WINTER 2023. THE HERO RIDES drifts

iar with and having to make a redirect around a lake it makes it a lot easier rolling down back roads. In normal years and later in the season it wasn’t necessary to go around the few lakes that we chose to do. It’s a seamless ride from start to finish around the park, the various clubs do a great job keeping this iconic ride at the top of many snowmobiler’s bucket list and with the help of local communities all the amenities are there for the entire loop.

HERO RIDE #2

The winter of 2023 was another great one. We were fortunate to cover everywhere between New Brunswick and Idaho riding this year. Early in the season I was a little worried as we seemed to be chasing both snow and ice, luckily towards the middle of winter the snow arrived, lakes tightened up and “Hero Rides” were getting checked off the to-do list. Every year there are a few rides that I go on that I refer to as a “Hero Ride”. These are multi-day adventures that are above your “usuals”. Sometimes they involve a plane, sometimes they’re a bit of a voyage in the pick-up and sometimes if you are lucky enough, they can be right in your backyard. This year we hit the jackpot and were able to be on three of them. All unique in their own way.

HERO RIDE #1

This year was right out of my backyard in Ontario. We rode for three days around Algonquin Park. This is an iconic ride, and many have been doing this for well over two decades. We scored with a good snowfall, but some lakes had us redirecting around the south side of the park as we were forced to stay off. With technology like GPS’s coming standard on many sleds now, it certainly made it easier to navigate around these usually safe and staked lakes. After spending the better part of two seasons with screens like Polaris’s 7S, BRP’s 10.25” Colour Touchscreen, it’s a no-brainer to install an aftermarket Garmin GPS if your brand comes without a factory option. Once you travel with a GPS on your dash you won’t go back. It takes all the guess work out of the equation especially in areas that you are not too famil-

Twelve from OSM and STV gravitate every year to West Yellowstone, Montana. The group is split with some having to fly in and others point and shooting their trucks there. This is by far one of the most important rides for us as we call West home for a week. Every year the snowmobile manufacturers bring their next year’s models to West Yellowstone for an event called Snow Shoot. Designed specifically for media to ride and evaluate, shoot video and photographs of their following year snowmobile models. Our group looks forward to this annual event as West Yellowstone offers every type of terrain imaginable making it easy to ride all the various snowmobiles in their designed application. We were able to ride to elevations as high up as 10,000+ feet, travel across a few lakes, trails were plentiful giving us many loops the bowls were endless while diving off the trails through the trees to explore the back country. If you haven’t ridden in West Yellowstone, you will be shocked at how it has a very unique offering of every type of riding imaginable. The town itself is fantastic and is filled with restaurants, hotels, and things to do after riding.

HERO RIDE #3

Of course, one of my last “Hero Rides” this year was in New Brunswick. It was a late season ride that if you didn’t know New Brunswick. Go ahead, imagine how much snow would be there at the end of the season. yes, you’re right. While we were there over a foot fell in some areas. Each year I always try to bring at least one person that has never been. This year, I brought eight. Driving in the ground was brown and a little green, I was terrified that I made a mistake as many were flying in. Just like stepping off the edge of the world once we dropped into the province it turned white very quickly. Snow went from being measured in inches to mailboxes needing to be dug out. Our ride started in Edmundston and we made our way east to Bathurst with over nights along the way. This is a high kilometer voyage however, with the late season quality and easy to navigate signed trails makes it an easy ride. The eight riders all left saying the same thing… “I can’t believe that just happened.” It’s something that you must experience to believe. We’re already planning our Hero list for 2024 until next year, sit back relax and enjoy the issue and make sure you have a GPS on board next year.

- Rich

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CSRA 2023 Races Wrapped Up

The Canadian Snowcross Racing Association (CSRA) final rounds of the 2023 season took place at Horseshoe Resort in Barrie, ON.

The Ultimax Snowcross Finals presented by St.Onge Recreation, Truenorth Motorsports & Tom Smith Chevrolet was an action packed weekend of racing included kids racing, vintage classes, UTV Racing, kids annual Easter Egg hunt and so much more!

The Friday racing featured all racing classes from 120s to Pro Open! The Sport 600 class saw #632 Eric Bouskill (Ski-Doo) from Bracebridge, ON., in 1st. The Pro Lite class was dominated by #111 Nathan Mailloux (FXR Racing, Ski-Doo), Ste-Sophie, QC., who took the win. The Pro Class, #335 Taylor McCoy (Pro Street, Ski-Doo) from Bracebridge, ON., took the top spot.

In the Pro-Lite class #111 Nathan Mailloux took the checkered flag again on Saturday, making him the 2023 Pro-Lite Season Champion.

In the Pro/Am Women’s class it was #501 Dakota Karkoulas (SkiDoo, Bailey Motorsports) from Oakwood, ON., in the lead taking the champions podium. Followed by #144 Shyann Gosselin (Ski-Doo) from Kapuskasing, ON., in 2nd and #574 Hailey Belanger (Bailey Motorsports, Ski-Doo) from Bracebridge, ON., took home 3rd.

Sundays Pro Final saw #459 Jake Weir (Royal Distributing, FXR, Polaris) from Bracebridge, ON., dominating the weekends heats and finals. #9 of Cameron Wachtler (Dayco, Arctic Cat) from Torrance, ON., placed 2nd. #335 Taylor McCoy (Pro Street, Ski-Doo) from Bracebridge, ON., was in 3rd. This victory would clinch #459 Jake Weir’s 2023 season Pro Championship title.