) plus Chris and his (2) guides sleds.
We flew in to Denver on Friday morning via Frontier Airlines which was uneventful. Sandy (Chris’s wife) picked us up at the airport and drove us to the lodge about 2 hours northwest of Denver. Chris was out riding (go figure) when we arrived and we got to work on sleds. Chris and Sahen showed up about an hour after we arrived and those guys got to work on the long list of stuff they needed to do. Normally a mod sled requires many weeks of work for the average “Joe”. Not Chris!! He had everything orchestrated like a Broadway play. Chris and Sahen tore into that sled and in a matter of 3 hours a modded M1000 was complete and ready for the snow. Jordan and I finished up the stickers and Carry All installations and moved on to helping Chris. We got a lot of stuff done in about 7 hours and the Michigan boys retired to bed which was about 3 a.m. Eastern Time.
The accommodations at the Lodge are nothing short of perfect!!! Bev and Sandy take care of all the meals and pretty much take care of you while you are there. Bev’s cooking is enough of a reason to partake in a Back Country Adventure. Eggs, sausage, breakfast burritos, potato’s, Chicken, Pasta, etc…..YOU WILL EAT WELL.
The lodge is very nice! When you pull up you just see Chris’s 30x60 barn which houses all the sleds. Heated floor, tools up the ying yang, TV, Stereo, boot heaters and more. The lodge is Chris’s old house which has been converted to house groups of 6-7 complete with Big Screen TV, DVD player, wireless internet, leather couches, LARGE BEAN BAG (my personal favorite) and heated floors. You’ll find plenty of unique pictures hanging of Chris and his accomplishments.
Friday we stickered sleds for about 8 hours and then helped Chris with sled stuff. We managed to sticker 8 sleds and get a bunch of stuff done to get them ready for the season.
Saturday we woke up and made some minor changes to some of the sleds as Chris isn’t happy unless everything is perfect. We took off for Rabbit Ears to ride but ended up somewhere else due to lack of snow and Forest Service patrol. The snow was thin but we made it up to about 9000 feet and it was getting deeper. We had a couple newbie’s riding with us and they had some machine issues which sent us back early. Our main objective was to test and tune the sleds that were outfitted with turbos and break in the new sleds so it wasn’t a big deal. We spent the rest of the night watching Chris and Sahen work on sleds as the night before finally caught up with Jordan and I and we were beat! We did manage to install two more Back Country Edition graphics kits on two IQ RMK’s that Chris had lined up.
Sunday started out like Saturday…getting some work done and then heading out to ride around noon. This time we went up to Spring Creek which was also thin but about 10,000 feet in looked more like winter. We ended up where the vintage Ski Doo sunk in Slednecks 11 for those that have seen it. Sunday evening we helped him clean the shop and reorganize things in preparation for the upcoming season.
Monday we woke up late as it was the last day and no riding was going to take place. Headed over to Alpine to sticker the last sled that Chris is waiting for and our work was done. We were suppose to take off for the airport around noon but ended up leaving about an hour late. Chris made sure the Duramax dually got us to the Airport in time….even with a gooseneck trailer and Bobcat in tow. Nothing he owns is STOCK…..NOTHING!!!
As I sit here on this plan typing this I think back and can’t believe how down to earth Chris is. I’ve met him before at the Novi show when he was signing autographs in the Arcticfx booth but didn’t spend too much time with him. We spent the last 4 days giving and taking crap from him about everything just like anyone would do with their friends. If anyone is considering the trip out to the Kremmling I would HIGHLY recommend it. We were there for business and we had some really nice accommodations I can’t even imagine what it would be like if we were paying customers.
In retro spec I don’t think I would have done anything different. We really enjoyed ourselves and Chris appreciated all our efforts. Nothing like being a repeat X Game gold medalist and still be so grounded.
As for my favorite part of the trip….I think it was the view. The mountains are so awesome I just stared out the truck window in amazement. Yes it was my first trip out west but not my last….we have plans for a trip back when Colorado has the snow that Chris talks up so much.
So, Thanks Chris, Sandy and Bev for making us feel at home! Jordan thanks bud for the invite!
BTW Chris I’ll get that video footage over to you of Jordan hitting that BIG rock so you can put that into your “What not to do video” along with me burning down the ‘W9’ footage of course.
