The Ski-Doo Spring Fever promotion deadline is tomorrow (April 16) and I’ve made my decision! Last winter I rode the Ski-Doo GSX SE 800R E-TEC pictured here, but next season I’m switching to a spring order only 2013 Renegade X E-TEC 600 H.O. on the new XS platform with rMotion suspension. I rode rMotion on a short track MX Z when it came out a year or so ago and was very impressed. Colleagues who have tried it on the Renegade say it works even better on the long track and I can’t wait to ride it all winter. I hear it even comes with snow!!!!

Intrepid Snowmobiler Preview of Crowsnest Pass Article: Glenn King and I rode four days this March in the mountains around Crowsnest Pass, Alberta. Great people, deep powder, incredible scenery and tons of fun. Watch for the full story on this exceptional Alberta mountain riding destination next fall in Snow Goer Canada Magazine – and go there today for some primo spring riding!

Where We Stayed: Stop Inn Motel and A Safe Haven B&B.

Where We Ate Breakfast: Chris’ Restaurant, Stone’s Throw Cafe, Safe Haven B&B.

Lunches To Go: Chippers, Side Trax Dinner, Stone’s Throw Cafe.

Where We Ate Dinner: River Ridge Family Restaurant, Bamboo Bistro, Vito’s Family Restaurant, Popiels Restaurant, The Rum Runner

Special Thanks: Travel Alberta, Community Futures Crowsnest, Mr. R’s for the Ski-Doo Summit sleds, the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass, the Crow Riders Snowmobile Club and our great guides: Joe Trotz, Doug Cox, Don Forsyth and Andrew Bokkel.

It may not look like it from the photo above, but Old Man Winter really screwed us big time this winter. Many traditional snowbelt regions were skunked, while others suffered less snow than normal. Still, if you searched for it and were prepared to go where and when it was, there was some great trail riding to be had. I found lots and the articles will appear next season in Snow Goer Canada magazine…

My season started between Xmas and New Year’s when I put on over 500 “break in kilometres” on my new Ski-Doo GSX SE 800R ETEC at Ontario’s Northern Corridor. The first week of January, I towed my Triton trailer to Quebec’s Saguenay region to ride almost 1,200 km in the Monts Valin area. Mid-January, I staged out of Northern Ontario’s Kirkland Lake into the Abitibi-Témiscaminque region of Quebec for another 800 klicks or so. I wrapped up the month with a three-day junket to Ontario’s Ottawa Valley, staging out of Renfrew for almost 600 km.

By the beginning of February, I was riding in Eastern Ontario for over 1,000 kilometres, followed by a 2-dayer out of Haliburton, Ontario for another 600. After racking up more distance on several days trips, including the 1st Ontario Snow-cial Ride, it was off the New Brunswick for a 2,100 kilometre tour that finished the first week in March.

Who was to know that the end of my trail riding was co close when I set out for Quebec again to do over 1,400 km in the Quebec, Saguenay and Charlevoix regions in mid-March? Now I’m off to finish up my winter at Crowsnest Pass, having put on a respectable, but low for me, 8,500 kilometres. Oh well, there’s always next winter…

Intrepid Snowmobiler Preview of Snow Goer Canada Article Appearing Next Fall: The leaders of organized snowmobiling in Canada enjoyed some primo trail riding in the Quebec, Charlevoix and Saguenay regions of La Bell Province last week. After a meeting of the Canadian Council of Snowmobile Organizations (CCSO), they set off on a four-day, 1,200-kilometre circle tour from The City of Quebec, around Lac-St-Jean and back that featured spectacular scenery and fresh snow every night.

Where We Stayed: Four Points by Sheraton, Quebec; Chateau Roberval, Roberval; Auberge Mille 31, Monts Valin; Fairmont Manoir Richelieu, La Malbaie.

I welcome the opportunity to take people snowmobiling, so I persuaded my cottage neighbours to accompany me for a weekend getaway. Although they owned sleds and trailers, my friends were “lapsed snowmobilers” — they used to go for day rides, but none recently. And they had never embarked on a snowmobile getaway.

The preparations took several weeks. Sending the DART Team overseas would have been faster. Unused sleds had to be serviced. Trailers had to be dug out, cleaned off and greased. Snowmobile gear reassembled from scattered locations. Doubters reassured. Reservations made. Tour planning completed. I had even made arrangements to board my two dogs en route.

Finally, we were ready to roll. We had assembled the sled and trailers the day before. By the time loading was accomplished, several participants were almost too worn out to go. But my promises of a masseuse at the resort lured them on.

Our great expedition would start with three hours of trailering to our five star resort. I kept my fingers crossed that the weather would cooperate. Usually this means its not actually raining or melting. For my group of novices, it also meant not being too cold, too overcast or too windy — a very tall order from Mother Nature!

At 8 AM sharp, I was ready. Everyone else was busy cramming the tow vehicles with enough personal paraphernalia for a year away from home. I wondered if the objective was to eliminate all seating room, so no one would have to go.

Our ragtag convoy finally departed at 8:45. I’ll admit that everyone seemed eager enough now that new adventures were imminent. In fact, the first one was right around the corner…

Five minutes out, a trailer tire blew. Better to get an old tire out of the way early, I thought. The guys started unloading sleds to install a spare; the women walked back to the cottage to make coffee. Meanwhile, I called ahead to the local Canadian Tire to reserve a spare spare.

An hour later, we were mobile again. After 45 minutes, we arrived at the boarding kennel. Our parade filled their parking lot, like a caravan of gypsies. I asked everyone to do an inspection of our equipment while I checked in the dogs. Ten minutes later, with assurances that we would be back to pick them up two days hence, I exited the kennel

The parking lot looked like a flea market. Sleds, trailers and tow vehicles were helter-skelter every which way. Several machines were unloaded. People were standing around. Passersby were gaping. Worse, jacks were out and tires were coming off, where two more had gone flat in my absence.

Someone had already been dispatched to buy more spares. I doubted there would be enough left for our entire trip at the current rate of destruction. Judging from the despondent faces around me, my companions didn’t have enough left either.

So with my tail tucked firmly between my legs, I marched back into the kennel and announced: “We’re back!” And thus ended what was undoubtedly the briefest boarding stay and shortest snowmobile trip on record — in fact, we were back at the cottage for lunch!

After years of snowmobiling, I can laugh at even the worst experiences. I recall snowmobiling near a popular ski resort in the mountains. Our guide worked for a local tour and sled rental company catering mainly to novices, primarily skiers looking for a new adventure. The tours followed a groomed logging road to a play area in a large, open meadow, with no trees or rocks, just oodles of deep powder.

It looked to me like a very safe place for beginners to play, yet each of the new rental sleds had suffered serious dings, bends and cracks. “With nothing for renters to hit but snow, how do your sleds get damaged?” I asked. Our guide replied that when each new group arrives at the meadow to play, they inevitably do two things: run into each other and get stuck, hitting the throttle while the sled digs itself a burial hole. Apparently, the guides spend all of their time either separating collided sleds or hitting kill switches before excavations start. Maybe leaving them stuck would reduce collisions!

Another favorite memory is simultaneously trying a prototype, pre-studded track and a new aftermarket suspension. We were far from home when my engine warning light came on. A mismatched combination of studs and suspension had holed my tunnel heat exchanger, allowing coolant to escape. We towed my sled back on a Krazy Karpet. Like dog paws slipping on a vinyl floor, the back end of my machine careened from side to side while I tried to steer a straight line on that groomed trail. Two hours of terror later, we found a country store. I figured buying extra antifreeze to top up my coolant might enable me to ride my sled back — except none was available!

Just as I had resigned myself to resumed towing, I noticed a large display of window washer fluid and bought 12 jugs, tying them to every sled. Three hours later, we made it home, after refilling the reservoir countless times and consuming all but a half jug of washer fluid. I didn’t even get a chance to clean my windshield!

When the Great Ice Storm hit the northeast, we awoke to check our sleds and slid halfway across the parking lot on glare ice. Crawling on hands and knees, we made it to the ice sculptures that used to be our sleds. At almost 1 1/2” thick, the ice had to be cracked with a hammer and brute force before prying it off. Even so, we had to lay over for a day because the going was too treacherous.

Two days later, we were trailering home, still blissfully ignorant about the true extent of the ice storm damage. Except for emergency vehicles and us, the roads were empty, with most exits were blocked with stranded vehicles or impassible snow banks.

The power was out, including for gas pumps. Consequently, countless cars were abandoned on the roadside, but we made it, thanks to a siphon hose, an empty jerry can and the fuel remaining in our snowmobiles. Later we found out that highways were actually closed as part of a disaster plan. It pays to have emergency gear on board, just in case! 

To date, I’ve posted these tour articles on my site (list starts with most recent posts), so enjoy!

New Brunswick Preview

Saskatchewan - 2 articles

Ontario (Haliburton)

Nunavut

Ontario (Renfrew)

Ontario (Ride Around Superior)

Labrador (East & West) - 2 articles 

Quebec (Monts Valins Snapshot)

Ontario (Sudbury area)

Manitoba (East, West and Winnipeg) - 3 articles

Ontario (RAP Tour) - 3 articles

Quebec (Gaspèsie) - 3 articles

British Columbia (Valemount) - 2 articles

Quebec (Northern ride)

Quebec (Outaouais & Laurentians)

New Brunswick (North & South) - 3 articles

Ontario (Cottage Country)

British Columbia (Kelowna)

Ontario (Moosonee)

Ontario (Northern Corridor)

Intrepid Snowmobiler Preview of Snow Goer Canada Article Appearing Next Fall: I snowmobiled 2,000+ kilometres on a recent tour of New Brunswick, circumnavigating the whole province, mostly in fresh powder. We had especially great rides in Zone 6 (Moncton to Miramichi) and Zone 8 (Bay of Fundy Highlands, southwest of Moncton) and Zone 3 (Acadian Peninsula).  If you’re looking for primo trail riding, you can do no better than New Brunswick!

Watch for my tour article in Snow Goer Canada Magazine next fall and use it to plan your own visit to snowy New Brunswick. Meanwhile, check out my previous New Brunswick snowmobiling articles or this great video!

A major snow storm hit on our first night in New Brunswick and this is what greeted us the next morning! If you’re looking for snow, this is the place - even in your underwear! 

Where We Stayed: Quality Inn, Edmundston; Quality Inn, Grand Falls; Riverside Resort, Fredericton; Howard Johnson’s, Miramichi; Hampton Inn, Moncton; Adair’s Wilderness Lodge, Sussex; Atlantic Host, Bathurst.