Donziweasel
01-22-2007, 06:20 PM
From time to time I write about our adventures and send them to my freinds back East who seem to enjoy reading about them. I decided to post my last two stories, which are a part 1 and 2 from this last weekend. It ought to make for some interesting reading. There are some pics posted at the bottom. Enjoy!
Well, I guess that some of you have called and
> e-mailed me wanting more sno mo updates. I had no
> idea our little adventures made for such entertaining
> reading. Due to popular demand, sno mo updates are
> back!
> Our story begins on a beautiful sunny Thursday of this
> week. None of us have really been able to tune our
> sleds, so Randy, Jeremy, Mark, Taco and myself decide
> to go 25 minutes south of town to a close area for
> some tuning. For a couple of hours we worked on our
> clutching, fuel injection, and suspension setups to
> get our sleds running on the "ragged edge". The
> riding was actually pretty good, but as I said, we
> were there mainly to tune. High performance sleds run
> great stock, but they have much more performance if
> you take the time to set them up correctly.
> The next day, we decided to play hookey from work and
> go riding again to see how our tuning had worked. We
> decided to go try and find this place we tried to find
> earlier in the year but couldn't. So, Randy, Jeremy
> and myself headed into the back country for who knows
> what. We met a couple of freinds on the way (one
> being Matt Combs who come of you may know) and they
> knew how to get to where we were trying to get to, the
> infamous "Man Bowl". After some hard riding (this was
> expert riding just to get there) of one track trails
> through tight trees, creek bottoms and hard climbs in
> deep powder, we busted into MAN BOWL. All five of us
> sat there quiet as mice in complete awe. Before us
> was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen.
> How do I even describe it? We were sitting in the
> middle of the most amazing bowl I have ever seen. It
> was a mile accross and made up of Cirques, Couliers,
> Cliff bands, steep faces, spires, chutes and gullies,
> everything a hard core sledneck loves! I have never
> really been intimidated by terrain before, but for the
> first time I was simply stunned and intimidated. It
> was HUGE! I can not tell you how insignificant I felt
> looking up at what I consider heaven. This "shock and
> awe" did not last long as I finished my last swig of
> Mountain Dew, put out my smoke, cranked up the M-1000,
> and headed for the steepest, nastiest face I could
> find. I shot up this face like a bullet, "walking" my
> sled side to side without the skis even touching the
> snow. Everyone ripped this bowl up for over 2 hours,
> with us not even riding 5% of it. Yells and scream of
> pure ecstacy filled the warm afternoon as we all
> ripped face after face, jumped cornices, rode gullies
> and side hilled. I also pulled some moves out of my
> ass I have never done before and felt like fricking
> Superman.
>
> When I bought my old sled, the M-7, a weird thing
> happened after I finally got it tuned. One day riding
> up the Greys, all of the sudden my sled felt like an
> extension of my body. I know this sounds kinda "Zen",
> but bear with me for a moment. This is an amazing
> feeling as you and the sled work as one. It feels
> like another body part. Instead of actually
> physically turning the sled, you simply think about it
> and the sled responds. This is what pure riding is
> all about. All of us who ride together have
> experienced this when you get your sled "perfect". I
> have not felt this on my new sled, the M-1000, because
> it is a different animal than the M-7. I finally felt
> this bond in Man Bowl as me and my sled became one and
> I could make it do anything I wanted. I know this
> sounds hokey and weird, but some of you may experience
> this yoursleves in February.
> After riding hard, we were getting tired and decided
> to head home. Everyone got out alright and it was the
> perfect day. We cut it a little short, because today
> we are all going in the Backcountry of the Greys with
> Shawn and the Alpine crowd.
> I knew I had to save something for today, because Boo
> Boo (my wife) has been driving me crazy all week. She wants to
> Sno Mo so bad, she is literally bouncing off the
> walls! I have never seen her so wound up. All week,
> sno mo this, sno mo that, and pissed that I got to go
> Thursday and Friday. I can't really blame her as it
> is out winter passion and we have not been in two
> weeks. She has a new sled that cost $10,000.00 and
> she hasn't been able to really work with that much. I
> know she has been working hard at Jackson Hole Travel
> Serivce and needs to let off some steam. Damn, she is
> a fiesty woman, just the way I like em! I feel sorry
> for anyone who wants to go head to head with her today
> as she is so wound up I am sure she is going to ride
> like a scalded cat and kick everyone's ass!
> I am sore as hell today. I can not tell you how
> physical hard riding is. I get more tired and sore
> from hard core snowmobiling than skiing. Snowmobilers
> can lose 10 pounds in weight during a hard day of
> riding. Upper body, lower, all of it gets sore.
> While the big trip will not be as physical as the
> expert stuff we do, you will all be sore and tired
> from riding and if you try some advanced stuff, you
> will really be sore the next day. Don't worry, it is
> kinda a good, satisfying sore and as soon as you fire
> up your sled the next day and get riding, it all seems
> to melt away.
> Well, if you enjoy reading about our little
> adventures, let me know and I will fire a few more out
> before the big trip. Hope to hear from you soon.
> JP
PART 2- It gets better!
When we last left our hero, me, I was basking in the
glow of two days of fine riding and dealing with a
very feisty and angry Boo Boo. Saturday morning we
headed down to Alpine for some riding with the Alpine
boys. The day was pretty uneventful. It was snowing
hard and we had a mixed group of novice and expert
riders with a total of about 10 riders. We
snowmobiled in some great areas, but visibility sucked
and some of the sleds weren’t running very well. It
was a short day, and fun, but not great by any means
after my two previous days. Boo Boo had not satisfied
here itch and was still a little wound up, but Peter,
one of Shawn’s friends gave me his phone number and
told me to call him when I got home and said he would
take us “real snowmobiling” on Sunday. I thought to
myself, I have done plenty of “real snowmobiling” in
the last 13 years. I was WRONG!
Sunday morning is where things get really interesting.
They day was perfect without a cloud in the sky, 8
inches of fresh powder in the mountains and nice and
warm. We agreed to meet Peter and his friend Andy at
Pritchard (Dog Creek). We unloaded the sleds and the
4 of us headed into the back country of the Snake
River Range. I could tell from the way they were
riding, that Peter and Andy were better than me and
Boo Boo. They were true “experts”. Peter had warned
me that the first time he went where we were going,
that it scared the s**t out of him. On the way in, I
was f**cking TERRIFIED! We were riding on ridges 4 ft
across with cliff bands and 1000 ft drop offs on both
sides. If you lost it up here, there was no use
recovering your sled as it would have been in many
little pieces of plastic, aluminum, and steel. I
thought to myself, this is f***ing crazy. I was
worried about Boo Boo because, although she has her
good days, she can also be a little “off” sometimes
and I knew if I was scared, then she must be twice as
scared. You had to make moves where you only had one
chance to get it right or you totaled your sled, or
even worse, injured or killed yourself. Through will
power, skill, or just luck, we all made the 13 mile
ride in.
Once in, we wound up is the most amazing bowls I have
ever seen. It has much more “hard core” than "Man
Bowl" on Friday. We finally got a steep face where we
could all try and high mark (ride higher up leaving
your track mark as the highest on hill) each other.
Andy was on a modified Summit from last year that was
really ripping. He put the first mark on the hill and
I looked at it and said to myself “I can beat that”.
I fired up the M-1000 and unleashed the Beast on the
hill. My mark was a solid 60 ft above Andy’s. Next
was Peter, and although his sled did not have the
right track on it, he managed to match Andy’s mark.
Finally, I could see Boo Boo quivering on her sled
ready for her run. She took off on “Mew Mew”, her
M-8, and beat both Andy and Peter. The look on there
faces was priceless. She still could not touch mine,
but hers was very impressive.
I want to say something here about our snowmobiles.
Andy rode my M-1000 on the same hill as above and
Peter rode it the day before. Both pretty much agreed
that the M-1000 is the finest climbing and boondocking
sled ever made. I know some of the Ski Doo guys will
disagree, but I feel it earned the Sno West Sled of
the Year title and was simply not given it. The low
end power is amazing and the damn thing will not give
up. It is light, nimble (although a little nose
heavy) and simply a well thought out and put together
sled. All things being equal, I do not think there is
another sled that can out climb it, period! I have
taken on the best this year and anyone who tries to
run with it is immediately humbled. The M-8 and XRS
are great machines, Polaris and Yamaha are not even in
the same class, but the M-1000 is king right now. I
would like to say I managed to make it in on skill
yesterday, but I have to say the power of the M-1000
is really what saved my ass many times. Who knows
what next year will bring, but for now, it is good to
be the King!
After busting up and marking the hill a bit, we
climbed farther up the bowl and Andy immediately
climbed up a really nasty face with an old avalanche
on the right side. I decided to try it although I
could tell Boo Boo thought I was stupid for even
thinking about it with an old avalanche right there.
I made it and as I crested the top I was faced with an
8ft cornice. I have never really jumped a cornice
(busted through a few climbing up, though) and
although I knew the technique and had witnessed it
many times, I had never tried it. I had no choice as
it was the only way out, so I inched up within two
feet of it, grabbed my nuts, and ripped over the edge.
I landed perfect in deep powder and thought to
myself, “that was pretty cool; I am going to have to
try that again sometime”.
Next, we climbed to the rim and I almost pissed in my
bibs. Below us was Indian Creek which runs into Idaho
and Palisades Reservoir (see pics). If I thought “Man
Bowl” was big on Friday, this was three times bigger
and just plain vast. Andy and Peter jumped off a
cornice and committed to going in the area. Boo Boo
and I sat up there for 5 minutes debating whether or
not to commit, with both of us not feeling real good
about it. I decided to go ahead and dropped off into
Indian Creek. Boo Boo reluctantly followed. Once we
got in, it was like a kid in a candy store. We ripped
some faces and bowls for a while till tired. Now I
was getting nervous as I was tired and had to somehow
get home on the nastiest ride I have ever done getting
into here.
We had to do a 1000 ft off-camber climb back up to the
rim which scared the crap out of me. We all made it
and stopped on the rim one last time to look at Indian
Creek. We were above tree line at 10,000ft + and it
was truly amazing. Then the ride out. While we all
made it, barely, we did make it out. I almost lost it
at one point and luckily Andy was there to grab my ski
and hold my sled. If he hadn’t, I would be buying a
new sled today.
Once in the truck heading home, I asked Boo Boo about
her day and she said it was the scariest thing she had
ever done. When we were loading at the truck, Andy
and Peter both told me that since they have been
riding back there, they have only seen one other woman
and thought Boo Boo was simply amazing. Boo Boo and I
talked the whole way home about it and decided that
although terrifying, we couldn’t wait to go back!
This is not the type of ride you do every weekend, but
save to do two or three times a winter as it is
special.
I would like to say one more thing about Sunday. Men
and women ride differently at first when on
snowmobiles. Hard core snowmobiling is a weight shift
and throttle control sport. You simply finesse the
sled. When guys first start riding, they man handle
the sled trying to throw it around and over power it.
Women simply do not have the weight and strength to do
this, so they learn the right way to ride with subtle
weight shifts and throttle control as they have no
choice. Boo Boo has simply become one of the best
riders, male or female, I have ever seen. She is
truly amazing and I can honestly say she out rode me
Sunday for the first time ever. There were two moves
she made that I did not and needed help on. I got
stuck twice and she didn’t get stuck once. We are not
in competition by any means and I can honestly say I
have never been so proud of my wife as she showed what
she really has and even humbled some of the best back
country riders I have ever seen, especially when she
high marked both Peter and Andy. I had a feeling the
day would come when she would out ride me and wondered
how I would take it. Now I know. You simply sit back
and enjoy the show! Damn, I love that feisty woman!
JP
PS, In the background of two of the pics, you can see two sets of tracks, they are from our group.
Well, I guess that some of you have called and
> e-mailed me wanting more sno mo updates. I had no
> idea our little adventures made for such entertaining
> reading. Due to popular demand, sno mo updates are
> back!
> Our story begins on a beautiful sunny Thursday of this
> week. None of us have really been able to tune our
> sleds, so Randy, Jeremy, Mark, Taco and myself decide
> to go 25 minutes south of town to a close area for
> some tuning. For a couple of hours we worked on our
> clutching, fuel injection, and suspension setups to
> get our sleds running on the "ragged edge". The
> riding was actually pretty good, but as I said, we
> were there mainly to tune. High performance sleds run
> great stock, but they have much more performance if
> you take the time to set them up correctly.
> The next day, we decided to play hookey from work and
> go riding again to see how our tuning had worked. We
> decided to go try and find this place we tried to find
> earlier in the year but couldn't. So, Randy, Jeremy
> and myself headed into the back country for who knows
> what. We met a couple of freinds on the way (one
> being Matt Combs who come of you may know) and they
> knew how to get to where we were trying to get to, the
> infamous "Man Bowl". After some hard riding (this was
> expert riding just to get there) of one track trails
> through tight trees, creek bottoms and hard climbs in
> deep powder, we busted into MAN BOWL. All five of us
> sat there quiet as mice in complete awe. Before us
> was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen.
> How do I even describe it? We were sitting in the
> middle of the most amazing bowl I have ever seen. It
> was a mile accross and made up of Cirques, Couliers,
> Cliff bands, steep faces, spires, chutes and gullies,
> everything a hard core sledneck loves! I have never
> really been intimidated by terrain before, but for the
> first time I was simply stunned and intimidated. It
> was HUGE! I can not tell you how insignificant I felt
> looking up at what I consider heaven. This "shock and
> awe" did not last long as I finished my last swig of
> Mountain Dew, put out my smoke, cranked up the M-1000,
> and headed for the steepest, nastiest face I could
> find. I shot up this face like a bullet, "walking" my
> sled side to side without the skis even touching the
> snow. Everyone ripped this bowl up for over 2 hours,
> with us not even riding 5% of it. Yells and scream of
> pure ecstacy filled the warm afternoon as we all
> ripped face after face, jumped cornices, rode gullies
> and side hilled. I also pulled some moves out of my
> ass I have never done before and felt like fricking
> Superman.
>
> When I bought my old sled, the M-7, a weird thing
> happened after I finally got it tuned. One day riding
> up the Greys, all of the sudden my sled felt like an
> extension of my body. I know this sounds kinda "Zen",
> but bear with me for a moment. This is an amazing
> feeling as you and the sled work as one. It feels
> like another body part. Instead of actually
> physically turning the sled, you simply think about it
> and the sled responds. This is what pure riding is
> all about. All of us who ride together have
> experienced this when you get your sled "perfect". I
> have not felt this on my new sled, the M-1000, because
> it is a different animal than the M-7. I finally felt
> this bond in Man Bowl as me and my sled became one and
> I could make it do anything I wanted. I know this
> sounds hokey and weird, but some of you may experience
> this yoursleves in February.
> After riding hard, we were getting tired and decided
> to head home. Everyone got out alright and it was the
> perfect day. We cut it a little short, because today
> we are all going in the Backcountry of the Greys with
> Shawn and the Alpine crowd.
> I knew I had to save something for today, because Boo
> Boo (my wife) has been driving me crazy all week. She wants to
> Sno Mo so bad, she is literally bouncing off the
> walls! I have never seen her so wound up. All week,
> sno mo this, sno mo that, and pissed that I got to go
> Thursday and Friday. I can't really blame her as it
> is out winter passion and we have not been in two
> weeks. She has a new sled that cost $10,000.00 and
> she hasn't been able to really work with that much. I
> know she has been working hard at Jackson Hole Travel
> Serivce and needs to let off some steam. Damn, she is
> a fiesty woman, just the way I like em! I feel sorry
> for anyone who wants to go head to head with her today
> as she is so wound up I am sure she is going to ride
> like a scalded cat and kick everyone's ass!
> I am sore as hell today. I can not tell you how
> physical hard riding is. I get more tired and sore
> from hard core snowmobiling than skiing. Snowmobilers
> can lose 10 pounds in weight during a hard day of
> riding. Upper body, lower, all of it gets sore.
> While the big trip will not be as physical as the
> expert stuff we do, you will all be sore and tired
> from riding and if you try some advanced stuff, you
> will really be sore the next day. Don't worry, it is
> kinda a good, satisfying sore and as soon as you fire
> up your sled the next day and get riding, it all seems
> to melt away.
> Well, if you enjoy reading about our little
> adventures, let me know and I will fire a few more out
> before the big trip. Hope to hear from you soon.
> JP
PART 2- It gets better!
When we last left our hero, me, I was basking in the
glow of two days of fine riding and dealing with a
very feisty and angry Boo Boo. Saturday morning we
headed down to Alpine for some riding with the Alpine
boys. The day was pretty uneventful. It was snowing
hard and we had a mixed group of novice and expert
riders with a total of about 10 riders. We
snowmobiled in some great areas, but visibility sucked
and some of the sleds weren’t running very well. It
was a short day, and fun, but not great by any means
after my two previous days. Boo Boo had not satisfied
here itch and was still a little wound up, but Peter,
one of Shawn’s friends gave me his phone number and
told me to call him when I got home and said he would
take us “real snowmobiling” on Sunday. I thought to
myself, I have done plenty of “real snowmobiling” in
the last 13 years. I was WRONG!
Sunday morning is where things get really interesting.
They day was perfect without a cloud in the sky, 8
inches of fresh powder in the mountains and nice and
warm. We agreed to meet Peter and his friend Andy at
Pritchard (Dog Creek). We unloaded the sleds and the
4 of us headed into the back country of the Snake
River Range. I could tell from the way they were
riding, that Peter and Andy were better than me and
Boo Boo. They were true “experts”. Peter had warned
me that the first time he went where we were going,
that it scared the s**t out of him. On the way in, I
was f**cking TERRIFIED! We were riding on ridges 4 ft
across with cliff bands and 1000 ft drop offs on both
sides. If you lost it up here, there was no use
recovering your sled as it would have been in many
little pieces of plastic, aluminum, and steel. I
thought to myself, this is f***ing crazy. I was
worried about Boo Boo because, although she has her
good days, she can also be a little “off” sometimes
and I knew if I was scared, then she must be twice as
scared. You had to make moves where you only had one
chance to get it right or you totaled your sled, or
even worse, injured or killed yourself. Through will
power, skill, or just luck, we all made the 13 mile
ride in.
Once in, we wound up is the most amazing bowls I have
ever seen. It has much more “hard core” than "Man
Bowl" on Friday. We finally got a steep face where we
could all try and high mark (ride higher up leaving
your track mark as the highest on hill) each other.
Andy was on a modified Summit from last year that was
really ripping. He put the first mark on the hill and
I looked at it and said to myself “I can beat that”.
I fired up the M-1000 and unleashed the Beast on the
hill. My mark was a solid 60 ft above Andy’s. Next
was Peter, and although his sled did not have the
right track on it, he managed to match Andy’s mark.
Finally, I could see Boo Boo quivering on her sled
ready for her run. She took off on “Mew Mew”, her
M-8, and beat both Andy and Peter. The look on there
faces was priceless. She still could not touch mine,
but hers was very impressive.
I want to say something here about our snowmobiles.
Andy rode my M-1000 on the same hill as above and
Peter rode it the day before. Both pretty much agreed
that the M-1000 is the finest climbing and boondocking
sled ever made. I know some of the Ski Doo guys will
disagree, but I feel it earned the Sno West Sled of
the Year title and was simply not given it. The low
end power is amazing and the damn thing will not give
up. It is light, nimble (although a little nose
heavy) and simply a well thought out and put together
sled. All things being equal, I do not think there is
another sled that can out climb it, period! I have
taken on the best this year and anyone who tries to
run with it is immediately humbled. The M-8 and XRS
are great machines, Polaris and Yamaha are not even in
the same class, but the M-1000 is king right now. I
would like to say I managed to make it in on skill
yesterday, but I have to say the power of the M-1000
is really what saved my ass many times. Who knows
what next year will bring, but for now, it is good to
be the King!
After busting up and marking the hill a bit, we
climbed farther up the bowl and Andy immediately
climbed up a really nasty face with an old avalanche
on the right side. I decided to try it although I
could tell Boo Boo thought I was stupid for even
thinking about it with an old avalanche right there.
I made it and as I crested the top I was faced with an
8ft cornice. I have never really jumped a cornice
(busted through a few climbing up, though) and
although I knew the technique and had witnessed it
many times, I had never tried it. I had no choice as
it was the only way out, so I inched up within two
feet of it, grabbed my nuts, and ripped over the edge.
I landed perfect in deep powder and thought to
myself, “that was pretty cool; I am going to have to
try that again sometime”.
Next, we climbed to the rim and I almost pissed in my
bibs. Below us was Indian Creek which runs into Idaho
and Palisades Reservoir (see pics). If I thought “Man
Bowl” was big on Friday, this was three times bigger
and just plain vast. Andy and Peter jumped off a
cornice and committed to going in the area. Boo Boo
and I sat up there for 5 minutes debating whether or
not to commit, with both of us not feeling real good
about it. I decided to go ahead and dropped off into
Indian Creek. Boo Boo reluctantly followed. Once we
got in, it was like a kid in a candy store. We ripped
some faces and bowls for a while till tired. Now I
was getting nervous as I was tired and had to somehow
get home on the nastiest ride I have ever done getting
into here.
We had to do a 1000 ft off-camber climb back up to the
rim which scared the crap out of me. We all made it
and stopped on the rim one last time to look at Indian
Creek. We were above tree line at 10,000ft + and it
was truly amazing. Then the ride out. While we all
made it, barely, we did make it out. I almost lost it
at one point and luckily Andy was there to grab my ski
and hold my sled. If he hadn’t, I would be buying a
new sled today.
Once in the truck heading home, I asked Boo Boo about
her day and she said it was the scariest thing she had
ever done. When we were loading at the truck, Andy
and Peter both told me that since they have been
riding back there, they have only seen one other woman
and thought Boo Boo was simply amazing. Boo Boo and I
talked the whole way home about it and decided that
although terrifying, we couldn’t wait to go back!
This is not the type of ride you do every weekend, but
save to do two or three times a winter as it is
special.
I would like to say one more thing about Sunday. Men
and women ride differently at first when on
snowmobiles. Hard core snowmobiling is a weight shift
and throttle control sport. You simply finesse the
sled. When guys first start riding, they man handle
the sled trying to throw it around and over power it.
Women simply do not have the weight and strength to do
this, so they learn the right way to ride with subtle
weight shifts and throttle control as they have no
choice. Boo Boo has simply become one of the best
riders, male or female, I have ever seen. She is
truly amazing and I can honestly say she out rode me
Sunday for the first time ever. There were two moves
she made that I did not and needed help on. I got
stuck twice and she didn’t get stuck once. We are not
in competition by any means and I can honestly say I
have never been so proud of my wife as she showed what
she really has and even humbled some of the best back
country riders I have ever seen, especially when she
high marked both Peter and Andy. I had a feeling the
day would come when she would out ride me and wondered
how I would take it. Now I know. You simply sit back
and enjoy the show! Damn, I love that feisty woman!
JP
PS, In the background of two of the pics, you can see two sets of tracks, they are from our group.