Souped-up sledding
I love winter. It’s a great time to be outside and enjoy life, frozen and white. It’s a time that many might think it’s better to be inside, but what’s better than riding the open tundra or in a tight forest on a high-powered sled? Riding around again and again, that’s what. Yes, although Christmas is the main highlight of the season and New Year’s Eve deserves a nod, it’s really the season for outdoor fun and memorable experiences.
One of my experiences that might trigger a few of your own was just the cool riding around at night – all night. Gas was 25¢ a gallon and warm hats were optional. For some, frozen ears were status symbols and getting stuck was unheard of. The sleds in those days could be easily lifted and tossed onto better footing and were rather slow but steady. The choke was an essential piece of our mechanical vocabulary and the know-how to clean a spark plug was the difference between life and death.
Bogie wheels? Well, they were handled by the local mechanic, who often had to do a lot of machine work and create a lot of sparks all over the place in the process. Sew a mangled track back together? No choice. After a few years, the original mechanism was barely recognizable, covered with snare wire, nails, odd screws and makeshift parts. Heck, I knew a guy who carved his ski out of a tree to get back home, nothing like the good old bush fix.
Over the years and the latest generation of machines rolls out for your winter enjoyment, it takes careful review of all the details and options online to put together a sled that you want. Amazingly, the essential pull starter cord is an option. Back in the day, the electric ignition was an expensive option. Oil was an important ingredient, measured out in quarts and applied to gasoline. Without oil, the engine would melt and seize.
Today, with the ultra-quiet four stroke, Bluetooth-connected helmets and the ability to ride small avalanches or cause large ones, it’s like riding Darth Vadar’s snowmobile. It’s so cool. Don’t get me wrong, I still cherish those historic sleds, but what I miss the most is the price tag. An SS-rated sled could set you back 3500 big ones and roar past everyone in any trail challenge. But today, if you aren’t a sultan, you might as well mortgage the kids, even if you don’t have any. My online sled choice was nearly the price of a two-year-old Chrysler 300, if you get my drift.
So, I try to get a simple machine and the only one that seems to grab my attention online is a dinky little Yamaha or stripped-down basic sport model. Then, I think when my old two-stroke was fired up from underneath tons of snow drifts and shoddily kept outdoors all year. It started right away. After a few hours of digging and melting the rest of the snow and ice around the frozen chassis and innards, we tossed it onto fresh snow and my happy stepson takes off to go hunting.
Tough machines are hard to find these days. It’s a classic 377 Safari, boned down and all black. I like to call my sled the Black Mamba, but it sounds more like a black jaguar and runs like a black magic charm. It has little floater fins on the front, for those extra-deep, soft snow conditions and is light enough not to cause heart attacks in case you do get stuck. Nothing like a sled that starts right away.
Now, with Christmas nearing and the need to speed grabbing you in the ornaments, put on your helmet and ride with the wind tugging your head back on your one-litre machine! That’s what winter is for. It’s for whizzing by skiers and other healthy people at 130 klicks per hour, leaving everyone in your snow haze. And by the way everyone, Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! BBBrraaappp!