I just got back from a trip to BC. Got a chance to meet some "names" in the snowboarding, skiing and sledding world. We rode into a pretty amazing area around Pemberton on the 31st. Best ride of my life actually. We got into this really cool spot that took some work. While parked for a break I got a chance to see Dan Treadway ripping it up. What was amazing was that he was riding in tough spots effortlessly and doing tricks and stuff on a Freeride with a 137" track with HIS GIRLFRIEND SITTING IN FRONT OF HIM! There was this really tight trail on the way in that we would never have made it on without someone to break it for us. Basically bottomless pow in the tight trees up, down and sideways and again he did that on a 137 track. Makes you think about all the debate between 154 and 163. And if you say it's because Treadway is a lighter rider remember that he rides that thing double up. I did not get any video, didn't have a camera set up at the time. Regret that.
So you think you can ride?
- Thread starter Matte Murder
- Start date
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snowmobiler
Well-known member
go doo
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EagleRiverDee
Well-known member
I see more and more people saying short tracks don't belong in deep pow but I've got a friend that rides a 126" 800 etec and gets around better than most people with a 163". Plus he has more fun because it's not like turning a bus and he loves boondocking. If nothing else, he recommends people learn on short tracks because they learn the skills and then when they do get on a long track they can do that much more with it.
I ride a 136" and enjoy getting out in the deep stuff. I'm nowhere near the level of the guy you watched riding, but I have a lot of fun with my sled. I don't feel the need to get something with a 30" longer track.
I ride a 136" and enjoy getting out in the deep stuff. I'm nowhere near the level of the guy you watched riding, but I have a lot of fun with my sled. I don't feel the need to get something with a 30" longer track.
Welcome to the world of Track Speed. I own both a 900 166 and a 800 146, The 900 climbs like you wouldn't believe, goes to places a naturally aspirated short track wouldn't even think about. The 800 has a crazy track speed, awesome in the trees, great response to rider movement and its awesome for everything else. The wonderful world of boost has taken off, guys will ride anything from 136-155 with turbos and they go everywhere something with a naturally aspirated 163, 166 or 174 would go. Some guys will ride a 163 like others will ride a 136 in the trees and they will both end up in the same spot. Its all the rider now days, a rider makes the sled capable of certain things for the most part. Take for instance, Burandt, put him on any brand sled any length, give him a few hours and you'll see amazing stuff. I see it rapidly going from naturally aspirated long tracks to boosted short tracks..... The hills are not getting shorter, the snows not getting harder and more set up, the machines are evolving. There will still be days when 3+ feet of powder falls and the 121-136 sleds will be stuck all day and the guys will longer tracks will be having a blast but as the boost increases so will the short tracks in the mountains. Just my take on it.
Treadway is married with kids. If you saw him riding with his girlfriend, you probably shouldn't post it publicly.
You sure it wasn't snowmobiler and not his gramma.
hahahahaha...this thread is drifting...lol...funny stuff
Long track vs short track is a argument short trackers like to bring up. Fact is:
take ALL the skill out of it and put a open meadow in front of a short tracker and a long tracker. Give them both a mile of open parking lot that blends into the deep pow and go straight. the short tracker will drag and lose speed until finally stuck while the flotation of the long track will keep it going!
Ultra deep days I have seen flat meadows and 174 sleds get stuck in if stopping without a circle back on tracks. Bring on your short tracks and mad skills these days
take ALL the skill out of it and put a open meadow in front of a short tracker and a long tracker. Give them both a mile of open parking lot that blends into the deep pow and go straight. the short tracker will drag and lose speed until finally stuck while the flotation of the long track will keep it going!
Ultra deep days I have seen flat meadows and 174 sleds get stuck in if stopping without a circle back on tracks. Bring on your short tracks and mad skills these days
Long track vs short track is a argument short trackers like to bring up. Fact is:
take ALL the skill out of it and put a open meadow in front of a short tracker and a long tracker. Give them both a mile of open parking lot that blends into the deep pow and go straight. the short tracker will drag and lose speed until finally stuck while the flotation of the long track will keep it going!
Ultra deep days I have seen flat meadows and 174 sleds get stuck in if stopping without a circle back on tracks. Bring on your short tracks and mad skills these days
This coming from the same guy that told me all the "skills" I learned back in the late 80's and ealry 90's on Phazers is useless today.......
Such a waste of my time learning throttle control, carrying my momentum, moving with the terrain, aquiring the "feel" balance and body position all necessary to get somewhere on an inferior machine WASTED!
I have stuck more than one 159 trying to follow me on a 144 so don't say it doesn't happen because it does.
I don't really understand what some people are trying to say in this thread. It's a pretty simple scenario. Variance in skill levels creates the illusion that a short track can do everything a long track can. Put equal riders on a 137" and a 163" on a deep day and let's see who goes further, who goes higher, and who can pull the steep technical lines.
The point is some riders can do more with less than other riders.
Take HIMARK for example. His Ego will not allow him to acknowledge that there are riders out there with the skill to out-ride him on an inferior machine.
His clear dis-regard for the "skills" I referred to only re-enforces my point.
Take HIMARK for example. His Ego will not allow him to acknowledge that there are riders out there with the skill to out-ride him on an inferior machine.
His clear dis-regard for the "skills" I referred to only re-enforces my point.
You spend all day in meadows?
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EagleRiverDee
Well-known member
The best rider I have ever met is a young man that was riding an older 90's model short track sled (don't even remember what brand) that was before the rider forward chassis came out. He could run circles around us all on that sled in any conditions. Riding that sled had forced him to develop skill instead of relying on his footprint to keep him out of trouble. He has since upgraded to a Summit but the bottom line is what he learned to do on that short track old chassis sled he had makes him a very skilled rider and makes him that much better on the Summit. I am not bashing long tracks or people's decisions to ride them, but people need to admit the the newer chassis designs and the long tracks allow people with little skill to ride. It doesn't, however, mean they are good riders. Too many rely on their footprint and don't actually possess real riding skills that you are forced to develop if you ride a short track.
Long track vs short track is a argument short trackers like to bring up. Fact is:
take ALL the skill out of it and put a open meadow in front of a short tracker and a long tracker. Give them both a mile of open parking lot that blends into the deep pow and go straight. the short tracker will drag and lose speed until finally stuck while the flotation of the long track will keep it going!
Ultra deep days I have seen flat meadows and 174 sleds get stuck in if stopping without a circle back on tracks. Bring on your short tracks and mad skills these days
i love short tracks..both my zr and zrt short tracks were fun sleds to ride..and now my m8 is a 141..i go in those meadows your talking about..and your right..the short tracker has to think ahead some...like eventually having the momentum to turn back into the track he just made to get the speed up to squirt out elsewhere..
But there is nothing like the fun factor of the shorter track once a person gets decent at thinking that one step ahead earlier enough imo
and some spring riding conditions..well the short tracks can excell..but i do understand where ya coming from on hitting that meadow in a straight long shot....but if your allowed to bounce off the side boards of that meadow i have more fun in it with less rubber..
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I don't even have a track on my sled and I still am the best rider ever.
I will tell you he broke a trail on that 137 that I wouldn't have made it 200 feet on a 174. It was up down left right in really tight trees and at least 3 feet of powder. I think he rides the short track because he can make it do things in the air that a long track won't do and has adapted his riding style to make it work everywhere else. He said he loved it. Riding it 2 up was just amazing to watch. Jumps, sidehills, boonedocking in tight trees in 3 feet of powder, hillcimbing etc. I have no opinion on what's better for what conditions but I tell you it made me rethink some of the things I was going to do to my sleds. The other thing I thought was cool was that this was not a great day. Visibility was crappy for most of the day, there were a lot of people up in the area, no one was filming and here he was out riding just for the fun of it.
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