Snowmoblog

And so it begins, the 2006 WPSA Powersports Snowmobile Tour.  With an evening kickoff featuring Pro qualifying & amateur racing, and fireworks tonight, the AmsOil Duluth National will run through Sunday Nov. 26th.  The 11th Winter X Games will also be held on Sunday the 26th.

This year’s lineup of returning riders are Robbie Malinoski, Mathieu Morin, Blair Morgan, Tucker Hibbert, DJ Eckstrom, Shaun & Kurtis Crapos, Ross Martin, Steve Martin, Dave Allard, Levi LaVallee, TJ Gulla, and many others.

AmsOil Duluth National Schedule

WPSA Snowmobile Tour - Full Schedule

For more information, check out the article below, or visit the Duluth National Schedule website here.

Via WhoWon.com - WPSA Powersports Snowmobile Tour Kicks Off 2006 this Weekend With the 15 Annual Amsoil Duluth National at Spirit Mountain

I want to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving.  We’re taking a break over the next day or so, but we’ll be back later in the week with more news and stuff.

Due to fuel & equipment costs, one route that has been under private contract, will be taken over by the state of Wyoming.

The state of Wyoming has taken over the 195 miles of groomed trails for snowmobiling on the Snowy Mountain Range in the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests.

One hopes this is for the best - it’ll probably cost Wyoming residents more in taxes, but the trails will continue to be kept up.  More information can be found in the article below.

Via: Laramie Boomerang Online - State to groom snowmobile trails

Craig Medred writes in the Outdoors section of the Anchorage Daily News about how large and heavy our modern snowmobiles have gotten.  He also remembers times gone by when a Ski-Doo Elan could ride through the deep stuff without the kind of back-breaking labor needed to free a stuck sled today.

Good read!

Via: Anchorage Daily News - Big machines are a pain but have the power

The Country Courier in Franklin Country Vermont has an article about snowmobiling in their county. While written more toward non-sledders, its great to see people anticipating a great season.

Go check out the article, it reminds me of a number of write-ups about Vermont snowmobiling that I’ve read over the years. Someday I’ll plan a trip out east to check out the great state of Vermont - soon I hope. Cool graphic at the top of the article too!

Via: The County Courier - Let it snow Local snowmobilers ready for new (& hopefully improved) season

View a map of Franklin County courtesy of Live.com Maps

They’ve been making snow since Halloween at Spirit Mountain in Duluth, MN for the WPSA PowerSports Tour Amsoil Duluth National. With a minimum 4ft. base, the track will be ready on time for the November 24th-26th event.

SnowWeek has more details at the link below.

Via: SnowWeek - Plenty of Snow for WPSA Opener

I’ve long meant to write about my first snowmobile adventure. Most would (and do) call it their first ride, but it was well and truly an adventure for the 14 year-old I was in 1982. This was the ride that defined snowmobiling for me, it was the beginning of a lifelong love of Winter & of snowmobiling.

The ride was in the northern area of Dunn county Wisconsin, just north of the city of Menomonie with my cousin, uncle and my uncle’s friend Dale & his son. The ride wasn’t long by our standards today, but our route out & back was upwards of 30 miles - though we did have many stops planned along the way. My dad and I rode absolute leftovers - they were ours, and we were thrilled to have them, but they were quite old and in ill repair to be kind. An aside - only one of our sleds made it back that night, and just barely at that!

My snowmobile was a 1968 Alouette - I’ve no idea of the model or engine size other than it was a air-cooled one-lunger that had the carburetor right in my chest.  My dad’s sled was a slightly newer 1971 Ski-Doo Nordic 400cc (I think) fan-twin.  Our trailer was a late-’60s model single-place with tilt & swivel.  How we trailered two aging machines 40 miles to our starting point (and back) is another story!  Dad, I need your help on telling that tale (it involves a Chevy Chevette and a lot of ingenuity) .  Our other gear was made up of rather good Sorel pac-boots, but went downhill from there: cheap mitts, hand-me-down snowmobile suit, $30 helmets with bubble shields , and other assorted otherwise-good winter-ware that shouldn’t be used for snowmobiling . Such are the makings of an event that will live among my fondest memories for life.

We met the rest of the group at my uncle’s friend Dale’s place, where everyone got sleds loaded and extra socks packed. From there it was a 15 minute drive to our starting point on the shores of Tainter Lake, at a house mysteriously described as “Uncle Stan’s”.  The first leg of about 3 miles took us to the Elk Point Inn - a cozy little bar on the other side of the lake.  About half-way across the lake, my headlight goes out - and being a “newbie” at this trail riding thing I just kept following the taillight in front of me!  Good thing we didn’t hit any frost heaves or ploughed lanes on the lake, or I might have had a really exciting time! Turns out that it was just a loose connection under the hood, and was quickly reconnected.

With our first drama out of the way, we stepped in the bar and had a beer, er, Coke (hey I was only 14!)

Part II is in the works - give me a few days to dredge up the details.  They’re lurking somewhere in the old memory bank.

The Tooele Transcript Bulletin On-Line is reporting that Yellowstone National Park will be opening for the winter season on December 20th, 2006.  It appears that this year 400 snowmobiles per day will be allowed into the park.

For more details, check out their article linked below.

Via: Tooele Transcript Bulletin On-Line - Yellowstone opens soon for winter fun

We’ve upgraded our hosting service to a paid account, this allows us to offer a more professional appearance, and control our own site configuration, settings, layout, theme, and a whole lot more.

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Over the next few days & weeks, you can expect to start seeing more content get posted here at Snowmoblog, and we may perform some site design tweaks.  The “look & feel” may change as we try to find the right blend of readability, screen space, and simply what the team at Snowmoblog ends up liking best.

Talk to you soon!

According to SnowWeek there is! Seems that Pat Mach has compiled a list of past I-500 winners, and with the help of USCC is planning to re-unite at the Red Lake I-500 in January.

For more details check out the SnowWeek article linked below!

Via: SnowWeek - I-500 Reunion In The Works