OSM 36.2

TAKE 5: VILLAINS

www.osmmag.com @onsnowmagazine

BEST BIG BUMP TRAIL SLEDS OF 2022

BOOST VS BOOST

TURBO 2-STROKE SHOWDOWN

CROSSING LAKE ONTARIO

THE HENRY BIEDA STORY

AVALANCHE 101 VOL 36 • NO 2 • $ 5.95

GEARBOX DISPLAY UNTIL DEC 31, 2021

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THE HERO Even the village hero can sometimes use a little help from a friend.

Rider - Tyler Swarm Sled - 2022 Polaris 850 Switchback Assault Location - Idaho/Montana border

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WALKING TALL Nobody can walk on snow like this guy.

Rider - Chris Burdant Sled - Polaris 850 RMK “Burandt Built” Location - Colorado Backcountry

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THE ELITE Only the best would even dream of landing a whip of this caliber.

Rider - Caleb Kesterke Sled - 2022 Polaris 850 Boost Pro RMK 165 Location - Wyoming

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BODY FIRST Landings aren’t always perfect.

Rider - T. Swarm Sled - 2022 Ski-Doo 850 Backcounty X-RS Location - Two Top Mountain, Idaho

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FEATURES

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DITCH BANGERS BEST BIG BUMP TRAIL SLEDS OF 2022

BOOST VS BOOST TURBO 2-STROKE SHOWDOWN

ON SNOW MAGAZINE • VOL 36 • ISSUE 2

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THE CROSSING OF LAKE ONTARIO THE HENRY BIEDA STORY

AVALANCHE 101

RIDING IN THE MOUNTAINS? MAKE GOOD DECISIONS!

98 GEARBOX DEPARTMENTS

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DRIFTS INDUSTRY NEWS SUDOKU WORD SEARCH LEVI LAVALLEE TAKE 5 HONEY OF THE MONTH FAB 4 LAWN ORNAMENTS SNAP DECISION INDUSTRY 411 GEAR BOX NBFSC REPORT BREAST CANCER SNOW RUN OSM LISTINGS

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VOLUME 36 NUMBER 2

FOR ADVERTISING INQUIRIES CONTACT 1-888-661-7469 President & Publisher: Richard Kehoe Copy Editor: Rick Bloye Art Director: Darryl Aspin

Trail Users

Production Manager: Tendra Crossman

Using a right-of-way? For everyone’s safety:

Director of Sales & Marketing: Andrew McEwan

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Respect landowners No camping or fires Keep to edges of right-of-way Report deep ruts, damaged signs or unusual activity Contact us at: 1-855-458-6715 public_awareness@tcenergy.com

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Coordinator: Jake Hudson Administrative Assistant: Sarah Day Photographers: Todd Williams, Rob Alford, Emily Wicklund, Taylor Batch, James Wicken, Rob Alford, Richard Kehoe, Tendra Crossman, Maria Sandberg, Shelby Mahon, Chris Burandt, Brian Caswell, Levi LaVallee, Kristen LaVallee, Museum of Ingenuity J. Armand Bombardier Archives, Mike Duffy, Andrew McEwan, Brent Geerlings Contributing Writers: Mark Boncher, Jeff Steenbakkers, Jason Kawczynski, Levi LaVallee, Chris Burandt, Tyler Swarm, Darren Desautels, Maria Sandberg, Rob Alford, Jordan Hammack, Richard Kehoe, Mike Duffy, Andrew McEwan, Brent Geerlings, Jake Hudson Subscriptions: 1-888-661-7469 or info@osmmag.com OSM is published six times a year by OSM Publishing Ltd. Office address and undelivered copies and change of address notice is: 27083 Kennedy Road, Willow Beach, ON L0E 1S0, Canada. Telephone (905) 722-6766. Printed in Canada by: Trade Secrets • Copyright 2021 OSM Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts. Subscription rates for magazine (includes Trail Map Atlas) $19.00 per year, $29.00 for 2 years. $37.00 for 3 years.

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POLARIS.COM

THE TRAIL PERFORMANCE STANDARD

CORNERS, BUMPS, AND BEING OUT FRONT. YEP, THAT’S WHAT MAKES THIS FUN. If your perfect day is part casual trail ride and part outdoor adventure all held together with a healthy dose of cross country race adrenaline... the INDY family of sleds is built for you and there’s an INDY for however you ride. The race-proven INDY XCR, the INDY VR1 built with all sorts of tech and delivering trail dominating performance, INDY XC models that lead in versatility and INDY Adventure models that can truly live up to their name.

See the new 2022 Matryx INDYs at your local Dealer or skimmin’ whoops in your favorite ditch.

©2021 Polaris Industries Inc. Photographed using highly skilled professional operators under controlled conditions. Polaris recommends that all riders take a training course. Do not attempt maneuvers beyond your capability. Always wear a helmet and other safety apparel. Never drink and ride.

drifts

Richard Kehoe

THE BEST TIME OF THE YEAR

I

t’s been a long time coming but the snow has snuck into many places across the North American Snowbelt. You bet we feel this is the best time of year… The first snowfall feels to us what combining the celebration of both Christmas and New Year’s Day, all into one for a small child. And we get this feeling to do what we enjoy most for almost four months.

Hopefully leading up to the season you have been able to make your way to few snowmobile events. This year we’ve been to everything that we can from shows, to races to swaps. This fall we were able to reconnect with so many friends and colleagues exhibiting at Haydays. It was great to be back socializing and seeing so many snowmobilers that we haven’t been able to for what seems like forever.

At these events the OSM and Snowmobiler TV crew spent too much time deep in the swap in search for the perfect deal.

I can’t say they’re all impulse buys, but filling our garages with some good stuff and some less calculated purchases that then make us say, “why did we buy that?” I’m sure you know the type of stuff.

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ON SNOW MAGAZINE • VOL 36 • ISSUE 2

Plus, after a year of not being able to visit such a gathering, our office had a few important items on an actual shopping list that we needed to secure; like some extra storage for a few of sleds as well as some needed “push throughs” to keep the SRX in a straighter line. Our office Gadget Guy, A.K.A. McEwan, even jumped into the swap purchasing ring and made us all laugh with his must have purchase at Haydays. See his ride didn’t come with an onboard factory installed GPS like so many do these days, so he elected to purchase an aftermarket piece. One that would rival anything new wave. I’m not sure if I agree with the bigger is better philosophy here or with his installation idea. Even today I have a feeling that the installation will be a late-night project with zip ties, bondo and some Bush Light R and D’ing.

One thing that we all agreed on, is that before our first rides gear up, and the season gets to far in, we will make sure to try and check out one of the races at one of the various race circuits that we missed last year. We are marking the Cor Powersports, CSRA and ISOC season openers as must attend events this year. Not just to support both the racers and circuits, but it’s really been far too long since many of these venues had fans. With the land border now opened in North America, it makes it all the easier to attend races no matter what side of the border they’re on.

Until the next time, I hope the snow piles up where you are and you get out to ride and support a snowmobile event in your travels. And remember to shop for Christmas early this year and nothing says I love you quite like a snowmobile belt nicely wrapped under the tree.

Rich

Check out our custom design FLASH gallery

news

SNOWMOBILE HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCES 2021 INDUCTEES

This year’s class includes; John Faeo, Dale Loritz, Craig Marchbank and Brian Sturgeon - all of which were snowmobile racers. The honorees will be inducted on the weekend of February 18-19, 2022 in St. Germain coinciding with the 38th Annual Ride With The Champs.

John Faeo (Racer) John Faeo is synonymous with the famed 2,000-mile Iron Dog through the Alaska’s rugged and remote wilderness, winning this grueling multi-day event seven times between 1984 and 1996. In addition to his record-tying number of victories, the Wasilla, AK, legend also finished the Iron Dog race 23 consecutive times, with 13 podium finishes. Fast, smart and consistent beyond measure, Faeo is also a 9-time Alaska Motor Musher XC race champion; a 6-time winner of the Talkeetna-to-Anchorage XC, and an 11-time Alaska Calcutta 120 XC Champ. He raced on Polaris snowmobiles for the majority of his career.

Dale Loritz (Racer) One of the most enduring oval racers of his generation, Dale Loritz of Green Bay, WI, scored innumerable wins—in a range of classes—at all levels of the sport. He qualified for the Eagle River World Championships an astounding 18 times and won the pinnacle event in 1994 and 1995. Racing for Ski-Doo throughout his career, Loritz notched 14 USSA high-point class championships, including seven Formula 1 titles. He was the USSA and Snow Week magazine Driver of the year in 1989, as well as USSA Oval Racer of the Year (2003) and a 2-time Sportsman of the Year.

Craig Marchbank (Racer) Motivated, focused and unwavering in his pursuit of success, Craig Marchbank of New Lennox, IL, set benchmarks and records in snowmobile drag racing that may never be exceeded. In a 30-year career that began in 1982, Marchbank claimed more than 2,200 class final victories en route to 26 High Point Championships in Pro Stock and 24 High Point Championships in Improved Stock, all aboard Ski-Doo snowmobiles. He was the Minnesota Cup Champion a record nine times; a 5-time Michigan Cup Champion; and 3-time Wisconsin Cup Champion. He was the 2005 Snow Week magazine Racer of the Year, as well as the ISR Woody’s Traction Racer of the Year.

Brian Sturgeon (Racer) Team Arctic’s Brian Sturgeon of Thief River Falls, MN, achieved remarkable success in snowmobile oval and terrain competitions.

In ovals, Sturgeon won 12 Eagle River World Championship class titles, including the Formula III win in 1995. He also earned nine USSA High Point Championships, including eight in Stock classes and one in Formula III. In ice lemans he won two MRP Formula III highpoint championship and World Series titles, and he scored two snocross Pro Class wins at the Duluth National. He was awarded Racer of the Year honors by Snow Week magazine, SnoWest magazine, and MIRA. After retiring from racing, Sturgeon became the Arctic Cat Race Manager in 1999.

CFMOTO ENTERS GENERATOR MARKET Two new lightweight gas-powered generators are now available from CFMOTO. The smaller inverter generator CFMOTO LH 271 is a 79cc air cooled engine with noise level of 52 to 59 dba with a weight of only 44 pounds, it’s capable of producing 2.1 to 3KW. The larger Inverter generator by CFMOTO, the LH 451-E is a 212cc air cooled engine with an output of 3.7 to 4.5KW, with a noise level of 55 to 60 dba with a total weight of 83 pounds. Both generators feature electric/ remote starter and a 5-year warranty. MSRP for the LX 271 is $1,199.99 CDN while the larger more capable LH 451-E MSRP is $1,999.99 CDN.

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news

TAIGA AIMS FOR 1100 CHARGE POINTS BY 2025

Taiga recently announced that they will be rolling out a network of both on-water and on-land charging stations. These chargers will connect trail routes and circuits and will also appear at marinas across both Canada and the United States. Their goal is to electrify 75,000 off-road kilometers with roughly 1100 charge points by 2025. Taiga’s charge points will be, DC fast chargers with up to 75kW and will feature an easy charging system that will allow you to “park and plug-in”. Taiga made a point to make sure that these charge points will be designed for extreme heat and below freezing climates.

YAMAHA FINANCIAL SERVICES ANNOUNCES WINNER

Priscilla from Kenora, Ontario is this year’s winner of “Win Your Yamaha 5 for 5” contest.

Earlier this year Priscilla purchased a 2021 Viking EPS from K-Sports Marine in Kenora.

She was invited by the dealer to visit the dealership after the purchase as a winner of a special gift card. Expecting only a gift card, Priscilla did not know that Yamaha Financial Services would be there to surprise her that the loan for her 2021 Viking EPS would be paid in full by Yamaha Financial Services, she also won a special prize pack to make her riding season even better.

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CALL 911 - 57 MOTORCYCLES STOLEN FROM CANADIAN DISTRIBUTOR

The Canadian distributor of KTM, Husqvarna and Gas Gas motorycles, had 57 bikes stolen from their warehouse in Laval, Quebec. The thieves made off with a mixture from all three manufacturers of still crated 2021 and ‘22 models. The crated bikes were loaded into three containers and hauled out by three trucks.

All 57 units have been registered as stolen vehicles and have a total value in the $500,000 neighborhood. Our speculation is that the containers were placed on ships just as fast as they were put on trucks.

news

HAYDAYS SETS PACE FOR SNOWMOBILE SEASON

After missing the 2020 edition of Haydays, it returned to massive crowds of enthusiastic snowmobilers and off-road enthusiasts this past September 2021. The show was amazing. All show attendees were able to see freestyle shows, side-by-side racing, mud bogs, snowmobile grass drags take in the swap meet and see all of the commercial booths that had all of the latest gear, parts and vehicles. If you didn’t make to North Branch, Minnesota this year mark your calendars for Haydays next year, September 10-11, 2022 where OSM will have a booth set up, so come say hi.

FCMQ RELEASES 2022 SNOWMOBILE PERMIT PRICES

The FCMQ has released their prices for the 2022 snowmobile season, the permits can only be purchased online this year and get mailed to your address.

The price of a trail permit includes the cost of the liability insurance, defined as mandatory under article 19 of the Act respecting off-highway vehicles, as well as all applicable taxes.

• $ 375 for an annual trail permit purchased on or before December 9, 2021 • $ 455 for an annual trail permit purchased after December 9, 2021 • $ 700 for an annual trail permit sold in trail* • $ 285 for an annual trail permit for antique snowmobiles (2002 and older) • $ 240 for a 7-day trail permit • $ 150 for a 3-day trail permit • $ 70 for a 1-day trail permit • $ 590 for an annual trail permit for a rental snowmobile • $ 30 for a replacement trail permit To purchase your pass today please visit www.fcmq.qc.ca/en/trail-permit/line-trail-permits

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POLARIS EXPANDS SERVICE PROGRAM TO CANADA

Launched in the U.S. in July 2020, RideReady helps simplify powersports ownership by connecting owners with Polaris and Indian Motorcycle dealerships to manage vehicle service needs and is now available in Canada through participating dealers. “We are excited to bring the RideReady service platform to Canada and allow more riders the opportunity to connect with dealers in a manner like never before,” said Vic Koelsch, Polaris chief digital officer. “We know that 50 percent of existing RideReady users schedule service appointments outside normal dealership business hours, showing the importance of flexible options. This expansion will help bring that convenience to additional owners and in turn help enhance dealer relationships.”= To experience the benefits, owners can log on to RideReadyService.com and set-up an account and their virtual garage to gain access to maintenance information and service recommendations, ‘how-to’ content specific to the registered vehicles, schedule online service appointments with participating local dealers and manage all of their vehicle maintenance and service needs.

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news CSRA KICKS OFF THEIR 2022 SEASON WITH A VIP RACE FAN MEMBERSHIP

The CSRA would like to welcome back their Racers and Spectators for the 2022 race year. To kick this off they will offer a VIP Race Fan Membership offering a full access VIP card to all CSRA events along with fxr gear, a royal distributing gift card, CSRA Stickers, and a riders yearbook. Also this membership gets you entered in their door prizes to get the chance to win stuff like a FXR coat, a MBRP exhaust for your snowmobile, an OSM Magazine subscription, a case of Motel motor oil, a KTM or Husqavarna replica E drive Bike and more. Enter for your VIP Race fan membership at the link below

2022 DATES ANNOUNCED!

OCTOBER 21-23, 2022

INTERNATIONAL CENTRE • www.torontosnowmobileatvshow.com

NEED HELP? 607-533-7434 ON SNOW MAGAZINE • VOL 36 • ISSUE 2

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36.2/12.2

Need some time alone in your thinking room, have a seat on the throne and WORD SEARCH - “GOOD TIMES” "Good Times" A V O D H P P D R I A H A M A Y N G D S C

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TOUGH NEVER LOOKED THIS SMART. THE 2021 F-150

Brains and brawn come together like never before in the toughest, smartest, most productive F-150 ever. Featuring new tech like SYNC® 4† combined with a military-grade aluminum alloy body* and a highstrength steel frame, the 2021 North American Truck of the Year is up for your next adventure. Not to mention its class-exclusive◊ available PowerBoost™ Hybrid engine, available class-exclusive◊ Pro Power OnBoard™ which converts your truck into a mobile generator, and available Trailer Reverse Guidance - it’s a hard working partner you can count on. Add best-in-class available towing and payload^ and the 2021 F-150 is more than ready to get you where you’re going, and beyond.

Vehicle may be shown with optional features. *6000-series aluminum alloy. ◊ Class is Full-Size Pickups under 8,500 lbs. GVWR. † Some mobile phones and some digital media players may not be fully compatible. Don’t drive while distracted. Use voice-operated systems when possible; don’t use handheld devices while driving. Some features may be locked out while the vehicle is in gear. ^Towing: Max towing on F-150 SuperCab 8' box and SuperCrew 4x2 with available 3.5 L EcoBoost, Max Trailer Tow Pkg. Class is Full-Size Pickups under 8,500 lbs. GVWR. Max towing varies based on cargo, vehicle configuration, accessories and number of passengers. Payload: Max payload on F-150 Reg Cab 8' box 4x2 with available 5.0 L V8 engine and Max Trailer Tow and Heavy-Duty Payload Pkg. Class is Full-Size Pickups under 8,500 lbs. GVWR. Max payload varies and is based on accessories and vehicle configuration. See label on door jamb for carrying capacity of a specific vehicle. ™ Trademark(s) of North American Car and Truck of the Year Corporation used under license by Ford Motor Company, Limited. ©2021 Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited. All rights reserved.

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Polaris recommends that all snowmobile riders take a training course. Do not attempt maneuvers beyond your capability. Always wear a helmet and other safety apparel.

Never drink and ride. ©2021 Polaris Industries Inc.

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Polaris recommends that all snowmobile riders take a training course. Do not attempt maneuvers beyond your capability. Always wear a helmet and other safety apparel.

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ON SNOW MAGAZINE • VOL 36 • ISSUE 2

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winging it LEVI LAVALLEE

GOOD TO BE BACK!

Port City Sled at Fox Booth

R

emember that time they took away your birthday for a year? Yeah, me neither, ha-ha!

In 2020, that’s what it felt like when the “Kick Off to Winter” didn’t happen….

The light bulb in my head just went off - I realized why so many areas had a lack

Team Polaris autograph session

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Signing a piston!

of snow in 2021; without the “Kick off to Winter”, Mother Nature didn’t know when to cue the snow! ;) Well, I’m here to predict A HUGE SNOW SEASON in 2022, because the “Kick off to Winter” was back, and bigger than I can remember! Hay Days came

in like a storm that dumped all weekend long! We arrived at 6:45am on Saturday, and there were people backed up, anxiously waiting to get in. Then the clock strikes 7am, the flood gates were opened, and the FXR gear, C A Pro skis, and the old trailing arms started flying around like

A family that floats is a safe family! FXR’s F.A.S.T. technology is a must!

a tornado came through! It was crazy how many people were at Hay Days, and man, it was exciting to be a part of it all once again!

One of the things that has grabbed a hold of me are the 90s sleds. Some people call them “vintage”, but that seems too new to be vintage, or maybe I’m dating myself for mentioning that, ha-ha.

Recently, I picked up a 1990 Indy 650, and back in the day, that was the big dog! My Dad had an Indy 500, and in my mind, the 650s were for the elite few who were far superior to us normal riders on 400s and 500s. Well, I’m not sure if I’m ready for it, but I’m going to fake it until I make it as one of the elite with my 650… I just hope no one calls my bluff. ;) From vintage to new sleds, I took it all in at Hay Days, and it left me with that “kid on Christmas Eve” feel. The difference is that I have a couple months, instead of just one night like Christmas Eve, before it’s here! I guess it gives us some more time to take comfort in the fact that this year, Hay Days was back, and Mother Nature got the cue to start brewing up some snow!

Moments before the flood gates opened at 7am

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Had to bust out the leather for the new Polaris Vintage 2 stroke oil.

Always an honor to have a sled at the Polaris booth

Time to get cool. I think there is a warning sticker on the 650 that says, “Must wear LEATHER to ride.”

I asked if they could make me 6’ tall. ;)

Speaking of tall.

Purple Rules!

©Alija Bos

LONG WIDE WELL GROOMED TRAILS

SNOWWWILD.COM

take 5

VILLAINS

Villains have long played a role in our everyday life. There has always been a good versus evil feud and it made us stronger as individuals and made for a better society. Villains showed us that there is a first place and second place and while everyone should get a trophy for participating there should always be a difference in size and numbers on the actual award. For this issue of Take 5 we look at some of the best Villains of all time.

ALOUETTE VILLAIN SNOWMOBILE

Way back when Alouette is business and manufacturing snowmobiles, they featured three different Villain models in their line-up. A 440cc twin, a 440cc triple and a 650cc triple with three shiny chrome pipes hanging out the side.

The Villain (especially the 650) were all limited race sleds and had some very interesting features. Instead of having a leaf spring suspension up front on the skis, they came with a coil over the shock which was a head of its time. Alouette knew the power of having star powered talent behind the bars and in the 1970s they had both Gilles and Jacques Villeneuve. The Villeneuve brothers could make anything go fast, which was exactly what the Alouette Villain needed. These stunning snowmobiles were not as competitive as the manufacturer would have liked as they were heavy and were still being made of steel while many manufacturers had already made the move using more and more aluminum.

SKELETOR

It takes a certain type of Villain to go against the mighty He-Man for 130 episodes over the course of two seasons and lose every time. If the name Skeletor isn’t scary enough this villain’s full name is, Skeletor the Lord of Destruction and Overlord of Evil. Skeletor was a hulking muscular beast with a training in kick ass and if that wasn’t enough, he was also powerful sorcerer. But he could never beat the boy toy known as He-Man. More often than not, Skeletor was defeated because of his blundering evil henchmen. We think Skeletor coined the phrase, “don’t blame the player, blame the game”.

SEGWAY VILLAIN

“Segway” is not just the transportation dream for “Mall Cops” anymore.

Segway Off-Road entered into the ultra-competitive Side-by-Side and ATV Market recently and they immediately made waves with the introduction of their Villain SX10 which is a 1000cc 4-stroke producing 105 horsepower and the Hybrid model the Villain SX10 H W. The Hybrid is attracting a lot of interest as it is producing an unheard of 196 horsepower. While the Hybrid Villain hasn’t landed in dealerships yet, the demand is there for a Hybrid with this type of performance. When the Villain SX10 H W does hit showrooms and ultimately into consumers hands, it will sure to be seen hunting down a lot of the competition.

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DR. EVIL DICK DASTARDLY

His name says it all and Dick is one of the oldest active and underrated villains of all time. He first appeared in 1968 as the main character in Hanna-Barbara’s Wacky Races cartoon where he never won a race but was always competitive and also appeared as the lead character in Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines. More times than not, one of his “dastardly” deeds was foiled by his gang eliminating him from winning the race. He best evil doer in his gang was his dog, Muttley. Dastardly’s biggest catch phrases were “Muttley, do something” and “curses, foiled again”. Dick also made reoccurring bad guy appearances in other Hanna-Barbara cartoons such as Yogi Bear and his latest appearance was in the 2020 movie “Scoob”. Being a bad guy for 52 years isn’t easy it’s legendary.

Perhaps the most devious villains to ever hit the small or large screen.

Dr. Evil featured many notorious henchman to conduct his evil deeds in order to take over the world.

He was most notably accompanied by his best henchman, “Number Two”. Number Two was the brains behind Dr. Evil’s company Virtucon Industries which funded all of his evil doings.

It was obvious from a young age that he was going to be as evil as he was due to his distinct upbringing. His father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium and his mother was a French prostitute named Chloé with webbed feet. When asked about his father he said, “My father would womanize; he would drink; he would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark.

Sometimes, he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy, the sort of general malaise that only the genius possesses”. Though Dr. Evil was content with focusing his efforts trying to take over the world his biggest accomplishment was actually having sharks with laser beams.

SNOWCROSS RACERS FROM THE 90S

Believe it or not, there once was a time on the snow-covered racetrack where everyone was not exactly friends. You often heard the term used “arch nemesis”.

Now this was typical 1990s style of Snowcross racing. In that time period, many Pro Snowcross racers were brash, cavalier and all around had extremely aggressive driving habits. The result of this type of behaviour resulted no friendly fist bumps on the starting line, and no words of encouragement such as, “good luck” ever being heard. More times than not there would be a pileup in turn 1, racers using others as berms or brakes and causing all around “mayhem”. Racers that were on different brands of snowmobiles were natural born enemies and rarely ever gave quarter to another brand in any situation. Depending on who you were cheering for, you could easily say that Snowcross racing was a good vs. evil event. This is what made these riders great, fan favourites, wealthy and popular with the trophy girls. Back in the 1990s there were monster payouts for the top winners and loads of contingency cash from sponsors which made winning all that more important. “If you ain’t first than your last,” was a statement that came out of the 1990s.

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Honey of the Month

Arctic Cat Thundercat 1000

NAME: ����������������������������������������������������������������� BIRTH DATE: ������������������������������������������������������������ Fall 1998. Thief River Falls, Minnesota.

Black with green, orange, yellow and purple stickers.

COLOR: ���������������������������������������������������������������� SPECS:

999cc Suzuki ENGINE: ��������������������������������������������������������������� HORSEPOWER: ����������������������������������������������������������� 172 CHASSIS: �������������������������������������������������������������� AWS4 GIRTH: ����������������������������������������������������������������� 585lbs.dry weight, 670lbs. curb weight

15” x 121”, .085” lug SNEAKER SIZE: ���������������������������������������������������������� LENGTH: 112”, WIDTH: 116.8”, HEIGHT: 48”, STANCE: 41 DIMENSIONS: ������������������������������������������������������������ PRICE TAG: ������������������������������������������������������������� $9,499 AMBITION: �������������������������������������������������������������� Put fear into every snowmobile on frozen H2o around the world, and set

����������������������������������������������������������������������� speed records in your backyard with loud dominant power.

Fuel stations, long straightaways, checker flags and leather suits.

TURN-ONS: ��������������������������������������������������������������

Price of fuel, catching air and lightweight big twins.

TURN-OFFS: �������������������������������������������������������������

FAVORITE SONGS/MUSICIANS: ���������������������������������������������� There are only two songs that exist on the T-Cat’s playlist;

AC/DC’s Thunderstruck and Thunderball by Johnny Cash. ����������������������������������������������������������������������� FAVORITE FOODS: �������������������������������������������������������� Meat. Just meat. Like all kings in the animal kingdom, (sharks, ����������������������������������������������������������������������� lions) the T-Cat only wants meat, and maybe the occasional drive belt.

FAVORITE DRINK: �������������������������������������������������������� Bloody Mary and frozen lime margarita.

FAVEORITE SAYING: ������������������������������������������������������ It’s not the storm that you should be scared of, it’s the Thunder!

NICKNAMES: ������������������������������������������������������������� T-Cat, Big Kitty ARCH NEMISIS: ���������������������������������������������������������� Big sexy twins.

he 1998 Thundercat 1000 in the AWS4 chassis was the fastest and most sought after two-stroke T-Cat DARK SECRETS: ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� that Arctic Cat produced. This triple cylinder, triple pipe, 999cc powerhouse had its competitors securing to their trailers with their ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� tails and tales tucked between their legs. While the 999cc Suzuki engine, with loud, intimidating triple pipes was only a few miles ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� an-hour faster than its 900cc predecessor, the bottom end was enough to make a trucker blush. Sadly, the pond seemed to dry up ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� on the hulking T-Cat, and the market shifted to lighter, big twin two-strokes with a rider forward riding style, and the ability to ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� soak up big bumps. Yamaha also left the big, two-stroke triple scene, and focused more on their four-stroke engine efforts. The iconic ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Thundercat name that put fear across snowbelts around the world went silent with the final triple-cylinder, triple pipe two-stroke, �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

coming out of the TRF factory in the fall of 2001, for the 2002 season. It was a very sad day. If Wyatt Earp or John Wayne were ��������������������������������������������������������������� alive, they would have wept. Thankfully, the Thundercat name went into hiding for 15 years, until a snowmobile that warranted the ��������������������������������������������������������������� privilege to bear the name was introduced. The T-Cat rose from the ashes like all snowmobilers hoped, no matter what colour of piping ��������������������������������������������������������������� on their leather suit, and in 2017, it was rebirthed once again as a dominant powerhouse on the frozen H2o. However, this time it ��������������������������������������������������������������� would be with a 998cc Genesis turbo Yamaha four-stroke engine. ���������������������������������������������������������������

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BILL FULLERTON F

or this edition of The Fab Four, we catch up with Bill Fullerton. Bill has been intrenched in the snowmobile industry for decades. His industry resume is nothing short of impressive and it all started like so many other people in snowmobiling with racing. It continued on from racing to managing different projects and race teams for various manufacturers in the powersport industry. To say that winning was something that he brought to the table was an understatement. Winning is what Bill did, manufacturers knew it, competitors knew it and as a result he was part of the DNA of a lot of successful race teams.

Bill grew up in the small town of Port Sydney in Ontario, with his first snowmobile experience aboard a 1963 Polaris Autoboggan. In 1967 Bill would compete in his first snowmobile race on a borrowed 1965 modified Olympique. He would win that race and after that as they say he was hooked.

At the drop of a hat, Bill would take the opportunity to race his family’s 1967 Olympique snowmobile. He enjoyed numerous event and race wins with that particular Olympique and he continued to race at events in the Muskoka-Parry Sound (Ontario) district up until 1970. As a result of his proven racetrack success in 1971, Bill joined a race team based out of Huntsville, Ontario and competed in the Ontario Snowmobile Racing Federation (OSRF) series of race events. In his very first season he won his featured class and finished 3rd overall out of over 200 racers. That year at 16 he was awarded the Novice Driver of the Year. Unknown to Bill at the time, this would be the starting point for what would be a life in the powersports industry.

Opportunity came knocking at the end of the 1972 season, Moto-Ski approached him and offered a full time 12-month racing contract. During the summer he was to race grass drags and then he would convert over in the winter to race both crosscountry and oval races. 1973 was a good year for Bill as he went undefeated on the turf and he would continue to race for Moto-Ski until 1975 when the high bank oval tracks went the way of the Woolly Mammoth.

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Staying focused in the powersports industry, Bill turned to motocross and was hired by Suzuki to work with several riders in Canada with the goal to bring both provincial and national championships. With his winning ways, by 1976 his Suzuki Team won the national #1 pro/expert title. Bill was a winner and was proving it again but it wasn’t long before the snowmobile industry would come calling on him once again. In the fall of ‘77, Bill was offered a job at Ski-Doo to work with the race department in Valcourt for the upcoming 1978 season. That year Ski-Doo had a very high-profile factory race team that worked with Bill featuring Doug Hayes, and Bobby Donahue.

Bill’s time in Valcourt was short, by ‘79 he returned to the motocross world this time with Kawasaki, and he would also help George Persichilli who owned a dealership in Toronto, Ontario, Snow City Cycle Centre. This stint was cut short as the factory in Valcourt would come calling once again but this time it would not be with the race division of Can-Am motorcycles.

This was the final project for Can-Am before they left Canada to be produced in England in 1980. And when they did Bill too packed up and left the Canadian factory. He took all of his experience and opened a Ski-Doo dealership in Muskoka, Ontario named Northland Recreation. For twenty years, he not only ran a successful dealership but also worked with both Ski-Doo and Sea-Doo and was able to maintain a presence on race circuits across North America. With Bill’s knowledge of being a winner on the track, his teams enjoyed provincial, national, and even a couple of world championships.

When the year 2000 arrived he sold the dealership but the snowmobile industry never allowed Bill to stray too far. Once again Bombardier came knocking and hired him to manage their race programs for both snowmobiles and watercrafts, basing him out of Wausau, Wisconsin. At that time Ski-Doo was on the verge of changing the way we all looked at snowmobiles with the REV being well into development.

After the release of the Rev and the racetrack dominance in 2003, Bill moved on to new challenges and since 2004 he has been working at providing both the dealer network and consumers worldwide with replacement parts/specifications for BRP products.

Bill has enjoyed and continues to enjoy success in the snowmobile industry he has never lost his passion for the tracked snow vehicles. Today Bill still owns a few dozen sleds (at one time he owned more than 75) that have a personal interest with many of them being factory prototypes.

And with that introduction, we asked asked Bill, what are your four most memorable snowmobiles of all time?

1966 Moto-Ski Zephyr

1

This was the first long track sled I rode. I remember that it had amazing deep snow capability, an impressive payload and towing ability. It would accommodate 3 adults while pulling a sleigh full of kids or groceries.

1968 Ski-Doo T’NT 600

2

This sled was powered with the first engine that was specifically built for snowmobile use. The Rotax 601 was a vertical twin, axial fan cooled motor that set the stage for all the other manufacturers to follow. These were a limited build, high performance model that were released for racing only. They even came with a waiver stating Ski-Doo could buy them back at any time and for any reason. Every racer that was fortunate to get one enjoyed success across the snowbelt that winter, it also won the 1968 Eagle River World Championship with Steve Ave at the controls. The 1969, 371, 399 and 669 engines were the same design as the 600 and thus the industry standard was set for many years to come.

Yamaha ET series

3

These may possibly have been the most popular, reliable, affordable model line of snowmobiles ever made. They are still highly sought after today and have a solid reputation for value and dependability.

2002 Ski-Doo REV

4

This revolutionary ‘rider forward’ design was an industry game changer. There was 150 pilot run 800’s produced that were used as demo vehicles prior to the 2003 full production season. There was nothing else that rode and handled like the new pyramidal platform, not long after its release competitors were working long and hard to produce a similar offering.

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lawn ornaments The fever for Lawn Ornament has never been higher. We’re not sure if it’s because there are so many out there, striving to be professional photographers, or if it’s for the free t-shirt for your troubles (it’s probably the cool t-shirt). We thank you for finding the rusted and forgotten buggies behind the garage, to those-near-mint, centre of the lawn types, and the modern rides left out back just waiting for snow. We want to see the lawn ornaments in your neck of the snowbelt; snap a photo and send it in. If your photo is selected and published, you will receive a freshly screened OSM t-shirt. Email your pics to our man Jake at info@osmmag.com Remember, curb appeal is nice...snowmobiles are better.

I found these two old girls on a walk through the woods with my granddaughter. The Cat seems to be all there, and the Citation is missing the seat, but the twin cylinder motor is still there. The best part is that the owner said I could have them both - No Charge! Now all I need is a chainsaw, 200 feet of cable, and a winch. Have a great day! The sleds are located in “Woodsman Point” in New Brunswick.

Rob Thompson, Grand Bay –Westfield, NB

Hey OSM, I found this 65 Ski-Doo and it was rusted out and smashed up bad, so I painted it up a bit and made a flowerpot!

Kevin Hafner, Bryant, WI.

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Cheryl Renaud from Boyne City, MI sent this photo in of a mid 80’s leafer. With the leaves on the trees, it’s obvious that the owner is showing off their lawn décor, as well as a used tire.

Good evening, Well, after all the complaints about our yard ornament, it may actually have some worth. Our neighbors have high-end, carved wooden statues of bears and eagles. We have this outside our BraaapShack in Brantingham, NY, and love it!

Melissa and Sledder Scott Bailey,

RIDE THE WORLD WITH US

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snap decision

LACEY LARDINOIS

Castle Sales

For this issue’s edition of Snap Decision, we caught up with Lacey Lardinois from Castle Sales.

Lacey loves snowmobiling and says working at Castle Sales is a work-dream come true, as she is able to connect with like-minded people every day! She has been riding sleds for nineteen years now and is very loyal to the Arctic Cat brand. She does most of her riding with her family in Northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. She found it difficult to answer where her favourite place was to ride as there are so many great places that she has been able to explore. However, when pressed she said Florence County, WI. For Lacey, it’s a hidden gem that’s not too far from where she lives. Lacey commented that the club takes great pride and care of their trails. “Florence County isn’t far from my house; its always smooth and fast like a highway!” With that, we asked her five questions. Race one, Sell one, Collect one, Ride one and Wreck one and GO!

RACE ONE 2003 Arctic Cat F7

I would race this sled because from day one, this sled has been dominating in drag racing. Even to this day, it is still on top of the 700 class.

COLLECT ONE 1993 Arctic Cat ZR 580

For me this was an easy choice. I would collect a ’93 ZR 580, because it was a brand-new chassis that was way ahead of its time. It really raised the bar for good handling sleds.

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WRECK ONE 2007 Arctic Cat F1000

I’d send this first-year chassis sled to the wreckers. It was an extremely heavy sled that had poor fit and finish and drive-train issues, especially with reverse.

RIDE ONE 2022 Arctic Cat Riot 800

For me, this is a true 50/50 crossover sled. It’s the perfect Midwest sled for riders that do both on and off trail riding.

SELL ON E 2014 Arctic Cat Sno Pro 500

If I had to sell one, this would be it because this was my first trail sled. I really loved this sled, but I outgrew it. It’s a perfect entry level sled because of its light weight, and it’s very durable. I would want to pass this on to people just getting into trail riding. This was also the last year they made this Sno Pro 5.

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BY MARK BONCHER

J

ust send it! tainment level is usually high Maybe not like Larry Enticer, although the enter to ‘send it’. The sleds we other each whenever you hear your friends telling float like a butterfly over the to you allow that sleds dissect in this piece are the also carve up the trails like a surgeon… or road approaches and whooped out trails, but talking about the Polaris XCR-850, Cat ZR launch off of something wickedly fun! We are Rave 850.

Lynx the 80000RR, Ski-Doo MXZ X-RS 850, and lingo as ‘hero sleds’. No matter who ting marke in to ed These are what is often referr this much machine, to those who use rides them, from those who maybe don’t need feeling of invincibility. They also are the that every ounce of the performance, they all get the fancy videos, polished photos, and sleds that are out front to lead the line-ups in all next to them. We aren’t downplaying with the biggest marketing ‘influencers’ standing to ride! Here’s our take. them at all because they are super awesome

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Real American Hero!

R

ight down to the red, white and blue color palette, the new XCR comes out of the Polaris factory in Minnesota. My personal take is that this is the most exciting sled to ride from Polaris in 20 years!

It’s light, maneuverable, fast, easy to drive, and can go just about anywhere. Whether you are sawing through several feet of snow, sidehilling straight up a drifted wind lip, or dropping off a downward jump into a gnarly bunch of moguls, or just trail riding, it does everything extremely well. Plus, it is an 850 so it has all the power you could ever want.

For our purposes, we tested the 136inch XCR, and this has a slightly different track pitch than the 137 sleds, hence the 136-inch length. Many contest that this is a trail-only sled, but we beg to differ as the 160+ horses from the twin cylinder 850 Patriot Cleanfire motor creates plenty of snow slinging power to take you exploring. Plus, on the model we tested, the 1.352-inch lugged Cobra track did its job in deeper snow. There was also a 1.25-inch

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lug Ice Ripper XT, or a 1.6-inch cobra track option for this sled.

The slightly taller 3.35-inch riser and stand-up friendly pilot location also helps you when carving up powder. Sculpted panels and the 4.8-inch narrower console, with 3-inches narrowed up at the knees, are the things that a rider quickly notices when you sit on a Matryx.

To be honest, this sled’s roots

THE TOP TECH-SAVVY RIDERS CAN’T GO WITHOUT THE HUGE 7S DISPLAY, WHICH HAS THE MOST FEATURES OF ANY GAUGE IN THE INDUSTRY

THE PATRIOT 850 MOTOR POWERS THE XCR AND PUTS IT SQUARELY IN THE 165+ HP RANGE

GLOVE-FRIENDLY AND GPS/BLUETOOTH ENABLED, YOU CAN FIND YOUR WAY JUST ABOUT ANYWHERE WITH THIS HIGHLY FUNCTIONABLE GAUGE SYSTEM

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are in snocross, and that is evident by the massive 2.0-inch Walker Evans Velocity shocks up front over the skis and in the rear of the skid. All the coil-over WER shocks on the XCR have hi-lo compression damping adjustment as well. Add to that 9.3-inches of travel up front and 16.2-inches of travel in the back, and you’ve got yourself a shock set-up worthy of most any big triple jump on a snocross track. Now these aren’t calibrated like a buckboard though, so as you dial in your ride, from a softer setting to a harder setting, you quickly realize the amount of range and comfort that these shocks afford the rider.

The Matryx platform is what brings everything together, from the coupled Pro CC rear skid, to the Matryx specific front suspension. We’ve said it before, but the space the rider has to move around, and the ‘flick-ability’ or the response from the sled to rider input is phenomenal. One mash of the throttle and a rearward foot placement off trail, and you can do a controlled wheelie, or in the trail corners you can get low, and calmly hold the hooked handlebars softly to easily keep that inside ski lift predictable. At only 474 pounds dry weight, the sled is nimble and balanced, so that even in the air, you feel in control.

As for the transmission, the P-85 primary and TEAM lightweight secondary do the work and are smooth on and off the throttle. Massive stopping power comes from a PRT racing radial brake with new rotor, Type 81 racing pads, and there’s a ‘race brake scoop’ that directs cool air to the area to keep the heat down. Turning is refined with a Pro Steer ski with 8-inch carbide. The XCR was a Starfire sled for 2022 as well, which meant that it was a spring purchase only machine. I’m sure

riders comments FROM DAN SKALLET This is my favorite sled for allaround riding. The shock package, seat position, and navigation are all top of the line. I remember when a 136 inch tracked machine was a mountain sled, and now it’s a great trail sled that carves corners and destroys ditches.

FROM LOGAN SKALLET The XCR is the best of both worlds for trails and ditches. The navigation system and ergonomics are all top of the line. This sled lets you burn up the trails or go busting through a ditch line feeling like an i500 racer.

The chassis feels like you can pitch it anywhere at any time and is very reactive to body position in the corners. The 136-inch track allows you to hold the brakes till late in the corner and exit with speed.

there will be a few around here and there though, if you didn’t get on the spring order… but with the insane increase in snowmobile sales over the last season, which did not slow down in spring, they will be harder to come by than in prior seasons.

Additional options like the 7S display with Ride Command and its glove-friendly

THE COUPLED PRO-CC REAR SUSPENSION IS RACE, TRAIL, AND OFF-TRAIL READY

interface make this sled not only a great ride, but technologically advanced. Diagnostics, wi-fi connectivity for trail maps, group-ride technology, and much more are available with this system. Oh, and you get the new SmartWarmer hand grips and a magnetic tether too… this sled has everything!

SCULPTED PANELS, A NARROW TANK, AND MUCH MORE ALLOW XCR RIDERS GREAT FREEDOM AND MOBILITY IN THE SADDLE ON SNOW MAGAZINE • VOL 36 • ISSUE 2

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C

M

Y

Ski-Doo aXentuates the X-RS

I

t is difficult to keep making the X-RS even better, but Ski-Doo did it again this year. Our test pony came with the new, exclusive Smart-Shox technology. This is based on KYB PRO twin tube shocks up front and in the rear shock. It is a semiactive system that utilizes five position sensors based up front in a module that determines various inputs from the terrain, steering, chassis, roll, yaw, etc.. It is easily manipulated from a toggle on the console, with three separate riding shock compression damping modes, from a more luxurious comfort mode, to sport, to an aggressive sport+ mode. This adjust on the fly system is really nice for a large group of riders, and we appreciate it as well, but many in the ultimate-aggressive bump riding crowd will gravitate towards the traditionally adjustable high-end shock packages.

The X-RS is always a spring buy only sled, and this year was no different. With that spring buy you had the option of a Ripsaw 129x15x1.25 inch track, the Ice Ripper XT track in the same configuration, or a 1.5-inch lug track option. The longer

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1.5-inch lug tracks are one of my favorites for both the MXZ trail and Renegade crossover sleds.

There is enough lug to go most places off-trail at low elevation, and you can still stud them without much issue. Plus, they REALLY hook up so if you like that ski-raising power to the snow right out of the gate, then it is your best choice.

Our test model had the 165 hp 850 direct-injected, naturally-aspirated E-TEC motor, and having ridden and owned

YOU CAN GET THE NEW SMART-SHOX OR QUICK-ADJUST. SPRING AND COMPRESSION CHANGES CAN BE MADE BY TURNING THE CLICKERS, OR CAM ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE RUNNING BOARDS

CM

MY

FROM TIP TO TAIL THE X-RS SHOWS ITS AGGRESSIVE SNOCROSS BRED NATURE, WITH MORE BELLS AND WHISTLES THAN YOU CAN COUNT AS WELL

IT IS EASY TO STRAIGHTEN-UP OR RELAX THE ANGLE OF THE RISER WITH THE ADJUSTABLE PIN SYSTEM ON THE MXZ X AND X-RS MODELS FROM SKI-DOO

CY

CMY

K

Welcome to a land of snow Over 1100 km of perfectly groomed trails One of the longest SNOWmobile seasonS A world of discovery

photos : ©Mathieu Dupuis

Live the Northern attraction

Eeyou Istchee Baie-James is a tourism region of Quebec

Plan your trip now!

escapelikeneverbefore.com 1 888 748-8140

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riders comments FROM DAN SKALLET This sled is one of the best trailburning sleds there is, period. The KYB shock package performs beyond expectations with three modes of selectable ride comfort.The X-RS is equipped to take on the most challenging trails and ditches. I love the light steering and peppy motor.

I do miss the tall windshield though.

Just get in and start adjusting and this sled will work for you. Sport Plus mode was my go-to settingon the shocks. Once I set the handlebars where I liked it, then it was a ‘set it and forget it’ feel.

PILOT X SKIS UP FRONT ARE THE NEXT STEP IN SKI-DOO SKI TECHNOLOGY AND ARE PREDICTABLE, BUT STILL AGGRESSIVE ENOUGH TO REALLY HUG THE CORNERS

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dozens of these 850s, it is just an awesome powerplant. After more than half of a decade enjoying this motor, it is still one of the smoothest and easiest to drive big twins to ever be produced. It has been the performance benchmark in the snowmobile industry for a while now, and combined with the RAS X front and rMotionX rear suspensions, plus the new Smart Shox, the X-RS is top of the Ski-Doo trail lineup again.

As a spring model, you also get the big 7.8-inch LCP display with BRP Connect available for all those high-tech gadget lovers. You get Bluetooth, helmet to helmet communication, split screen, GPS and more capabilities with this gauge. Plus, you’ll enjoy the quickly adjustable pin system on the handlebar riser, standard push button electric start and reverse, backlit controls, two LinQ base attachments standard, and much more.

More options on the X-RS include either the Pilot X skis, or the Pilot TX adjustable skis. Also, if you did not want the Smart Shox, you could order the X-RS with the Quick-Adjust shock and spring set-up that has been available for several years.

FROM LOGAN SKALLET This sled is very stable at speed on the trail. It feels the most smooth and glued to the corners like a street bike on a hot summer day. It is easy to forget how fast you are going with this smoothness, which can lead to a wake-up call in the next hairpin turn. The adaptive suspension is fun to play with, allowing you to change settings on the fly quickly. I found my favorite mode to be the stiffest, known as sport plus. On top of that, adjustable handlebars allow for a variety of riding positions.

My advice is that for the majority of people, they will enjoy the Smart Shox, with the standard Pilot X skis. Combined with the race-derived rack steering system, you get totally predictable cornering. Every rider will also enjoy the wider, reinforced, and flatter RS running boards. Made for more stand-up or aggressive riding, many riders feel more comfortable on these, transitioning through different conditions and being able to take harder landings with ease.

THE RMOTION X REAR SUSPENSION IS EASILY MANIPULATED TO YOUR RIDING STYLE INCLUDING FEATURES LIKE QUICK-ADJUST COUPLING BLOCKS

Motorsports Suspension Specialists

* as per Jeff Steenbakker STV S21 E07

Motorsports Suspension Specialists

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All the Rave’

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o matter how you pronounce the Lynx Rave RE 3500 850 E-TEC, there is no denying that it is a hot seller this year. After many years, BRP (owns Lynx) finally gave the green light for this breed to be sold outside of Europe. The Finns and Nordic folks simply have different ‘trails’, and ride differently than the average trail rider in North America. That’s not a bad thing, and there is certainly a portion of our audience that gravitates towards active, aggressive, snocross type riding. That is the crowd that will get the most out of this machine. It’s hard not to channel your inner Toni “the flying Finn” Haikonen mantra when you climb aboard a Rave!

I was lucky enough in my travels to ride a 137-inch Lynx several years ago in Iceland with my friend Gylfi.

At that time, I was convinced then and there that there was a market for this different type of snowmobile in Canada and the US. Like Finland and other European countries, Iceland does not have ‘trails’ per se. There is a lot of cross-

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country, glacier, and varying terrain that you find. That’s where having a beefy chassis, more motocross focused suspension, more off-trail focused ski, and other components of the Lynx come in handy.

Of course, having the E-TEC 850 direct injected big twin under the hood helps too.

On that ride I was able to first experience the PPS rear suspension that was really born on the snocross racetrack. The newest PPS3 has massive KYB 46 HLCR Kashima coated coil-over shocks in both the front and rear arms of this suspension. It is a rising rate suspension that’s independent with long-travel as well, which

THERE’S A LOT THAT DISTINGUISHES THE RAVE FROM EVEN OTHER BRP SLEDS INCLUDING SUSPENSION, SKIS, REINFORCEMENTS, AND MORE

THE NEW LYNX RAVE’ IS POWERED

BY THE SAME BRP DIRECT-INJECTED 850 E-TEC THAT RIDERS ON MULTIPLE CONTINENTS HAVE COME TO LOVE

on! o s g comin

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gives the rider a playful feel, and you can stand up the front-end at will. The aggressive bump riders will enjoy being able to ride the tail of the sled over several bumps in a row. Dialing in correct rebound, and setting these shocks up for your particular preference is going to be more important than an average trail rider is used to.

Again, this is not a sled for that average trail guy or gal though. There is also a proclaimed 70% less friction compared to the Lynx’s previous PPS2.

Two things we mentioned in previous articles that are worth repeating is that we very much enjoyed the Blade XC+ skis and the Ice Ripper XT track with 1.5-inch lugs. The 170mm wide skis have a deep keel that make them ideal for all kinds of conditions. These may be our favorite new OEM skis, and for my personal style of riding, I would take them over the Pilot X skis. Having a deeper lug track with the added grip of the small studs on the ends of the lugs also adds to the fun factor of being able to play in deeper snow off-trail, and the stiff lugs provide excellent traction when burping the throttle over hard moguls. Lynx set this up exactly how many ex-snocross riders that we ride with set up their personal sleds, with an aggressive all-conditions ski and track.

A wide 42.2-inch ski stance adds to the flat cornering, and 10.4 -inches of front suspension travel in the LFS+ system means a long stroke on the shocks, to help smooth out big bumps. As far as riding position and ergonomics is concerned, you won’t notice a ton of difference from other BRP sleds, but it is slightly wider in the knees and around the console than say a Polaris Matryx.

A EUROPEAN-INSPIRED PPS3 REAR SUSPENSION WITH KASHIMA COATED KYB 46 HLCR SHOCKS IS NEW TO THE NORTH AMERICAN MARKET

SKI-DOO RIDERS WILL FEEL RIGHT AT HOME WITH THE GAUGES, CONTROLS, BARS AND MORE FROM THE COCKPIT OF THE RAVE

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THE NEW BLADE XC+ SKIS ARE AN ‘ALL CONDITIONS’ SKI AND COMBINE ON-TRAIL AND DEEP-SNOW ASPECTS WITH A BIG KEEL AND WIDE PROFILE

BIG DIAMETER SNOCROSS SHOCKS SIT IN THE LFS+ FRONT SUSPENSION THAT HAS A WIDE 42.2-INCH STANCE

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The Cat that can fly

I

f there is one thing I can say about Arctic Cat rough trail, snocross inspired sleds, it is that they have always flown true. It may sound like a small thing, but even going back to the Firecat chassis, Cat has always made their aggressive ‘ditch banging’ sleds to be well balanced and easily tossed around and maneuvered both on the snow, and in the air. The snocross bred ZR RR 8000 is no different.

There’s an easy throttle pull and playful feel to the sled that is made even more predictable with the ADAPT CVT transmission which makes approaches, landings, corners, and take-offs easy and more importantly, fun!

The powerplant is the veteran 8000 C-TEC2 twin cylinder 2-stroke, batteryless EFI, with 794cc. In recent years, this engine has gotten new cylinders, pistons, combustion chamber, flywheel and fuel rail. It has power valves, electronic oil pump, exhaust temp sensor (EPTS),

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knock sensor, and more. Even though it is not an 850, it still plays up there in the 165 hp range, and it is exceedingly smooth. Many times we’ve been on a ZR RR, thinking we were going 60 mph and looked down quickly to see 80+ mph on the speedo.

This motor is clean, has a great tone to it, and punches higher than many people give it credit for.

FOX ZERO QS3R SHOCKS WITH 1.5-INCH DIAMETER AND KASHIMA COATING TAME THE BUMPS IN THE FRONT END FOR THE MOST AGGRESSIVE ZR IN CAT’S LINE

THE WELL-REFINED 800CC 2-STROKE C-TEC2 MOTOR PUTS OUT THE PONIES FOR CAT’S RR

PUSH BUTTON REVERSE IS STANDARD HERE AND ALL THE CONTROLS ON THE ARCTIC SLEDS ARE INTUITIVE AND EASY TO USE

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riders comments FROM DAN SKALLET This sled has very familiar riding characteristics. A chassis that still carves flat corners and stays very predictable through the chop with good wind protection to help keep the cold at bay. The motor feels a little soft compared to others in the same class. If you put this one in your stable, you may get the “long in the tooth” feeling. The good news is this chassis has been fine-tuned and the entire sled is now bug-free.

FROM LOGAN SKALLET You can get comfortable with this sled fast. The ergonomics of the bars and steering post will enable you to get aggressive in the corners while giving you confidence in your riding. The chassis is well refined and works great. I just wish it had a little more pep in its step to be more competitive in the class.

As with most of the sleds in this group, what sets the RR apart are the shocks and reinforced running boards. You get the best of the best Fox Zero QS3R Kashima coated coil-over absorbers with 1.5-inch diameter up front and a 2-inch diameter shock in the back of the 137-inch slideaction rear suspension. All the shocks on the RR have the 3-position clicker compression damping dial on the top to change from soft, to medium, to firm CONTINUING TO UTILIZE THE WELL DOCUMENTED SLIDE-ACTION REAR SUSPENSION, THE RR HAS A BIG 2-INCH DIAMETER REAR SHOCK TO BOOT!

settings quickly and easily. Also, in the back you get a full wheel and axle system (some may remember the tri-hub system on some of the Cat’s from years past) but not on the new ZR RR. A 3-position rearcoupling block is also on the skid, and you have spring preload adjustability too.

Throwing the snow is a Ripsaw II 137x15x1.25 inch track with a 2.86 pitch.

Plus, like most all Cat sleds, you get an adjustable ski stance up front, to go from

a wider 43-inches to narrower 42-inches.

We’ve ridden with a lot of folks who love to ride aggressively, and often times for smaller riders the wider stance is preferred, but many taller riders approve of the more playful narrower stance, even in the trails. It all comes down to keeping that inside ski lift manageable in the corners, and obviously, taller riders will have an advantage with additional body lean while taking tight corners at pace.

Additional features to note on the ZR RR are push button electric start and push-button reverse. Plus you get a good size tunnel bag, the higher 5.5-inch riser, LED headlight with accent lighting, and the all-important 60th anniversary edition badge on it. For some of us it feels like just yesterday we were celebrating Cat’s 50th anniversary up at the home of Arctic Cat in Thief River Falls, Minnesota… just like Arctic’s snocrosser sleds, time flies!

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YOU CAN’T GO WRONG WITH ANY OF THESE SLEDS FOR THE ROUGH, AND HOPEFULLY NOT ‘TUMBLING’ RIDER.

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too many choices There are just sooo many incredible choices out there right now for all riders, but aggressive riders too. If I had all the money in the world, and wanted the sled that would get the most attention on the trail, well, I would probably be trying a new Lynx Rave for this next season. However, the best sled in this group for the money has to go to the Polaris Matryx XCR 850. It is not often that we are this adamant about a sled that so many of our riders liked so much, but Polaris did it right with this machine.

You can’t go wrong with any of these sleds for the rough, and hopefully not ‘tumbling’ rider. The XRS and RR are certainly top of the line go-fast and not worry about the bumps at all type machines as well, and there was certainly plenty of discussion about which we would want in our respective trailers. I’ve always had a soft spot for the XRS personally, but also been outed as ‘only loving my RR’ sleds too. Point is, this group represents the most fun you can have legally on the trail or track.

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IT

BY MARK BONCHER

turbo 2-stroke mountain is official, we have dueling ’ve separate OEMs! Sure, we sleds, direct from totally g hin not but bos in the past, had plenty of 4-stroke tur 850 s lari Po new logy we see in the all like the 2-stroke techno i-Doo SumMatryx Slash, and the Sk K RM Patriot Boost Pro These are bo. tur ec E-T e with 850 mit X with Expert packag ed in mass t you’d never see produc the sleds that you though they can do gs thin the acturers… and quantities from the manuf are mind boggling!

850 offer their versions of an Both Polaris and Ski-Doo e of this sak the for l configurations, but 2-stroke turbo in severa h 3-inch wit K RM Pro g the 163-inch lon editorial, we focused on ch paddle. h long Summit X with 3-in paddle, and the 165-inc you are a if how they’ll appeal to you Both are very similar in sleds have two the aking process… but buyer in the decision-m lore basiexp can you d explore too! An plenty of differences to er nst turbos! rt desires with these mo cally anywhere your hea ON SNOW MAGAZINE • VOL 36 • ISSUE 2

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POLARIS VREAL! Many deep snow lovers have prayed that this day would come, the day when we have the second biggest OEM in the sled biz, stepping up to the plate and building sleds to compete (or beat) Ski-Doo at literally every level. The boosted 850 Patriot motor is just the next step, and shows that Polaris is getting very real with not only its chassis, but motor development too.

This was not some slapped together turbo, it was built alongside the 850 naturally aspirated motor throughout its progression.

Looking at how over-built the Patriot 850 was from the time it was released, many folks had a good idea that a turbo was coming too… it was just a matter of time.

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The new turbo utilizes what Polaris calls ‘SmartBoost’, which is a patentpending combustion control system to provide more boost and more controlled boost. Up to 9 psi of boost is equates to a roughly 50% increase in power versus the naturally aspirated 850 Patriot motor at 10,000 feet of elevation. That is pretty incredible, and this sled is definitely a wild child that you have to hold on to, especially if you jump from a standard 850 to this.

You will be able to point the skis to the sky with the flick of the throttle, and it runs on 91 octane pump gas.

Obviously, a lot is different with this turbo versus the standard 850 in order

to handle the boost, including new crank seals, new piston with special alloy, and new geometry, new flywheel, new ECU with hardware for the SmartBoost system, and more. The throttle body is similar to what was used on last year’s snocross race engine. There are more changes here, like additional injection for more fuel to feed the turbo motor. New intake and carbon fiber petal reeds were custom designed with MotoTassinari for use in this specific boosted sled. There’s also a new P22 clutch and calibration plus a new idler bearing, which takes away the need to make belt deflection adjustments.

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RI DE RS CO M M EN TS FROM DAN SKALLET

This sled taunts you with a challenge from the moment you hit the snow “Go ahead - try and get me stuck.” I’ve been around aftermarket boosted sleds for years but never had the desire to own one. However, this sled may have changed my mind.

The slash tunnel is mandatory, in my opinion. The choice between RMK and Khaos is tough. I’d lean towards the RMK for my riding for more stability on sidehills. Plus, you can’t forget about the new primary clutch with a constant belt drive that helps with low-speed technical maneuvers.

FROM LOGAN SKALLET

The new boosted RMK encourages you to push yourself up a new line that you never looked at before. The turbo has a super smooth delivery that does not upset your line while still having plenty of “save me now” left in the throttle. Too much and you won’t remember what way was up the mountain though. The short tunnel is a new must-have on the RMK, allowing you to turn and dance the sled around on a dime.

A SHORTENED, TAPERED, ONE PIECE TUNNEL SITS ABOVE THE BIG 163-INCH LONG, 3-INCH LUGGED SERIES 7 TRACK

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The new turbo is small, lightweight, and vertically mounted just above the exhaust can on the Matryx. There’s a patent pending exhaust and wastegate system on this 2-stroke turbo as well. Much was done with the packaging, dedicated oil pump, heat shielding and more, to fit this very efficient, and hopefully reliable power, providing add-on into the space available and to provide maximum airflow and cooling. The high tech wastegate allows the rider all the power, and almost the feel of a naturally aspirated power delivery. After riding it for just a few minutes at 8-10,000 feet elevation though, you certainly know you are on a 2-stroke turbo!

It’s not only the motor, but also the full Matryx Slash platform that makes this sled so much fun to ride. There’s a refined cockpit with narrow seat and tank with tons of space to move quickly from side to side. The tunnel is shortened, tapered and a one-piece design for strength, plus the flickability and feel of a shorter sled. Plus, there’s a new central, lightweight, well designed cooling/heat exchange system in the tunnel.

Powdertrac XT running boards under your feet are spacious, evacuate the snow extremely well, and allow for great movement up, down, and side to side. You can customize your storage options in back with the Polaris Lock and Ride system which rivals the Ski-Doo LinQ system with ease-of-use and accessories. There’s a small windshield that can easily be removed without using tools, and below that is one of our favorite features on Polaris sled.. the Night Blade LED headlight. You can see farther, wider, and more variations in the terrain in even flat light scenarios.

Changing the React suspension to fit your style is easy, whether dialing in the WER Velocity coil-over shocks, or setting your ski-stance from 36 to 38 inches, you have a lot of customization up front. In the rear skid, there are the same WER Velocity shocks to take the hard hits and bumper-dragging wheelies. And you can do those wheelies for days with the 163inch long Series 7 track with big ol’ 3-inch lugs on it.

From a rider’s standpoint, the biggest thing we noticed was how quickly you could make new decisions, in real-time

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while riding. This sled is forgiving, comfortable, but most of all, crazy-maneuverable and lightweight. Much of that is due to reduced drag in the snow, and a lot of small changes to cut weight, and precision tune every aspect of the sled from bumper to bumper. From forged A-arms to the small snow-flap, really nothing was missed, and you just gotta slam the throttle a couple of times in a meadow to really hear that 2-stroke turbo motor sing!

IT’S NOT ONLY THE MOTOR, BUT ALSO THE FULL MATRYX SLASH PLATFORM THAT MAKES THIS SLED SO MUCH FUN TO RIDE.

THE VERTICALLY MOUNTED TURBO WITH SMARTBOOST PROVIDES ROUGHLY 50% MORE POWER AT ELEVATION THAN THE NATURALLY ASPIRATED PATRIOT 850

WALKER EVANS VELOCITY FULLY ADJUSTABLE CLICKER COIL-OVER SHOCKS PROVIDE SOFT LANDINGS AND BUMP SMOOTHING GOODNESS

WIDE, STRONG, AND MINIMALIST POWDERTRAC XT RUNNING BOARDS ALLOW RIDERS THE FREEDOM TO MOVE AROUND AND CONTINUE TO STAY ONE WITH THE SLED

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SUMMIT IS EXPERTLY DONE The sled that Polaris was trying to catch with its new Matryx Slash Turbo is the SkiDoo Summit X with the Expert package, and with the 850 E-Tec turbo. It’s a hard sled to match! Coming in either triple black or the liquid titanium and carbon black color schemes, the X looks like it means business, even before you get it out of the trailer.

The first OEM with a 2-stroke factory turbo in the mountains, Ski-Doo has a leg up on the industry with their 850 E-Tec turbo.

This turbo works a little differently than the new Polaris one though, and uses boost to maintain roughly 165 hp all the way up to 8,000 feet elevation. The liquid-cooled, direct injection turbo runs on pump 91 octane fuel, and if you’re doing the math, this turbo produces roughly 40% more power than the naturally aspirated 850 at 8,000 feet. Oh, and this turbo was the first OEM sled on the market with a warranty. That means the engineers did their homework because the bean counters would never let that fly without the engineers standing firmly behind it.

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For each 1,000 feet of elevation that you go up, and oxygen levels continue to go down, you lose approximately 3% of your power. The ECU monitors changes as you go up in altitude and the electronic wastegate, so in lamens terms, the system provides the amount of boost necessary (up to roughly 4 PSI max) to keep the engine at its sweet spot of 165 hp. Since the system is limited to 4 PSI after 8,000 feet, power does start to drop off at the same rate as an NA system, but you are still getting A LOT more power at the higher altitudes than that of the standard 850.

This is a small-sized turbo as well when you look at it, and it’s packaged neatly with the compressor to fit into the Gen 4 chassis. Intake, exhaust, and a continuous oiling system were all designed not only for performance, but also weight distribution, to keep everything balanced with the rider in mind. That being said, it might be the smoothest, most seamless 2-stroke turbo we’ve ever ridden… OEM or aftermarket.

The Summit X with the Expert package is more than just a turbo as well, and new

for the 2022 model year is a 34-inch narrower ski stance. The narrowed up-front end allows you to initiate a carve more easily and get the sled on edge with even less effort. Just like when other narrowed up mountain sleds were first released, this takes a little getting used to, and with the extra power of the

IN ITS SECOND YEAR OF PRODUCTION THE E-TEC 850 TURBO MOTOR IS TESTED AND PROVEN

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RI DE RS CO M M EN TS FROM DAN SKALLET

Last year this was the sled to have in the mountains. Now it’s got stiff competition. You definitely get to say, “hello turbo!” and true to Ski-Doo’s tradition, the fit and finish are above par, and it feels like the industry’s smoothest 2-stroke. Grip strength with this one is key and you may consider throwing in an extra set of pull-ups, doing some summer wakeboard and slalom skiing training to get you in shape to hold onto her.

FROM LOGAN SKALLET

The extreme rider forward position had a steep learning curve for me. It felt like throwing on a new pair of skates. It’s incredible how much a short tunnel frees up a sled in the deep snow maneuvers. Add the turbo, and you are guaranteed fewer ski pulls from your riding buddies.

A SNOW-SLINGING POWDERMAX TRACK WITH 3-INCH LUGS PROVIDES THE TRACTION NEEDED TO HARNESS THE 165+ HORSES UNLEASHED BY THE SKI-DOO TURBO

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SHOT STARTING UTILIZES AN ULTRACAPACITOR TO AFFORD YOU PUSH-BUTTON STARTS ALL DAY LONG, WITHOUT NEEDING A HEAVY BATTERY ON THE SLED

CONFORMING TO THE HILL AND SUPPLYING ULTIMATE TRACTION AT ANY TIME IS WHAT THE TMOTION REAR SKID DOES IN ALL SCENARIOS AND CONDITIONS

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turbo some riders might over-correct right out of the gate… but that’s a very quick and easy learning curve. The stability and predictability of the Gen 4 chassis allows folks to feel confident, even with this added maneuverability.

Above the Pilot DS3 skis, in the RAS 3 front suspension, you get HPG plus shocks with the newer lightweight coils.

In the rear tMotion suspension, you also have the same shock and springs in the center, but the rear shock is a KYB Pro 36 with easy-adjust clickers, and you get ice scratchers standard, as well as an adjustable limiter strap. There is a shorter tunnel with a lightweight tiny snowflap as well. Certainly, everything on this mountain sled has been sliced and diced to cut weight, including the new last-year, lightweight hood.

We will also keep beating a dead horse here when we say how impressed we are with the SHOT ultracapacitor starting

system. Lightweight, easy to use, and an endurance saver in high altitude. As a guy that rides out west several times a year, but comes from sea level each time, it is a godsend to not have to pull that rope a bunch, after I’ve dug out a sled. Basically, you pull the rope once or twice on initial start-up at the trailer in the morning, and then you have push-button starting literally all day.

Other small things that I appreciate are the slightly narrower diameter bars, plus a low 4.7-inch riser. Personally, as a shorter rider, both these things really save on needless expended energy. Seemingly forever, people believed that big, high handlebars were the way to go, but they honestly hinder the geometry of the sled, and your ability to make quick movements, as well as decrease your connectivity with the machine.

The tiny, lightweight seat is not much for comfort or aesthetics, but it is easy to

WE WILL ALSO KEEP BEATING A DEAD HORSE HERE WHEN WE SAY HOW IMPRESSED WE ARE WITH THE SHOT ULTRACAPACITOR STARTING SYSTEM. jump over and get a leg around… again, especially for us vertically challenged little people. At just 468 pounds dry weight, with the turbo, this 165-inch (Powdermax light 3-inch lug) machine has just an incredible power to weight ratio. It absolutely churns the POW, flies straight, and is still one of the better sleds to ride on the trail, until you choose to venture off.

A ONE-PIECE LIGHTWEIGHT HOOD, HANDGUARDS, MOUNTAIN GRAB BAR, STANDARD LINQ BASES FOR ACCESSORIES, AND MORE ARE STANDARD FAIRE ON THE SUMMIT

IN THE FRONT END PILOT DS3 SKIS AND KYB HPG PLUS SHOCKS WITH LIGHTWEIGHT SPRINGS GIVE YOU ULTIMATE TURNING AND MOGUL CRUSHING ABILITY ON SNOW MAGAZINE • VOL 36 • ISSUE 2

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END GAME I often ask riders what they REALLY ride most often. When it comes to mountain sleds, do you like riding in the trees, jumping cornices, picking the most technical lines, riding super deep POW? These two sleds can really do all of that, so that discussion is moot with them. However, if you are not a more ‘expert’ type rider, you probably do not need all the incredible gojuice these two have to offer. I’m not talking anyone out of buying one, but these two are both absolutely wildly awesome fun to mash the throttle on!

If you are that guy or girl who craves a challenge, then I think the new Polaris turbo will give you all you desire. The Summit is slightly more tame, but does not falter when pushed to the limit. So what is your end-game? If I was my 27-year-old self, it would be the Matryx Slash turbo all day long, but it is this Polaris turbo’s first year, and I’ve got more time on the Summit X, so I feel more comfortable there. So far, I’ve only seen a small handful of riders who can take either of these sleds to their full potential, so if you are in the market, the question is… do you want the extra HP or not?

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C A R R Y A L L . O N . O U T.

THE FIRST UNIVERSAL & LOCKABLE MOUNTING BASE ON THE MARKET NO ADAPTER REQUIRED QUICK AND EASY ASSEMBLY LOCKABLE HINGES ANTI-OPENING HINGES

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ADVENTURE TUNNEL BAG

VERSATILE RACK

GAS TANK HOLDER & STACKING KIT

K I M P E XC O N N E CT. C O M

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Fine Tuning - L to R, Paul Prudhomme, Gary Potyok a nd Henry Bieda.

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THE CROSSING OF LAKE ONTARIO

PART 1 OF 2

S

ince the 1960’s, stories of water crossings on snowmobiles have long been told around the fireplace with grandpa, and during the late nights spent in the shop. The art of “water skipping” was only attainable by the late 60’s when snowmobiles were capable of achieving the necessary speed of twenty-eight to thirty miles an hour on water. Before this achievement, snowmobiles were better known as “sinkers” if there was any significant stretch of water.

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It can get really lonely in the middle of a body of water as big as Lake Ontario. On the day of the crossing It was surprisingly calm in the middle once you got a few kilometres out from shore.

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n the 1970’s, there were so many stories of reckless snowmobilers skipping over short sections of open water, it was becoming more normal than not hearing about it. However, in the 1970’s, the stretches of water people were skipping on their snowmobiles usually wasn’t more than 50 feet. 100 feet was considered plain insanity.

In the Late 1970’s to early 1980’s, the Maki Brothers from Wisconsin began racing on water (skipping) and holding watercross competitions. With their success with this type of racing, competitions started to sprout up everywhere in the warmer months in the American Midwest, and watercross racing was recognized as a sport.

Across the melted North American Snowbelt, the sport emerged and the popularity of watercross took off, gaining respect from a unique bunch, and at the time they were better known as “daredevils”. Similar to the way the Midwest welcomed watercross competitions, as did the towns of Pendleton, New York and Jordan,

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Snowmobile watercross competitions really caught on by the late 70’s but nobody could even imagine going 34 miles on Lake Ontario.

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Ontario. Enthusiasts were drawn from far and wide to see snowmobiles cross water, with the hope of possibly seeing one sink.

During this period is when Henry Bieda noticed watercross racing, and being a daredevil type himself, he took to it.

Before Henry started watercross racing, he already had a successful racing career in snowmobile grass, drag, and ice oval racing. He also owned a Ski-Doo dealership. Using his basic know-how and technological knowledge, and drawing from his contacts, he started working out how he could go further on water than the others.

But his watercross racing days were not forever. After a few years of dominating every regional race, he started to lose interest in the sport. The challenge wasn’t what it once was, and his summertime hobby ended up on the shelf.

Taking a snowmobile across water never came to the forefront again for years to come. It wasn’t until Henry’s son, Stephen Bieda, won first place in a New York State Grass Drag Championship in 1987. After Stephen’s win, the local media interviewed him and asked the question, “what lies in the future for G.L.F. Racing?” (G.L.F. Racing was the race team that the Biedas belonged to, along with a few others) Stephen, humorously, let the local newspaper know that Henry’s (his father dream was to cross Lake Ontario on a snowmobile.

Stephen never thought anymore of the interview or the answer, and went home to Fenwick, Ontario.

The story and interviews of the winners of the grass drags was printed in the local New York State newspaper, and the story of Henry wanting to cross Lake Ontario “Wally” was a 1985 Formula SS fitted with a 521cc Rotax.

on a snowmobile blew up. Other newspapers jumped on the crazy idea of riding a snowmobile across Lake Ontario and were publishing more content on this daredevil from Fenwick, Ontario, Henry Bieda. Like all daredevil types, Henry felt obligated to do it once the news broke of his idea. He had to make this a reality. If not, he was just someone blowing smoke.

This idea/stunt sprouted legs and really started to come together. One of the employees at Henry’s dealership Paul Prudhomme and G.L.F. Racing team member, Gary “the doctor” Potyok began gathering parts and pieces of what they felt would be the ultimate watercross snowmobile.

By the spring of 1988, the excitement had built around the stunt, and everyone was anxious to test the 1985 Ski-Doo Formula SS, featuring a 1983 521cc Rotax engine, a lightweight chassis with a smooth aquadynamic type of bell pan (hull) and a custom seat by Miller’s Upholstery. The snowmobile was even appropriately nicknamed “Wally”. This is when and where Henry realized that he needed a location to water test “Wally”.

At this time, at the forefront of Henry’s mind was to silence all of his critics that said, “He’d have a better chance of making it to the moon than across Lake

In the back to the market When Sea-Doo came to be a dealer. ter wa the on be 1980’s you had to da.

Henry built Lake Bie

The lake also served as a perfect testing ground for water skipping which had some wondering why it was really built.

HANLON’S POINT

2 miles from shore a 2 foot wave from a passing boat nearly ended the trip.

TOTAL DISTANCE 34 MILES

PORT DALHOUSIE

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9” chop made crossing Lake Ontario

all that more interesting.

H

“Wally” was hitting speeds over 60MP

Ontario”. These types of comments and doubt didn’t sit well with the likes of Henry Bieda. In order to properly test “Wally”, he’d have to build himself a lake. He did and properly named it “Lake Bieda”.

Construction of the newly named 2000 feet long by 100 foot wide lake on his property was costly. To justify this expense, Henry stood behind the requirements in order to be a dealer for Bombardier’s newly introduced vehicle, Sea-Doo .

At the time, Bombardier was only issuing Sea-Doo dealerships to Ski-Doo dealers who had water access, such as a lake.

Before construction of Lake Bieda, Henry clarified with Bombardier that this new construction would properly classify his dealership as having water access and they agreed. Construction of the lake began and Henry was now a Sea-Doo dealer. However, those closest to him knew that the lake was important for testing in order to silence his critics, make unbelievers believers, and to show everyone that he could do the unthinkable.

Team G.L.F. found testing “Wally” to be more difficult than originally thought, and much more time consuming. Three months of suspension, clutching and

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engine development, not to mention the numerous drownings that “Wally” would endure. In order to really test the distance capabilities, the Team knew that they’d have to venture out to a larger body of water, and as luck would have it, a representative from the Welland Rose City Festival reached out. They heard of Henry’s plan to cross Lake Ontario and asked if he would be interested to put on a water skipping exhibition at the Festival. The seven mile exhibition run in the Welland Canal was the perfect test site.

With all of the excitement and hype of crossing Lake Ontario, others saw an opportunity to beat Henry to the punch.

When the summer of 1988 arrived, Henry was busy promoting “Tame the Lake”. Others wanted to jump on the coattails of the crossing, and Carl Speiring of Fast Company Racing, Andy Alexander and Joe Barrato of Fat Brothers Racing, started planning a Lake Ontario crossing as well. They called their attempt, “Tame the Lake Before Bieda”. In the end, neither Team could figure out the proper set-up for such a stunt.

As the summer dragged on, with plenty of media hype, Team G.L.F. began moni-

toring the marine forecasts from dusk till dawn, looking for optimum wave conditions. Unfortunately, there was six cancellations over this period, and many locals and media types grew highly skeptical of the crossing, calling it a hoax. On August 20th in Port Dalhousie, Ontario, the Team realized that this was probably going to be the best wave conditions that they would get on the Great Lake, and quickly made preparations.

From Port Dalhousie it was a straight shot (34 miles) across the lake to Toronto, with near perfect visibility conditions. This is when things took a turn. Everyone was getting ready for the crossings but were taken aback at what happened next. At precisely 6:11pm, nobody could have guessed what was about to unfold. There was a person heckling Henry, like what you would find at a pro sporting event, and this didn’t sit well with the daredevil. Henry jumped on “Wally” and literally took off across the lake, headed to Toronto without any warning, even forgetting his life jacket in order to silence all his critics, and now the hecklers. Even the support boat wasn’t aware or completely ready for this and had to catch up to “Wally”.

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Henry was an entertainer.

In the beginning, Henry had to hold on to the snowmobile as it crossed 9” chop on Lake Ontario before it settled down. While to many people, 9” chop may not seem like huge waves, but on a snowmobile, it is really significant. The further that Henry got from shore, the more the lake settled down and this is where he started to really squeeze the throttle. The 521cc Rotax was hitting speeds over 60 MPH and started to pull distance on the support boat which was a twin engine 32’ off-shore.

Thirty miles behind them and the shoreline in sight, the mission of crossing Lake Ontario was in grasp. With only two miles between the snowmobile and shore, one can only imagine that Henry Bieda was making a list in his mind of which one of the “nay-sayers” he should call first to silence when a boat crossed his path not too far away, sending a two-foot wave towards “Wally”. The heavily modified Ski-Doo Formula SS almost instantly shot straight up like a rocket being sent to the moon. The thought this being the end of the stunt, just a couple miles from shore, and then be taken out by a boat’s wave was unfathomable. As it turns out, there was just enough available throttle left in the 521cc Rotax to bring “Wally” out of, and back on top of the water one more time.

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ted to see

He knew what people wan

Bieda was one of the

Henry made land at Hanlan’s Point in Toronto, travelling from Lakeside Park in Port Dalhousie in forty-two minutes. When he safely brought the sled out of the water and stepped off after the crazy ride, there was no welcoming committee, no cameras, no media. This was due to the disbelief that anyone could cross Lake Ontario on a snowmobile. The only people that even approached Henry were a few bewildered drunk people that were more or less unimpressed by the feat. Team G.L.F. had a brief celebration, refuelled and mounted “Wally” to the boat, and returned to Port Dalhousie. With limited technology and

original snowmobil

e “dare devils”

no social media, everyone would have to wait to see the group return, to find out that what many believed to be impossible, was in fact possible.

Henry Bieda considered his “lake stunt” to be his greatest accomplishment ever on a snowmobile, and one that would never be duplicated…Thirty-three years later it has never been attempted again.

Watch for Part Two in the next issue of OSM, where Henry Bieda sets a World Record.

e r o t S y My To 347 Cranston Crescent, Midland, ON L4R 4K6 705.526.2248 • www.factoryrecreation.com ® TM and the BRP logo are trademarks of Bombardier recreational Products Inc. or its affiliates.

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Paul Prudhomme was instrumental with the success of Henry Bieda’s, Lake Ontario crossing. We were able to catch up with Paul to ask him a few questions about what lead up to the crossing and the actual crossing itself.

Currently, Paul works at BRP as the Global Product Manager, Parts & Accessories for Ski-Doo Snowmobiles & Can-Am On-Road. He is responsible for the existing parts and accessory line-up, along with developing the future accessory portfolios in conjunction with the new vehicles being produced.

Paul, you were very much involved with Henry’s crossing of Lake Ontario. What prompted you to want to be a part of this adventure?

I started working for Henry, cutting grass and doing odd jobs around the shop, which led to weekends attending the snowmobile grass drag races. Henry always talked about water skipping at Staff Farms in Jordan Ontario, and Pendleton NY. He always thought he could go much further on water than just a pond skip, and that one day he would take a sled across Lake Ontario. Of course, at that young age we were intrigued listening to him, but also thought he was a bit nuts. My role at the shop evolved and I started to work more in the parts department along with unboxing new snowmobiles and preassembly, and sales etc. My mechanical knowledge grew, and eventually I became a driver for one of his drag sleds. Henry continued to talk about his dream to cross Lake Ontario. In the fall of 1986, Henry’s son Stephen won the A stock final aboard the new 1987 Formula Plus, at the New York State Championship in Marilla NY. This was a huge victory for Ski-Doo and the dealership, as it had been dominated by Polaris for years.

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Henry was always a promotor, and with the race win, he contacted multiple newspapers to interview Stephen about the win. Henry’s dream to cross Lake Ontario on a snowmobile came out during one of the interviews. With the added attention brought upon himself, I spoke up and said I’m going to build a sled to do this.

I knew nothing about driving a sled on water, nor had I ever tried it myself.

The only thing I had ever seen was from my summer editions of Snow Week magazine, reading about the Grantsburg Championships in Wisconsin, and professional racers like Mark Maki, and Greg “Jaws” Balchin.

What were your responsibilities for preparing the sled for the water-crossing, and how did you make sure that this would happen?

I was the instigator in kicking the sled project off. At that time, I was able to disassemble and reassemble, but I didn’t know a lot of the technical aspects of engine calibration and clutching. I tore the sled down to a bare frame and started to reassemble with only the parts we would need to use the sled on water. Long-time friend Gary Potyok, who set up our winning 1987 Formula Plus, managed all the technical side regarding engine calibration, clutching etc. Every weekend and evening after school, I was at the shop working on the sled, it kind of became an obsession to get it running, and I hoped that it would work.

How much time did it take you to design and build the snowmobile?

And what were the needed modifications? I started on it in the late winter of 1987/ 1988. It was running on the grass a few months later, and we started testing on water in early spring.

My first job was to strip the sled down completely - engine; belly pan; cooling; oil injection; suspension track - basically down to the bare frame.

Anything that added weight and

MY FIRST JOB WAS TO STRIP THE SLED DOWN COMPLETELY - ENGINE; BELLY PAN; COOLING; OIL INJECTION; SUSPENSION TRACK - BASICALLY DOWN TO THE BARE FRAME. ANYTHING THAT ADDED WEIGHT AND WASN’T NEEDED TO RUN WAS REMOVED. I STARTED REASSEMBLY WITH A CALKING GUN IN HAND.

Paul Prudhomme with his son Jacob at Haydays 2021

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wasn’t needed to run was removed. I started reassembly with a calking gun in hand. Basically, any and all openings in the frame and belly pan were siliconed and sealed up. We installed the biggest engine we had available at the time; a stock 521cc with 40mm carbs, stock pipe with muffler removed, TRA primary clutch, pre-mixed gas and two fuel pumps in case one failed. We didn’t have much for track options back then, so we stuck with the stock 114” with a .725” lug, installed backwards, which was a trick we had done for drag racing for more traction.

Can you tell us about the testing you conducted, and how long you were in the testing phase? Was it all tested in the water? Our first tests where done on the grass. We had our own test track nearby, where we also tested our drag sleds.

Our first test on water was at Lowbanks in Lake Erie. We struggled to find a good area to take off, go some distance and be able to land, and at the same time, have smooth enough water to ride on. During our first test, we made it a few thousand feet, where we were eventually taken out by the waves. Then we would drag the sled out of the water, remove the plugs and start pulling it over to get the water out of the engine, and go again. Even though we sunk many times, the first sight of seeing it go on water was very cool. We would continue to go back to the Lowbanks a few

THE MULTIPLE SINKINGS DURING OUR TESTING MADE US ALSO REALIZE THE FOAM IN THE STOCK SEAT WAS NOT IDEAL. THE SEAT FOAM GAINED A TON OF WEIGHT AND WAS NOT EASY TO DRY OUT. WHEN THE SLED SANK, IT DROPPED LIKE A ROCK.

more times to try different calibrations. We had to upgrade the secondary clutch to the bigger bushing from a Stratos model as the stock SS bushing seemed to wear out easily. Clutch calibration and gearing were essential, as it was important for the drive system to run as cool as possible. We also experienced a lot of porpoising in the rough water, which made us stiffen up the rear skid, and remove the rear shock and replaced it with a solid rod.

The multiple sinkings during our testing made us also realize the foam in the stock seat was not ideal. The seat foam gained a ton of weight and was not easy to dry out. When the sled sank, it dropped like a rock.

June 12, 1988 was our first public event at the Welland Canal, in conjunction with the Welland Rose Festival, and the first real test of any type of distance. It was the longest journey of approx. 2km, with a turn that we had not completed yet. After doing that in front of a crowd, we realized that we had something that worked really well.

What was the reason for choosing the 1984 Ski-Doo SS 35 with a 1987 521cc Rotax engine?

When looking at the sleds Henry had to offer for the project, we felt the 1984 SS 25 was most interesting. It was the least sophisticated when it came to front and rear suspension (leaf spring). It was also smaller and lighter (no jackshaft), and the belly pan had a nice tub, like a boat hull with less chance for water intrusion, and………it was yellow! The Engine choice was simple. We used a stock 1987 521 formula plus engine with a stock single pipe and no muffler. It was the most powerful engine Ski-doo had available at the time, and we were very familiar with it from drag racing.

How did the Team pick the actual day for the crossing and what needed to transpire in order for it to be successful? How did it come to launching the SS? There was nothing specific about the actual date that we did it. We had been watching the weather and lake conditions for over a month. There was always some type of issue; too windy, waves, or rain. At

one point, it felt like it was never going to happen, as there was always something that wasn’t right. However, I do remember getting the call to say that it was a go.

Henry was on his boat in Port Dalhousie all day that day, watching the lake. They had the sled in the back of a truck at the marina. It was all very last minute; two chase boats, Henry and the sled would be dropped off at Lakeside Park Beach in Port Dalhousie. We then had to clear the swimmers away. Then it was a matter of firing the sled up, and then Henry went for it. He was so excited to take off, he forgot to put on a life jacket. We scrambled in the boats to take off and catch him, as we were not expecting him to leave so quickly.

The OPP where sitting offshore and they saw the commotion, and then a snowmobile passed by them. They chased us for about 15 miles but couldn’t catch us and were never to be seen again.

What did you feel was the largest obstacle?

The weather and lake conditions. It’s a big body of water, and things could change fast and easily sink us. For the sled, there was the potential for water intrusion hitting the drive belt, along with the life of the drive belt. Three quarters of the way across, we hit a huge wave from a passing freighter - definitely not something we were anticipating! It sent the sled vertical, but Henry was able to hold on.

Was there ever a time that you were concerned about safety?

And what precautions did you take? LOL, our biggest concern was not losing the sled! But we did build a custom seat, and the closed cell foam gave us about 30 seconds to latch onto it before it sank. Henry on the other hand, wasn’t called the Crazy Pollock for nothing. No helmet, forgetting his life jacket, but he did remember a set of ear-muffs.

Do you think it would be possible to cross Lake Ontario today?

It’s not something I would recommend, but on that day, we had the perfect conditions - a determined pilot, a sled that was set up perfectly to run on water, and a whole lot of luck! It’s a huge body of water with a lot more activity today, so things can change fast.

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BY: MIKE DUFFY

game and it’s a thinking at th is cing ili owmob ake good de mountain sn , you must m ed of ns ct al ai pe pe nt ex ap ou un e m art of th pect the ing in the ex t rid n us m he W ou Y ve gi ing. ror. it’s challeng esn’t always margin for er che terrain do be, you can ve yourself a an gi al d av an d s an on , n si ains it ca in the mount ur side, and y no when riding luck is on yo n avalanche. B he an W e . us ck ca ba to ed ople t fe in pe y od po r an so m very go e trigge st lucky, and ju and not hit th g it , e in ar ng do ro ou w be Y . t gs thin gs right d, so I mus rie t to bu en w sometimes do mean you’re doing thin be ven’t you. You an this ard often “I ha rseshoes implanted in ith he w er means does es ov m en co is ve ho trap. It’s be e day, and th , you just ha fall into this cisions for th doing it right de ’t ht en rig ar e u th yo g right”. No, u are makin know that yo . ng consciously ni ai and proper tr experience

P

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T

his experience doesn’t come fast; it takes many years to develop a good understanding of snowpack stability, route finding, and the factors that contribute to avalanches. It’s a lifetime of learning.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

One thing is for sure, you definitely don’t want to get caught in an avalanche. Trial and error is not the preferred or proper way to learn in avalanche terrain. Here are some proven techniques that increase your odds: Take an avalanche class and implement what you learn. I’ve said it again and again - education is the proven way to make a significant difference with motorized users. You’ll learn about the mistakes you had been making, and this will allow you to correct them. A common quote from my students is, “I learned what I was doing right and all the things I was doing wrong. “ It is sad to see, so many fatalities with the same mistakes being

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Danger Scale Be very familiar with the avalanche danger level before you head out. Being caught in an avalanche can be as avoidable as checking local conditions.

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repeated. Those with the knowledge, see and understand the problem. This helps them problem solve the issue and avoid it.

It’s important that you take the time to learn from an instructor with extensive experience.

CHECK THE AVALANCHE FORECAST.

Every day is different, and the weather can change rapidly.

Never think you know the weather, based on a long-range forecast. You have to know what you’re dealing with every day. The snowpack can change quickly and changes daily. I recommend the following websites for monitoring avalanches: Canada. www.avalanche.ca App: Avalanche Canada.

United States. www.avalanche.org App: Avalanche Forecasts.

QUALITY GEAR. IT COULD SAVE A LIFE.

Group ride Your group all has to work together and know where each other are at all times.

You don’t want to be effectively “riding solo”.

Inclinometer This small electronic inclinometer is great for checking the slop angle quickly.

Quality Shovel When you need shovel to move avalanche debris you are going to want to have invested in a good one. Remember you might only have one shot for a successful recovery and having the right tools is very important.

You need to have the right gear, and having the right gear means having quality gear. Make sure you have a shovel, probe and transceiver before you go out. This type of gear is not worth buying at the five and dime, as a $20 shovel was never intended for digging through avalanche debris. They can break in a matter of seconds, and you might be trying to save a life, so it’s important to have quality gear. When purchasing a shovel, it must be able to withstand shoveling in dense avalanche debris. If things go off the charts and you need to spend the night outside, ask yourself if you have the gear to spend the night out. Do you have the proper supplies and gear to perform first aid and get help to your location? Quality gear is lifesaving.

KNOWLEDGEABLE TRAINED RIDING PARTNERS. IT’S IMPORTANT !

Your riding partners will change the outcome of all situations, depending on their backcountry education. Bottom line: If something goes wrong, are your riding partners an asset or a liability?

Are your riding partners the ones creating problems? This is important to know.

COMMUNICATION .

Open talk amongst members, since all input is valued and very important. Use Technology like radios to communicate often, as this can significantly help with rescue efforts, relaying instability of the snow conditions, route finding and all-around keeping the group together.

ANALYZE ON THE FLY.

Better yet, stop and analyze the terrain and avalanche conditions before proceeding. Going nonstop at a fast pace, we can miss valuable clues to instability. Its human instinct to get tunnel vision and miss what is really happening. You want to know where the wind loading is; identify terrain traps; slope angle; aspect; where other riders are; escape routes; plan B’s, and consequences. It’s a fast-paced thinking game. Be looking above you to see what is happening. Have a good “sphere of awareness”.

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BACK OFF WHEN PERSISTENT SLABS ARE PRESENT.

I can’t emphasize this enough. Some years, almost all motorized avalanche fatalities are the result of riding on, or under a slope with a persistent slab problem. It’s pure luck if you don’t trigger an avalanche in these conditions. All you have to do is hit a weak or thin spot. If you want a long career of riding in the mountains, you avoid avalanche slopes with this problem.

This doesn’t mean we stay at home; we simply pick the right terrain for the day and avoid the areas where persistent slabs are a problem.

Broken Buy quality gear, don’t waste your money on gear that may not stand up to the task.

MANAGE YOUR GROUP.

Here are 5 guidelines for riding in avalanche terrain.

1 2

One at a time on, or under avalanche slopes. You don’t want any congestion in case of a slide. Multiple burials can easily lead to fatalities.

3

When you are going into avalanche terrain, have a plan. Who’s going first, who’s going last, what slope, what and where is the escape route, where are you stopping and where is it safe to stop.

4 5

Never go above your partner and be sure to get of the way if you are below. If you are above your riding group, you could trigger an avalanche above them. Another tip is to never park where you can get hit by an avalanche.

Always alter your riding, according to the danger.

Have a voice or visual on every rider. Not only does the buddy system work, it’s also important to follow.

AN INCLINOMETER WILL GIVE YOU ESSENTIAL INFORMATION OF THE SLOPE ANGLE, AND WHETHER YOU ARE IN AVALANCHE TERRAIN.

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Airbag + airbags deployed + airbag kit Airbags like this one offer a system with two independent airbags and offers immediate access to shovel, probe and first aid kit with a single handle. When you go out you should have a pack with all the right stuff.

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WORK AS A TEAM!

The entire riding group needs to be accountable for each other.

There are too many riders that meet up and start riding together, but then become independent. This is a dangerous practice, and a group that does this are essentially riding solo and meeting “a group” intermittently. You and everyone that you are riding with must be accountable to one another.

link Proper communication always speeds up rescue efforts. Using radios like these can help keep everyone on the same page working as a proper unit.

KNOW YOUR SLOPE ANGLES AND KNOW YOUR RUN OUT ZONES.

This is one tool that is used by avalanche professionals all the time. Believe it or not it, an inclinometer isn’t used often enough by recreational riders. An inclinometer will give you essential information of the slope angle, and whether you are in avalanche terrain.

There is even an app that works: search “avalanche inclinometer” by Iterum, LLC. If you practice with inclinometer, you will get much better at guessing slope angles on the fly.

HERE IS A DAILY STARTING ROUTINE THAT LEADS TO SUCCESS.

Step 1:

Read Avalanche Forecast.

• Identify the avalanche problems.

• How are the problems managed?

Step 2:

Weather. Is it contributing to the danger?

• Is the weather adding more weight by: snow, rain, blowing snow, or rapid warming that could trigger avalanches or make the slope more likely to slide?

• Low visibility? Can you see clues or the terrain above?

Step 3:

Eliminate areas after checking avalanche and weather forecasts.

• These are the areas we are not riding today.

• Communicate and discuss with group.

Step 4:

Gear check.

• Including full transceiver check, airbags, radios.

IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY TO START PREPARING FOR A GREAT WINTER NOW!

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Beacon There is no excuse for not having a beacon on you when you go out. When deciding on which one is best for you, make sure you look at the battery lifetime and maximum circular receiving range. This particular unit also features an inclinometer.

Who’s Mike Duffy?

We’re glad you asked. Mike is professional avalanche educator, a certified instructor of the American Avalanche Association and teaches at the American Avalanche Institute, Alaska Avalanche School and Silverton Avalanche School. He is also the Rescue and avalanche team leader of the Vail Mountain Rescue Group. A Graduate of the National Avalanche School, National Academy of Winter Guiding, AVPRO & Professional Avalanche Search & Rescue. Mike has been a mountain snowmobiler for 25 years and has provided training for Arctic Cat, Polaris, Ski-Doo, FBI, Seal Team 2, guides and mountain rescue teams.

He’s a backcountry guide and riding instructor and also owns Avalanche1.com, which provides avalanche training across North America.

Always visit www.Avalanche1.com , on Instagram Avalanche1.colorado and on Facebook Avalanche1 for more information

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INDUSTRY 411

Elka Suspension OSM Magazine sitsdownwithElka

E

lka Suspensions was originally established by two brothers, Martin and Jean-Francois Lamoureux and their friend Marc-Andre Kingsley. The trio opened the doors to Elke Suspensions in September 2000.

Before the trio were manufacturing shocks, the Lamoureux brothers were only rebuilding dirt bike shocks and Kingsley focused more on the financial/office aspects of the business.

The three came up with the idea that there was an enormous market if they were to create and sell their own brand of shock absorber.

The original company name was “LK”, simply the first letter of each of their last names (Lamoureux and Kingsley). The renamed the company “Elka” quickly after naming it “LK”. The reasoning was simple; in the French language and many other languages around the world, “LK” is pronounced Elka. The founders of the company preferred both the spelling and the pronunciation of “Elka”, and they went with it.

Their first shock absorbers that they were selling were only for sport model ATVs. As Elka’s market share grew, the owners attributed the success to the three main pillars of the company; quality products, fast delivery times and personalized customer service.

In the beginning, the Elka Suspension facility consisted of the three-man team in a 2,000 square foot garage in Boucherville, QC. There was no job too small. They would

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all answer the phones, take orders, machine the parts, and custom build the shocks to the rider’s requested specifications. Elka’s market share grew quickly, which forced their hand to expand the company. By 2004, given that they experienced a larger than expected growth over the first four years, the head office had to relocate to a larger office space and Elka moved to a larger facility, but kept a Boucherville, QC address.

To this point in Elka’s history, the feeling was that a lot of the increased sales up until 2004, was attributed to international race sponsorships. Elka was sponsoring ATV Racers such as William Yokley, Chad Duvall, Doug Gust, Doug Eichner, Wayne Matlock and multiple time Canadian champ, Richard Pelchat. Over these years, Elka has sponsored racers that have had numerous race wins and championship titles like the Score Baja 1000, Grand National CrossCountry (GNCC), AMA ATV-MX, the Dakar Rally and many more.

Elka never lost their recipe for success, and has kept close to this winning formula of sponsoring high profile riders to this day. Reigning champions Beau Baron (WORCS Pro ATV & SxS), Joel Hetrick (AMA ATV-MX), brothers Cody and Hunter Miller (King of the Hammers) and Mike Cafro (Score Baja) are all sponsored by Elka Suspensions.

More Diversity = More Contracts = Bigger Company By the mid 2000s, Elka made the move to diversify itself from the ‘sport only’ ATVS, to also include sport utility ATVs, side-by-sides and sport motorcycles. The side-by-side market was a very interesting segment for Elka as they transformed a relatively stiff-riding utility vehicle into a very comfortable machine, and later adapted this technology into the massive sport and racing side-by-side class of vehicle.

Further diversification was welcomed in 2007 with the addition of shock absorbers for snowmobiles, and also in 2010 with the Can-Am Spyder. Since then, Elka stayed on the fuel, securing military and para-military contracts and contracts from Arctic Cat (Wildcat X Limited, Wildcat Trail, Wildcat 4), domestic importers of CF Moto (Canada and Russia) and Intimidator Side-by-Side vehicles.

A natural new segment was found by the company’s executives in 2017; shock absorbers (both on and off-road) for light trucks. This new market would offer the greatest market depth, with the potential to be larger than all of its powersports markets combined.

Immediately, Elka started manufacturing shocks for the Toyota Tacoma and the 4Runner. By 2019, an American company, Toytec was relying on Elka to provide their high-volume shock absorbers. After this partnership with Toytec, their light truck shock orders exploded. More lift kit manufacturers contacted Elka, and the light truck line-up expanded to include Ford, Nissan, Ram, Chevrolet and GMC trucks.

Not surprisingly, by 2020, the platform of products for trucks has continued to grow, outpacing powersports, and now the truck line-up also includes a line of shocks for Jeep.

Today, Elka distributes around the world, and has more than 50 employees employed at Elka’s head office in R&D, purchasing, production, sales, marketing, administration and human resources. Through the years, Elka remains true to its original mission: to provide the ultimate ride experience to powersports and automotive enthusiasts through shock absorbers, adapted and calibrated for their vehicle’s geometry.

ON SNOW MAGAZINE • VOL 36 • ISSUE 2

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gear

1

>>>>>>>>

CASTLE X FREEDOM MONOSUIT

Looking for a high-quality monosuit, well we recommend you check out the Freedom suit from Castle X. With their fully waterproof high-performance nylon and polyester linear and waterproof zipper you will stay dry the whole day on the snowmobile. This suit is also extremely breathable with the Comfort-Flow™ polyester mesh line making it comfortable on a day on the trail or in the backcountry. Part of Castle’s Back Country Series which is designed to excel in both on and off the trail riding conditions. The Freedom Monosuit has a 3-Year Warranty. With also having reinforced memory foam padding in the suit where contact is made to the seat and panels this suit is very comfortable to wear. Also with a quickly removable hood, there is no bunch up in the neck area. Become a king and get yourself a castle suit at www.castle.com

>>>>>>

2

DAYCO CVT BELTS

Every sled needs a spare belt, and Dayco offers a full line of premium CVT belts that ensure high performance and long life. Designed and engineered by Dayco’s very own Powersports enthusiasts, the team has belts that are specialized for every engine size and horsepower range. With more than 200 part numbers to choose from, Dayco’s CVT belts provide you with a range of high-performance, premium options specific to your level of riding, whether you prefer leisure trail riding or extreme sports.

Dayco HPX® Belt – Engineered for snowmobile applications with mid-to-high horsepower engines between 350cc-600cc and minimal upgrades/modifications Dayco XTX™ Belt – Developed for higher-performing snowmobile applications with over 600cc and over 120HP engines with moderate performance upgrades. For more information on Dayco’s full line of snowmobile belts visit www.daycobelts.com

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>>>>>>>>

3

ROUSKI GEN 3 RETRACTABLE WHEELS Please save your carbides! Kimpex is offering the Rouski Gen 3 Retractable Wheels that can help you manoeuvre in gas stations, roadways and garages, saving you from hearing that horrible carbide scraping sound. Kimpex made these wheels easy and effortless to use with a handle on the back of the wheel to pull up and a selfretractable mechanism, so when you lift a ski off the ground the wheel retracts. Kimpex stands behind their product offering a 1-year warranty on the whole assembly.

There is no need to be pulling your snowmobile around gas stations and hotel parking lots anymore. Just drop your wheels, and roll in like a champ. Check out www. kimpex.com for more info.

gear

4

THE TITIAN >>>>> TRAIL AND BACKCOUNTRY

Ride long distances onto the trails with the CKX Titan Original, the only fully configurable snowmobile helmet. Not only does it adjust to your riding style, but it is also easy to customize for your level of activity and the changing weather conditions. Specially packaged for the trail in the box, you need only remove the insulation parts and replace the goggle frame (included) to have a helmet suited to active backcountry driving. No need to remove your helmet at break time, thanks to Titan’s unique removable muzzle. Take advantage as well of an exceptional field of vision with the 210° goggles. The shape of the goggles matches the helmet’s opening perfectly to provide additional protection against the snow and cold. You want it with a heated lens? No problem. You purchase the transformation packages or go directly for the Black Titan Electric Combo which includes the heated lens. Get yours before the winter comes at www.CKX.com

FXR BOOST FX

FXR has introduced their all new FXR Boost FX Jacket featuring upgraded F.A.S.T. 3.0 ™ Technology with increased buoyancy properties. Warm enough for the coldest trail and lake days but versatile enough to keep you cool during aggressive off-trail and ditch riding. The Boost FX is the ultimate mid-west winter weapon. The 2-in-1 removable liner is complemented with premium components and construction, giving you the fit, feel & quality that you expect from FXR, now with even more protection. This jacket is perfect for the rider that does a little bit of everything. Check it out at www.fxr.com

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>>>>>

5

6

IGNITER-HEATED GLOVES BY FLY RACING

Are you always complaining your hands are freezing? May we suggest you take a look at the igniter-heated gloves by Fly. With 3-adjustable heat levels with easy to see lights to indicate with settings they are on they can be changed easily on the Fly you can find the perfect heat level. Also with Fly’s Hipora membrane liner these gloves are waterproof, windproof and easily breathable. These gloves are touch screen compatible so you can work your display, GPS or even your phone without taking off these gloves. To charge these gloves there is 2 lithium lightweight battery that uses a wall adaptor to charge them to make it quick and simple to charge when on trips or pull into the restaurant on a cold day. www.Flyracing.com

>>>>>>

7

PRESCRIPTION GOOGLES BY PRO-VUE

If you wear glasses and have trouble finding the right Google setup, then take a look at Pro-Vue. They have been building prescription goggles for people across North America since 1989. The newest is the 100% Accuri2 OTG goggle, which is available in five frame colors and about a dozen goggle lens tints. The prescription lenses are available in a variety of options and prices for a complete goggle start at $229US. The prescription goggle is also compatible with Pro-Vue’s exclusive Snap Lens System which allows you to quickly change the lens from the frame quickly and efficiently. You can see everything Pro-Vue has in their full line-up at www.pro-vue.com

NAVATEX STUDDED BOOTS

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P O S I Tfarm I O N R Oor T A T around ING GR IP Work hard and go further, be it on2the the house, check out these Navatex Studded Boots. These boots have grips on the bottoms that fold into the boot when not in use than can be easily flipped around when out on slippery surfaces. With their anti-slip system, you will feel safe going over any icy surfaces with lots of different options to choose from. Check out their website at www.navatex.ca and see what boots will fit your style.

Waterproof Removable Liner Grip-Key Included Lace System

GR IP-OFF POSI T ION

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gear

KLIM RIFT JACKET

9

>>>>

KLIM has stepped up their game this season in releasing the new Rift Jacket. Using a new flotation foam with perforated holes acting like GORE-TEX this coat helps you stay on top of the water if ever breaking through the ice. KLIM is calling this system Ascent Float System (AFS). They have released this coat as a trail coat being one of their warmest coats offered yet. KLIM was able to keep their great GORE-TEX protection material which makes the product so renounce. The GORE-TEX helps the coat to be breathable but at the same time waterproof. KLIM claims you can stay afloat with just this flotation coat. Also, the Ascent Coat has a snow skirt keeping snow and wind from coming up the coat making the person cold. KLIM has also updated their zippers putting 3 layers of fabric over to help with cold zippers. Also, KLIM has added drainage vents inside this jacket to help moister escape helping to reduce any dampness.

Available in a variety of colors, this coat would be a great investment and may even save your life one day. Get yours today at www.Klim.com

KEY FEATURES 2-layer DRYOsphere membrane Shell construction Kidney stretch panels Glove-friendly zips Snow cuffs & gaiters Insulated mobile pocket Heavy duty reinforced instep Available in 4 colourways

10

SCOTT BACK-X DRYO MONOSUIT

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The new SCOTT Back-X Dryo Monosuit comes packed with great features and cutting-edge designs. Constructed using the perfect blend of light and soft fabrics, this shell Monosuit is perfect for all-round backcountry use. A Fully taped 2-layer outershell, snow cuffs and WaterR treatment zippers will work to keep out unwanted snow, whilst the breathable mesh lining with ventilated 3D mesh and the direct ventilation system help you cool down when the action heats up.

Snowmobile – Motoneige NB

President’s Report

Snowmobile-Motoneige New Brunswick (SMNB) has more to offer the traveller and local snowmobiler alike than ever before. With over 8000kms of pristine, groomed, maintained and signed snowmobile trails, you can plan your day trip or week-long trip and never cover the same trail twice. The geography of New Brunswick allows for a variety of views and types of trails, whether you enjoy mountains, seascapes, open fields, or trails with gorgeous evergreen trees towering over you.

Volunteers are the backbone of SMNB, with 49 member clubs powering 79 groomers across the province, volunteers spend an average of 1.2 million volunteer hours a year on their commitment to the enjoyment and safety of the sport they love. There are 9 clubhouses in New Brunswick, right on the trails, offering various amenities from warmth, gas, and food, to fundraising events for the enjoyment of members and visitors alike. SMNB Clubs maintain over 100 trailside Shelters, strategically placed right where you need them when you want to get in out of the weather and get warmed up by the wood stove.

New Brunswick is in the unique position of bordering Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Maine (USA) and enjoys entertaining visitors from these areas as well as from as far away as Texas and Sweden! The reports that we hear back from visitors make us proud of our trails as well as our citizens, who are known world-wide for being courteous, friendly and helpful.

SMNB employs a full-time Trail Manager who works continuously with our volunteer clubs to ensure that grooming, maintenance and signage on all of our trails meet SMNB’s high standards. In the past 10 years, SMNB clubs have installed over 100 Permanent Signs Structures (PSS) at critical trail junctions. Each PSS has

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signage directing the permit holder to trails intersections, shelters and services accessible by a managed snowmobile trail.

When trip planning, we have several options to assist you. We have a traditional paper map, which you will receive with your Trail Permit Purchase, it is also available from any of our Corporate Partners, member clubs, Service New Brunswick outlets, and our SMNB Office. For your phone, you can download from the App Store or Play Store “GoSnowmobiling NB”. This year, the base model of the App is free, with optional paid upgrades. The new App will be available for download on October 15th, 2021. We also have a download for your GPS Garmin system, available from Trakmaps.com. On our website, www.snowmobilenb. com, click on “Trails & Tours” to access our interactive mapping system and see every snowmobile trail in NB and its groomer status. In season, as the groomers are maintaining the trails, make sure “Last Groomed” is clicked off on the Legend so that you can see how long it has been since the trails have been groomed by the colour of the trail. For example, a trail that is coloured green has been groomed in the last 1 to 2 days.

This year SMNB has launched a new online snowmobile training course, it is very user-friendly and informative look for the link on our website. You can do the course entirely online, print off your certificate immediately and hit the trails.

These are very exciting times for SMNB! New name, new logo, new office, new training course, same great trails and Maritime friendliness as always! We extend to you an invitation to come enjoy New Brunswick this winter, you will NOT be disappointed!

Ride Safe, Ride Smart

www.snowmobilenb.ca

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Rapport du Président

Snowmobile-Motoneige NouveauBrunswick (SMNB) a plus à offrir aux voyageurs et aux motoneigistes locaux que jamais auparavant. Avec plus de 8000 km de sentiers de motoneige idéals, surfacés, entretenus et signalisés, vous pouvez planifier votre randonnée d’une journée ou un voyage d’une semaine, sans jamais repasser sur le même sentier.

La géographie du Nouveau-Brunswick offre toute une variété de panoramas et de types de sentiers, que vous aimiez les montagnes, les paysages marins, les grands champs ou les sentiers avec de merveilleux conifères qui vous regardent d’en haut.

Les bénévoles sont la véritable épine dorsale de la SMNB, avec 49 clubs

membres qui propulsent 79 surfaceuses à travers la province ; les bénévoles consacrent une moyenne de 1,2 million d’heures de bénévolat par année dans leur dévouement au plaisir et à la sécurité du sport qu’ils aiment tant. Il y a 9 pavillons au Nouveau-Brunswick, juste à côté des sentiers, et qui offrent une variété de commodités, y compris de la chaleur, de l’essence, de la nourriture et des activités de financement pour l’amusement des membres et des visiteurs. Les clubs de la SMNB maintiennent plus de 100 abris le long des sentiers et qui sont placés stratégiquement là où vous en avez besoin quand vous voulez vous éloigner de la météo et vous réchauffer près d’un poêle à bois.

Le Nouveau-Brunswick est dans la position unique de faire frontière avec la Nouvelle-Écosse, le Québec et le Maine (États-Unis) et nous aimons bien recevoir des visiteurs de ces régions, ainsi que ceux d’ailleurs qui viennent d’aussi loin que du Texas et de la Suède ! Les rapports que nous recevons des visiteurs nous rendent fiers de nos sentiers ainsi que de nos citoyens ; nous sommes reconnus à l’échelle mondiale comme étant courtois, sympathiques et obligeants.

La SMNB a un Gérant des Sentiers qui travaille continuellement avec nos clubs bénévoles pour s’assurer que le surfaçage, l’entretien et la signalisation de tous nos sentiers respectent les normes élevées de la SMNB. Au cours des 10 dernières années, les clubs de la SMNB ont installé plus de 100 Structures de signalisations permanentes (SSP) aux intersections critiques des sentiers. Chaque SSP contient la signalisation indiquant la voie aux détenteurs de permis vers les intersections de sentiers, les abris et les services accessibles via un sentier de motoneige aménagé.

Lorsque vous planifiez une randonnée, nous avons plusieurs options pour vous aider. Nous avons une carte traditionnelle

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que vous recevrez avec l’achat de votre permis de sentiers ; elle est également disponible auprès de tous nos Partenaires corporatifs, de nos clubs membres, des comptoirs de Services Nouveau-Brunswick et à notre bureau de la SMNB. Avec votre téléphone, vous pouvez télécharger à partir de l’App Store ou du Play Store “GoSnowmobiling NB”. Cette année, le modèle de base de l’Appli est gratuit, avec des mises à jour payantes. La nouvelle Appli sera disponible pour téléchargement à compter du 15 octobre 2021. Nous avons également un téléchargement pour votre système GPS Garmin, disponible au Trakmaps.com. Sur notre site web, www. snowmobilenb.com, cliquez sur « Sentiers et Randonnées » pour avoir accès à notre système de cartographie interactive et pour voir tous les sentiers de motoneige au NB et leur état de surfaçage. Durant la saison, à mesure que les surfaceuses entretiennent les sentiers, assurez-vous de cliquer « Surfacés récemment » pour voir combien de temps s’est passé depuis que les sentiers ont été surfacés selon la couleur associée au sentier. À titre d’exemple, un sentier qui est coloré vert aura été surfacé il y a seulement de 1 à 2 jours.

Cette année, la SMNB a lancé un nouveau cours de formation en ligne sur la motoneige ; c’est très convivial et informatif – consultez le lien sur notre site web. Vous pouvez suivre le cours entièrement en ligne, imprimer votre certificat immédiatement et attaquer les sentiers.

C’est une période très excitante pour la SMNB ! Nouveau nom, nouveau logo, nouveau bureau, nouveau cours de formation, même sentiers merveilleux et l’amabilité des Maritimes, comme toujours ! Nous vous invitons à venir vous amuser au Nouveau-Brunswick cet hiver, vous NE SEREZ PAS déçus !

Conduite sécuritaire, conduite intelligente

www.snowmobilenb.ca

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OCTOBER 21-23, 2022

INTERNATIONAL CENTRE • www.torontosnowmobileatvshow.com

23RD ANNUAL KELLY SHIRES BREAST CANCER SNOW RUN

2020 certainly had its challenges but the pink family totally rocked it! While 2021 continues to throw all the pandemic related feels at us, the one thing that has not changed is the need to raise funds for those battling breast cancer across Canada.

2021 started off where 2020 ended but we have seen an improvement on the return of “getting back to normal”.

Regardless of whether we are in person or whether we will be virtual this year the event will take place in February 2022.

We are hopeful that we will be visiting our friends at Hidden Valley Resort once again.

Last February the event moved to a virtual platform and took place over the whole month of February. We have received many questions on upcoming events and more specifically upcoming IN PERSON events (we so cannot wait for that to happen).

There is potential that this year we may see a similar format roll out that we saw last February or may be a hybrid event of sorts – please refer to our website or facebook group for the most up to date information. All this being said, Our Ontario Event Committee is in full swing preparing for our 23rd Annual Kelly Shires Breast Cancer Snow Run. Both the charity and physical event have become well known throughout the years with its unique all-women snowmobiling theme (but we are all for equal opportunity and want to make sure we

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give credit where its due - to the amazing guys that support us (even though the ride is normally just for the ladies).

You may have heard of this event before, but we would like to share our story with you. Close to Christmas in 1996 Kelly Shires found a lump on her breast and she did not procrastinate.

She immediately visited her doctor and they determined right away she had breast cancer. Kelly was also newly pregnant at the time and the doctors decided it was necessary to terminate the pregnancy and began a whirl wind of surgeries and on-going chemotherapy.

From the beginning Kelly experience firsthand all of the realities that come along with a diagnosis and treatment plan and Kelly wanted to do something right away to the help others in the same or similar situation. This is where the idea for the ‘Snow Run” was born and that is when Kelly and Suzy Stenoff teamed up and launched its first Kelly Shires Breast Cancer Snow Run for fun in January 2000.

Much has changed since that first year, the momentum for the charity continues to grow over the years. Kelly’s cancer was in remission for a short time but then came back and this time also moved into her bones and liver, she never stopped her chemotherapy. 2004 was the last event that Kelly rode in, she was not feeling well but she never let that get in the way and was always smiling no

matter what. Not only did she ride in this event, but she also led one of the teams and at her last Snow Run she would see it raise over $250,000. A big leap from the $10,000 raised just 5 years earlier. On October 31, 2004, Kelly lost her long hard battle with breast cancer but continues to be an inspiration to us all. Losing Kelly was a devastation to everyone around her but it was also a lesson in determination, strength and that together we can accomplish anything.

During the past 23 years, this “little” volunteer driven charity alongside with the enthusiastic snowmobilers who participate, the extraordinary sponsors and amazingly dedicated volunteers have raised over $7.4 million dollars.

Expanding Kelly’s dream, in 2010, Tracey Guthrie (who lost her battle with breast cancer in June 2016) and Suzy Stenoff co-founded an ATV event in support of the charity (www.trax4bc.com). Let’s not forget the Fore the Love of Pink annual golf tournament organized. Last year the Ontario Snow Run event raised over $410,000.00 thanks to the hard work of our participants and generous Sponsors.

There are many reasons why someone may want to get involved or why they would want to come and participate. Our annual raffle will still be taking place and tickets are at Royal Distributing locations for only $10 for your chance to win:

1st prize – 2022 SkiDoo Renegade Sport 600 EFI donated by Factory Recreation in Midland and BRP 2nd - $500 Gift Certificate at Royal Distributing donated by Royal Distributing 3rd – Two-night stay at Hidden Valley Resort donated by Hidden Valley Resort

Kelly Shires Breast Cancer Snow Run

DONATION FORM

Over the years the charity has grown and has helped hundreds of breast cancer patients across Canada.

In honour of all who we have lost to breast cancer, all of the courageous warriors currently battling the disease and in memory of Kelly, we are going to continue doing this Kelly style and that means “‘Dancing like Nobody’s Watching”.

To find out more about the event, register or make a donation please visit www.breastcancersnowrun.org For information on the financial assistance program please visit www.kellyshiresfoundation.org

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ON SNOW MAGAZINE • VOL 36 • ISSUE 2

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Dual chambers with 3MTM Thinsulate for comfort on cold and warmer days. Adult S-3XL

Waterproof with superior warmth and value.

Youth S-XL

Lightweight, double lens helmet with removable, washable liner. Youth XS-L

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24999

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17999

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4999

$

$

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Lightweight with superior fit and comfort provided by 2 shell sizes and ventilation. Adult XS-5XL

Advanced modular design with easy one-handed jaw-opening switch.

Adult XS-5XL

Fully adjustable from 6.8” to 10.7”to fit most ski applications.

Mount on any snowmobile with a 7/8” bar.

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74

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34

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Incredibly strong and flexible allowing you to go forward or reverse.

99

Lightweight and compact cover that’s easy to place in sled trunk.

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Specifically engineering to maximize performance, strength, and dependability.

54999

Amazing handling and traction with superior durability.

Exclusive to Royal Distributing!

WOLFTECH SHOCKS MAXX SEAT COVERS WOLFTECH BEARING KITS WOLFTECH AGM BATTERIES WOLFTECH THROTTLE CABLES WOLFTECH STARTER MOTORS WOLFTECH IGNITION COILS WOLFTECH CARB REPAIR KITS WOLFTECH VOLTAGE REGULATORS WOLFTECH LEAD ACID BATTERIES

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SNOW

2022 SX VENOM Yamaha’s perfect beginner option to get into snowmobiling this winter.

121” Camso Hacksaw track I Electronic reverse I Lightweight Alloy Chassis

Discover More Yamaha – Genuine Parts & Accessories, Service and Finance Professional rider depicted on closed course. The riders shown are highly skilled, professional riders, and their actions are not intended to be duplicated in any way. Ride within the limits of your skills and experience, never beyond them. Never engage in stunt driving or riding. Avoid excessive speed. Always wear required and/or recommended riding gear. Never drive or ride under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Ride safely, respect and protect the environment, and observe all provincial and local laws. Beginners should be extremely cautious and allow extra time and distance for manoeuvring and braking. Yamaha recommends taking an approved training course. Read your owner’s manual and product labels, and inspect your Yamaha vehicle before operation. Some U.S. models and/or optional accessories may be shown.