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Ha ha ..very true. If we had only known. Summer started riding snowmobiles with me at age 8. Loves the snowmobile, refuses to ride the ATV or HD. If my memory serves me right I put a 1+1 seat on my 2006 MXZ-X 800 while her older sister Taylor inherited my 2000 MXZ 700. Aside from moving up from a 2013 - 600 ACE Renegade & currently running a brand new, out of the box, 2020 900T Summer is a very fortunate young lady for many reasons. One of which, in October 2017, at the age of 20, Summer was in Memorial Sloan Kettering here in Manhattan where she underwent liver resection surgery. Since recovering Summer hasn't missed a beat. Her surgeon states Summer is the poster child for liver resection & wishes everyone could do as well as she did. Needless to say, it is a delight to see Summer so happy on the sled, loving life & wanting to spend time with family while on winter break from her last few months in college.

After a foot of snow yesterday we thought the trails would be soft with no steering grip. Wrong. Despite the sparse groomer report this morning, many trails had been groomed, and those that weren't were still packed from yesterday's traffic. Plus we met lots of groomers during our ride. All was well until we decided to take the green trails back to RDL from the Verte club house and hug the St. Lawrence. Quite a ways in we lost the couple sled tracks we were following. Conditions were drifty and deep snow. We doubled back a ways and found an old trail a couple sleds used and was going in the right direction. Really a sketchy trail and surprised we made it thru to the main trail. Then had any miles where some wheeled vehicle went thru. There were areas by the river where all the snow was blown off the trail, and along the river with huge ice heaves. Once we got to the helecoptor pad the rest of the way was fine. We did see one stuck groomer. He had a helper who was putting big pieces of wood under the cleats to get traction. Never saw that before. Worked slick. The snow in many areas is now deep enough you would not want to try off trail, even in some of the fields. mike

7 of us rode out of Cabanon 3 days and then did a 3 day loop. Overall trails were 7-10. Area received 8-12 inches of snow the day we arrived. Rode thru the following places during the week. 1,000 miles total 6 days of riding. St Zenon, Mattawin, Repos, St Gabriel, Kanawata, Weyomentaci, Relay 22, La Tuque. Only 1 potato in St. Michel. Trails south toward Gabriel were fine. Cant say enough about how much I like this 2020 Renegade Enduro 900 Turbo for Quebec riding. Was snowing good when we left also.

Ride 1 Gotta Love snowmobiling, year after year the off season seems oh so long. Yet I remount my trusted machine and seems like just yesterday I patked her for the off season. So nice to be back on the trail seems like I just left it. Like riding a bike they say and oh so true, you never forget how it’s done. This trip came together as most, kind of a last minute deal. But as I have said in the past when the boss (not the wife) asks if you want to go to Matane for a ride or stay and work? Hmmm let me think? Not a very tough decision. The boys will have to manage things without me until Friday and do without my big truck as they are not authorized to touch it. They have their own trucks they can work with those. Boss Man mon ami Alain arrived at 1pm Sunday at chez Ice. My sled already in his trailer as he had picked it up fro Moto Thibault Friday afternoon.(more on that after) Snow had stopped in Shawinigan area by now and we hit the road enroute for Matane. Nice ride all the way to just near Montmagny here we hit more snow and wind still I have seen much worse but this will surely affect our travel time. Further east we go the more snow and wind. After Rimouski is onto the single lane stuff and a bit more white nuckle. We finally arrive at Matane 7pm not bad only one hour longer than a day with zero weather issues. Our issue was the other people scared to death driving like they never saw snow. For us not an issue. Into Hotel and only six other sleds here. I am very surprised. Now the fun begins. Unload gear into room and time to drop sleds. I open trailer go to start my sled and realize straight away, Houston we got a problem. Mon ami left my key on when he loaded my sled. She is dead. Like that Iranian general, seriously dead. Well not to mention the wind is howling and still snowing albeit not alot. Oh joy. We drop it on the ground. With the With the battery not very accessible on the grand touring of Alain We decide to use the truck the F250 will do just fine. We put the mini booster cables on it and let the truck charge it up a bit. She fires up and we park it for the night knowing fair well we are to repeat this process again in the morning. The real question is will it be ok after I ride it to La Cache and shut if off there? We shall see. Had a nice dinner and chatted it up with the other gang of riders from Nova Scotia on their way back to the trucks in Point a la Croix. They came up the 595 yesterday and were going back through Amqui today. Day 1 Monday Matane to New Richmond TQ5 to 595 to TQ5 Up early at breakfast at 6:30 dressed and out at 7:15. Yup gonna need to jump it again. We get my ride breathing and hit the trail. 7:30am. Beautiful conditions and just after the bridge here in Matane fresh groom on TQ5 it’s delicious. Great run all the way to St Paulin and onto the 595. Super conditions. Crossed the River Cap Chat on the new ice crossing made by club to bypass a bridge that is gone. Surely 595 will be cut off on that end sooner than usual when Spring has sprung. Saw one moose and one nice sized coyote. Arrive at La Cache it’s 10:30am. Took the gas and since the Relais is officially open as of this past weekend we go inside. Lots of time on our hands. So far we have seen zero other sleds since hotel parking in Matane. ZERO. Gas super is $1.69.9 litre. Pay up. We chat it up well mostly me as the Relais is owned by First Natiions people and they speak perfect English. They have owned it since 2017. We start talking and the manager pulls up with a truckload of groceries as they just opened and had nothing. I help them bring in the stuff as I was doing nothing else anyway. We met Josh the manager, Justin is the chef, Dennis pumps the gas and helps with everything else. I start to explain Quebecrider to Josh the manager and he looks at me in wonder. He says we have been hearing stories from other communities about a guy named Chris Snowmaster2112. You are not him are you? Now I had two options here. My mind is racing do I say yes? Hmmm? Maybe he has beaver and a 60 pack of Bud and a hidden chalet. Well, honesty got the best of me, plus knowing Alain is not gonna be venturing off on any adventures to a chalet with these guys beaver or no beaver, I would but surely not Alain. I said no I am not. He said thank god we have been told he eats all the beaver and most of the beer. But they love him in the north and kids are writing songs about him and I think they will name the new school in Miquelon after him. Damn word travels fast. Anyway I think I convinced them to come onboard as an advertiser we will see if I get a call from the owner next week. Just as we are getting ready to leave 2 sleds arrive from the south. We chat with a couple. Guy with his girlfriend from near montreal. He first day in her life on motoneige first trails ever. She is loving it. I told the guy she won’t want ride anywhere else after this. He said I chose here for her first ride so she is guaranteed to Like snowmobiling. Smart man. Uneventful run down and into Hotel Francis. Just 2 deer near Pin Rouge Trails beautiful no other sleds none. One groomer headed up 595 close to New Richmond. No other sleds at hotel. Lots of Jack Daniels in my bag. Well there was alot. Not as much tonight, that’s why no report yesterday. Sorry. Day 2 New Richmond to Chandler TQ5 No hurry today was planned this way to relax today with all day to go a half day’s ride. Just what Alain wanted and fine with me and Jack. Went to breakfast at 8:30 thats like noon time on a regular day for Alain. But we are making exceptions this run. TQ5 flat frozen and fast. Beautiful. Not far along we see the first sleds coming at us since leaving Matane one group of three. Maybe 10 minutes later two more coming. That was it no others all the way to Chandler. Trail was so frozen in one spot I had to deploy my scratchers as my temp light came on. Not for long maybe 5-6km. Then put them back up. Came across a gang of club volunteers cutting branches back just before Port Daniel. Then we cruised on into the Relais at Chandler. 1pm. Day all but finished. Here we are the only ones they have seen all day the bartender was happy to have someone to talk with besides the chef. We eat and the operator of the surfacer arrives to prepare the machine for his run tonight. His name is Marc. He says for sure alot less snow right now then this time last year but the snow is frozen nicely and makes his job easier. Left relais at 2:30. Petro Canada for fuel then backtrack to Motel Fraser. Done. Alain needed his easy day because tomorrow is a big day for him. 320km from here to St Anne des Monts thru Murdochville and Mont St Pierre.

George stayed home, nursing another hang over. Will have to bring him next trip due to popular demand. I am staying til at least Friday, will be good to see you. mike

Just wanted to put in a great word for Dumaine du Lac Edouard. We stopped in there last Thursday night and have nothing but good to say about the accommodations but the owner really went above and beyond. He gave us great food, cold drinks, good rooms, but spent over 45 minutes on the phone trying to help us find lodging on the busy Friday night ahead. If your ever in the area highly recommended! Also helped us out with a dead sled in the morning due to freezing cold temperatures.

Speaking of aviation...a wise man once said: “Id rather be on the ground wishing I was up in the air, than up in the air wishing I was on the ground” It can get nasty and dangerous sledding mid winter in a storm for sure. Makes sense to just stay put sometimes...and drink wine.

Like Mike I am retired and we both have more than 50 years under our belts on the snow and I agree with you Quebec Bob sometimes we just have to keep moving. However one day a number of years ago I wish I had taken others' advice and just stayed put and as we call it had a camp day rather than spend a night in a blizzard in a snow cave. From my aviation background: Learn from the mistakes of others you will never live long enough to make them all yourself!!! Andy

I found on ebay a yard of Gore-Tex for 20.00 Was going to make blanket for my passengers with it. It may do the trick. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Gore-Tex-Performance-Shell-Material-Fabric-Sewing-Waterproof-Windproof/251584650369?hash=item3a939d1c81:g:VesAAOxye5BREjwY GutZ

Who names a snowmobiler Summer? lol

Open now as per club site http://www.sapin-dor.qc.ca/index.php/les-sentiers/etat-des-sentiers go for it

Thats an awesome story! I mean a brand new 900T wow! Oh yeah,and the liver thing is pretty cool too! Keep racking up the miles and smiles!

Open and beautiful rode it yesterday. Ice bridge is down near turn off to Village Nature Chic Chics. Sadly once spring starts to raise it’s head that trail will be finished early as once the water starts to run, well bye bye bridge.

Dennis Lavoie, Senior Columnist with Motoneiges.CA writes "Trail 595 between St-Paulin and La Cache finally open" If the article reads in French consider cutting & pasting the link into google translator. https://motoneiges.ca/actions/page?docId=11624&ctx=ctx&p=Le sentier 595 entre St-Paulin et La Cache enfin ouvert&request_locale=fr

That is truly a wonderful story of your daughter. So good to know that she has recovered and doing well.

Don’t try this at home, these are highly trained clowns. https://fbwat.ch/1LWMH4QDQXtRLNB1

Good thing it was not a studded track!!

I often wonder if more people are doing stupid things these days or if there is just more of it caught on video.

Great photos Jay!

You have a handsome family Paddy.

Did you see this Car on the Trail? https://www.dootalk.com/forums/topic/1578699-le-cabanon-st-zenon-quebec-report-day-2/ GutZ

I like it.

good morning jackstraw and playhard !!! saw the video during the weekend....ahaha...must have been funny for the operator ...fun when you have the bigger side of the bat !!! back from grooming tq 5 ...nice in town ....but once in the back country ....very bumpy !!! there was a sled on the rd for windmills before ste marguerite......guy from nb...when i came back there around midnight ....they had picked up the sled... left at 3 45 pm ...back at 1 30 am ...almost non-stop ...took 2 pics !!! jean-guy

Good read: Sent from my iPhoner incident last weekend in the Chic Chocs. I assume most of you have already heard the general story, so I will quickly summarize that. I mostly wanted to note what we used (and wished we had) that allowed us to spend almost 40 hours in the woods at 0F and be rescued by a Canadian military helicopter. Hopefully it can help someone be more prepared than they are now. A couple guys from our group of snowbikes dropped over a ridge into a section of steep trees that would have been easily rideable if the snow was different. That day, the snow was super powdery, bottomless, and filled with buried trees. I went in to help Leon get unstuck, and quickly found that getting back out the way we went in wasn't going to be possible. We sidehilled horizontally across the mountain as long as possible, hoping to intersect the ridge and ride out the top. The tree line was super dense at the top, and riding through it wasn't possible. The tree line gradually forced us downhill into a river bed, where we decided to head for a "road" on the GPS that would lead us to an old trail, then out. We battled the creek bottom, open water, tons of stucks, trees, dead ends, etc well past dark The “road” wasn’t there. The sides of the ravine were too steep, deep and dense to get out, the way we came in was out of the question, and the way we were heading was dead ended everywhere we looked. Eventually, wet, cold, exhausted and almost out of gas, we decided to set up camp and try again in the morning. The next morning, my bike wouldn't start. Obviously a few mistakes were made that got us in there in the first place, but dozens of good choices followed that allowed us to stay the night, the next day, and half of the following night until we could be retrieved. Search and rescue had attempted to reach us by snowmobile and snowshoes for almost 24 hours and were unable to get to us. It goes without saying that you absolutely need to be able to start and maintain a fire if you expect to spend any amount of time in the woods in the winter. Besides that: The #1 most valuable asset we had was my Corona folding limb saw. I have been carrying this saw since I started riding the backcountry in 2008, and it was in someone's hand cutting almost 100% of the time. It is super efficient and durable, and easily cuts up to 12" logs. DO NOT TRUST THE SHOVEL SAWS!! They are brittle, bend, and break, and will wear you out. Fires in the snow take a surprising amount of wood to make heat. The wood is almost guaranteed to be wet and/or green. We had stockpiles of different wood and tended the fire constantly, and still froze. Don't leave home without a good saw. #2 Garmin Inreach. This is a small satellite communication device that allows you to send messages and your coordinates through text. Not only did this take the guesswork out of where we were for search and rescue, but it allowed us to communicate to our families that we were ok, etc. We all feel terrible about the worry and chaos that this situation caused our families, but it would have been much worse for them if no one knew where we were, and if we were alive, injured, lost, etc. I had just gotten the Inreach for christmas and almost didnt take it. Without it, you are limited to radio contact and old fashioned hunting. #3 Good gear. Space is limited on what we can carry every day, but we all wished we had a spare, dry layer to change out at night. We were all wet from riding/digging/working, and even the best gear takes a long time to dry out when it's 0 degrees. Even with good gear and a solid fire, we all froze all night. I was more sore from shivering and being tense all night than I've ever been from any exercise or activity. Any gear can be waterproof, but if it doesn't breathe, your inner layers will stay wet. Breathability is what drys you out and warms you up. There is a reason I wear and sell Klim. And I think we all know by now, no cotton. #4 Batteries. Almost all of our "life saving" equipment relies on batteries. Charge everything every night. Dont use it during the day if you don't need it. Keep important, small devices close to your body to keep them warm. Cold kills batteries even if they aren't being used. The equipment is only worth having if you can turn it on and use it, and chances are if you need it for an emergency, it is going to be needed for a long period of time. Carry a small recharging battery and the correct cables, and keep it warm. #5 Mental and physical aptitude. Always be thinking. Make only careful, methodical movements to make forward progress and avoid mistakes, stay calm. Panic will never help anything and is usually dangerous. Luckily we all kept calm, worked together, and were in pretty good shape (for old guys). This got really long. Huge thanks to the local Search and Rescue team, the helicopter crew, our snowbike buddies who did everything in their power to help us out, the Sled Den, and our families for not chopping our heads off when we got home... Live and learn, send and return.

Summer loved her first trip to Quebec. Here are a few photos of Summer on her maiden voyage with the new 2020 - 900T. Normally I would have liked for her to ride it first in Pittsburg in case of any hidden gremlins but we didn't have the choice so we rolled the dice & thankfully the sled ran flawlessly. She enjoyed the lengthy straightaways in the blueberry fields. Additionally, we had the weather in our favor. Had it been this weekend with the frigid temps I don't think she would have enjoyed it as much. We are blessed.

I thought about bringing George on this trip, but was worried about smuggling him across the border and the problems that could bring. Plus my wife gave me that 'look' that comes with having a monkey traveling friend. But I think maybe George needs to come next trip, no matter what it does to my reputation on QR.

That is very good news! The top of the 595 being closed would be devastating for La Cache. The new owners have done an incredible job updating this very important stopping place. I have looked upstairs and in the rooms in the building next door, very clean and welcoming. The workers have been very friendly and bilingual any time I have stopped.