"The primary virtue of snowmobiling is that it's ludicrously easy"

[snowryder]

Read this article.

Snowmobiling
Slumming on the slopes.
By Bryan Curtis
http://www.slate.com/id/2199233/

I'd like to see him try to follow me on a ride and tell me it was ludicrously easy!

 

[WFO or go home]

Gotta love the clowns that have never gone on a real ride.

 

[LeeDoo]

I remember when that first came out in '06. Caused a big stink since we all know that mountain snowmobiling is a highly strenuous activity . It is kinda funny story though.

 

[03rmking]

And that quote came from a snowmobile guide, not the writer. What an azzhat, way to represent the sport!

 

[906th_Airborne]

He is a grunt from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, a man who pauses on 100-mile rides to hit a circuit of boozy "pit stops" with names like the Hoop 'N' Holler (an actual destination).

Wow, what do you know, another Yooper stereotypical comment. Fact is most people that ride up here aren't from Michigan. This comment describes the FIB's more than any Yooper I know.

"A lot of people who snowmobile are lazy,"

Katie Holmes, pregnant with Tom Cruise's child, was spotted riding a snowmobile this winter, and one can only imagine the amenities provided to her.

I hit the gas and went blistering across the icy lake at speeds approaching 45 miles per hour (this feels very fast on snow)

LOL

Snowmobiling is an unambitious sport even among its biggest fans. "The idea is to have fun and don't destroy the machines,"

We here at snowest are totally UNAMBITIOUS and NEVER WRECK OUR MACHINES WHILE HAVING FUN. RIGHT GUYS?

article made me laugh in a few other spots as well. the hand-warmers part is hilarious.

 

[T-Bone]

I go through this a lot. Everyone of my friends that I've taken riding thinks that all a person does is sit on the seat and press the throttle. Every one of them has found out different.

 

[03rmking]

For the most hard-core snowmobilers, who in America can be found mostly in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin

The main skill under study by a novice snowmobiler is the technique called "butt steering,"

What a tard

 

[NoSecondChances]

Read this article.

Snowmobiling
Slumming on the slopes.
By Bryan Curtis
http://www.slate.com/id/2199233/

I'd like to see him try to follow me on a ride and tell me it was ludicrously easy!

Why don't you invite him then? I think that it would be great if someone would invite him along for a ride with some of us and maybe he would write a real article about sledding from his perspective, not what its like with some inbred tour guide on a 1979 Tundra. Seriously, anyone up for it? Canada might be a long way for him to come but I will offer him his choice of my mod sleds if he wants to go sledding in the Canadian Rockies and ride the real deal, instead of spewing out some antiquated notion of what sledding was like in 1965.

 

[NoCoastNesse]

haha..jeeeze what a num nuts......the only true part about the entire story is this:

"All I can say is that if you think snowmobiles represent an affront to nature, then you should get a load of the Texans who deposit themselves in Colorado each winter."

hahahahaha, we always said, if God intended Texans to ski/sled, he would have made Bullsh!t white.

 

[Skadi]

Oh my gawd, thanks for the laugh, I can't believe that article!!! Hahahahaha

It just blows me away how people can think that a sport involving machines means it's easy! I used to get the same thing from my rugby team. I didn't work out like they did cause in my off time I rode... (dirt or snow). I would get hassled all the time that I wasn't taking THEM seriously enough and that I was hurting the team if I wasn't working out and getting to my FULL potential. Then I'd gather up a group of em and take them riding. They couldn't walk right for days! And they relied on me to get them unstuck and ride their machine, took em on dirt and snow, over any technical sections!! One of the burliest girls on the team couldn't even lift up a little 100 and I lug around a 250 all day when I ride! She shut up REAL quick after that day I got her out!!

Anyway, that article is seriously VERY silly, and ya, the guide is a total idiot, I really love what he's doing for the sport....

 

[RMKcowboy]

Throw him 3' of fresh and a nice long climb, then have him tell us how easy it is. Or, just give him a little bit of fresh stuff and enough of a hill to get buried in, then sit and watch as he digs himself out. Sounds like what he could really use is an azz whuppin, same could be said for the guide who made the "snowmobiling is for lazy people" quote.

 

[RideGuy]

LOL.... Thanks for the Giggle.... " Butt Steering " Technique.... I thought that " Butt Steering " was a Sanfransico Treat.... Not Technique...?????

 

[BackCountryBob]

What makes you think that the guide actually said anything? The Slate rag is conspicously left wing and you would expect that kind of crap from them.

As far as lazy ***'d Texans on sleds---yup

BCB

 

[76FOMOCO]

LOL.... Thanks for the Giggle.... " Butt Steering " Technique.... I thought that " Butt Steering " was a Sanfransico Treat.... Not Technique...?????

ROTFLMFAO!!!!

the guide was just a part time skinny skier/sled guide/ dope! that didn't want to work a real job! Hey wait i fit two out of three

 

[kcpete]

I got this from the "Post a message" section in the article. What an idiot! Some people just do not have a clue.


The only part missing from this snowmobile piece is the danger posed by avalanche. "Machine" riders are shockingly indifferent to this common danger that backcountry skiers spend hours & dollars preparing for. Check out the Colorado Avalanche Information Center & click on "Accidents" to see all the num-nuts who kick off deadly slides due to high-marking.

http://avalanche.state.co.us/

On a snowmobiling website I once did a search for the term 'avalanche.' All that came up were ads for Chevys.

I have been told many times at work that snowmobiling was easy because all you do is ride a machine. I have taken these people on rides and they now have a greater appreciation of what I call the "snow olympics". The first time they get stuck, I let them flounder alittle, you know, to get the full effect of thin air and physical work. The next day, most of them come in so sore, they are useless. I have half a notion to email Mr. Curtis (bryancurtis77@gmail.com) and invite him on a ride.

 

[Ex-Member]

hahahahahha, that article is truly lulzworthy. I'm gonna have to give that "butt steering" a try.... LOL. Yeah, two hours on a machine and he's an expert.

Riding a horse is easy too. Just kick them and they run, pull on the reins to stop; right?

And that quote came from a snowmobile guide, not the writer. What an azzhat, way to represent the sport!

I convinced my parents to go sledding once... they opted for the 2-hour tour as well. Our guide wasn't bad... one thing that got me was he kept going on about how important it was to keep your helmet on, yet he didn't wear one. Kinda got the feeling he'd rather be "camping" (smokin pot) than doing the tours.

But yeah, i'd love to get this guy out on a real sled, in some real snow, on a real mountain.

 

[ragincajun]

wow....wut a tard! he should get off the trail and do some REAL riding with one of us in the mountains on a deep powder day!! then he will find out what a work out sleddin is!!

 

[Jeff C]

I joined that website and posted this:

Wow, one two hour ride and you have enough knowledge to make sweeping generalizations about snowmobiling!

You use one "two pack a day" tour operator for total information about this article - Brilliant research!

I am 43 years old, and have been snowmobiling since I was big enough to be able to reach the handlebars.

To broadly paint snowmobilers as drunks is absolutley pathetic. I never drink while snowmobiling, nor do any of my riding buddies. That is just plain stupid to say that the goal of riders is to go from bar to bar and drink.

Yep, some snowmobilers do drink and ride, as do skiers, as do motorcyclists, as do boaters, as do minivan drivers, as do.........................The vast majority of snowmobilers do not condone drinking and driving, no matter where it is done.

For most people snowmobiling is enjoyed by families, friends, acquaintances all over the snow belt. Sure, it is easy for you to take ONE - two hour ride and come back and use over generalized labels and tired old stereotypes.

There is risk to this activity! There is risk to almost everything. You manage risk by being informed and with experience. Highmarking up a wind loaded slope is just asking for trouble. Telemarking down a wind loaded slope is also asking for trouble. All the people I ride with have taken classes and recognize the danger signs of avalanches.

I will give you the fact that riding on trails and lakes is pretty easy.

However, take a snowmobile ride out west in the mountains, come back and try and tell your readers that back country snowmobiling is easy. It wont happen. Get your snowmobile stuck in 4 feet of fresh powder and come back and tell us how easy it is.

Backcountry snowmobiling is incredibly fun, and you get to see some of the most beautiful scenery on earth.

So, I challenge you to email me (I just signed up, you can get my email address from your webmaster). I would take you on a fantastic all day backcountry ride out in the Idaho mountains. You will come back being an educated enthusiastic cheerleader for this sport.

Go ahead, email me.

Best regards,

Jeff C - Minneapolis, MN

 

[JJFlash]

"Machine" riders are shockingly indifferent to this common danger that backcountry skiers spend hours & dollars preparing for.


Yep.......We're so indifferent that we spend THOUSANDS of $$ on stuff like beacons, probes, shovels, av-paks (the inflatable "snow wings") ham radios, sat phones......Ever see a skier carry all that stuff around???

 

[JJFlash]

LOL.... Thanks for the Giggle.... " Butt Steering " Technique.... I thought that " Butt Steering " was a Sanfransico Treat.... Not Technique...?????

Nope.....Butt Steering is when your dog drags his azz on the carpet, all around the living room. Some breeds handle better than others........