Leaderboard

Well the time has arrived. We got the band back together and tomorrow we hit the trails. Myself along with Snohorse, kwiknick and NHmoose are northbound. Sleds are all tucked away in the garage at Chez Ice. Gear is sorted and now we are just enjoying the evening catching up. We have a general direction and no set plan after monday. Tomorrow to Windigo and then Lac Faillon after that we shall see. Feels good to be switched off and getting ready to put on my snowmobile with the Team. Cannot wait to get going.

Here a must-see if you are in Lanaudière area from now to the 17th february 2019 (and maybe a bit longer): the ice sculpture festival from St-Côme I did this small video yesterday, sorry for the snow in my lens in some sequences, conditions were not the best for filming but i'm pretty sure you will enjoy the results anyway Alain

Wow Back already! Gee I'm looking forward to getting retired now like you Looking forward to reports. More snow coming as well.

Two machines wouldn't start in Temiscamingue Thur. morn @ -30. Local fellow went home got his booster and one still didn't start. After 11/2 hrs. and some heat from a blow dryer second one started. He refused cash-wouldn't take it-drove a wood chip truck to Rayonier mill in Temisk.! Got into Rapide-Sept @ 5 o'clock & -23-guys were chilled. No longer licensed so owner went to his private stash-poured each rider @ shot of rum & once again didn't want to take $-we forced him to!

Maybe BRP, Artic Cat and Polaris should be let known of what is going on. I'm not leaving out Yamaha for any reason except they don't push back country sleds like the rest. If there are no trails in Quebec I'm not going back to tug hill. The sales personal should tell customers about the issues that are happening. Only an idea.

Amos etc. fantastic-never seen as much neige in over 20 years of riding there-spectaculaire!

It almost seems to me that snowmobiling is coming full circle. Before clubs and actual trail systems, in my area we used to go almost any where and had packed down rough trails amazingly long distances. Nobody cared much about whose property you passed on BUT mainly because everyone had a machine or two. Pass on my property, no problem, cause i’m Passing on yours too. A main local trail came down the lake, up my front lawn and down my driveway to get to another lake and into the village, no one asked me it just was. Not long after with the start of clubs and the promise of grooming, we were slow to get on board, why should we pay to travel on the routes we and others had established? How things changed and I wouldn’t go back but in some ways it seems that we are back to the beginning with the industry actually producing snowmobiles that can go anywhere again and not get stuck on anything but packed/ plowed routes. Only difference is not every one owns / embrace snowmobiles and light weight and flotation has been replaced with raw power and Tracks that shovel snow. All this to say IMO, banning or limiting track length, paddle depth will only keep that segment in a Rouge state. They are not going away. Far better to encourage that segment of the sport to be part of an organized group to educate about the private land issues and buy passes for the trails if they are not now and at lease get revenue from them to help with the trails they tear up so fast.

Our last ride for this trip. Joe Jak is riding with us today. Friday is always a good day to go to the truck stop in MIlot. The map shows the groomer was out on 373 last night. Yep that is our lunch stop for today. Out of the corral and across the bridges. It is still cool this morning but the trail is fine. We take 367 to 93 and then up 554. Everything is so nice. A minimal amount of drifting overnight in the fields. At Relais des Lacs Sandi and Joe switch sleds. Joe has a 137" with the 600R and Sandi wants to compare it to her 129". It is 328 to 553 and up thru the blueberry fields. Sandi is running right along and Joe and myself are in the dust. We get on 367 and take a break at Mont Vilain. One of our favorite stops here even if it is just for coffee or hot chocolate. Sandi says that she likes the 129" just a little better. She says that she can go thru the corners a little faster. Well, that is why they make so many different sleds. Back on the sleds and down on Lac Tchitogama we go. Plenty of snow here. We get to the other side and we are now on 373. Like the map showed, it is smooth. Only a couple of tracks ahead of Sandi. Bill mentioned there is logging operations in here. About ten miles in and the trail is plowed. There is a little sand on top of the snow packed road. It only lasts for a mile and we are back in the woods. A little further on and there is another half mile stretch. I can live with that. The loggers are nice enough to let us have trails. We pull into the truck stop. It always amazes me out here in the middle of nowhere there will be forty to fifty people here having lunch. The lunch special you can't beat at $12.95 plus taxes and tip. Soup, meal, dessert and coffee is a bargain. The food is good here. Back on the sleds and we keep going on 373. We get to the new intersection where 373 continues on to Girardville and trail 900 drops back down to St Augustin . I want to ride this new trail some day but not today. We turn onto the 900. Hardly a bump to be felt. We get on 93 and stop at the Depanneur in St Henri and top off the tanks. It is getting cooler again. At lunch it was warming up but now the sun is getting lower and the temperature is dropping. Brrr! It has been cold here this week and today is no different. Sandi is off and we are in chase. The big fields around Alma have some minor drifting but just the sides of the trail. Thru St Nazaire and St Ambroise we go. The sun is getting lower now and Sandi likes to be in before dark. The long straight away by Le Geant Trailers and she is gone. Down the little drop and into the scrubby trees. Sandi is leaning in the corners now. The snow dust is hanging in the air. Wow the groomer made a pass between the two bridges today. What a nice way to end the trip. We are back at the Delta just as the sun is going down. We made it back. This season is turning out to be one of the best in years. With snow cover all over the Northeast, low traffic from what we have seen and cold temps so the trails stand up after the groomer is making for wonderful conditions. Thanks for following along with us. It has been a good trip. I didn't have to go to the SkiDoo or Chevy dealer this time. Yea! Until the next trip cheers to all. Jack & Sandi

Ditto what he said. i did my small part last week at the Repos. After gassing up we were leaving down the long driveway and about to cross the road when I see this triangle shaped windshield bag laying in the trail. Stopped and opened it up and it was a French guy. Had his phone, credit cards and other stuff. Back to the front desk with it.