viper2

Yes, I think I know the trail you mean it actually is the old trail from ?8 years ago it was open 2 years ago but I don't remember it being open last year. After passing Dam Gilardo(going north) you go maybe a couple miles and make a right.If this is the trail you mean that's good I always liked that trail. When you cross the road on that trail if you would go left (on road) it would bring you to the T intersection where you could go left to Repos and right on the road takes you to River Rats.The new 33 up to Repos last year was a big plus, but I still miss the trail from a few years ago that went through the zec Gros Brochet. One of my favorite day trips from LaCabanon is down to St. Michel across lac taureu up to repos for gas and coffee then up to Casey back to Kanawata for lunch then back down via 345 to Barrage and back to LaCabanon.

Or is it Colibri?

Thanks Alain

Heard reports in the last week that the gas station at L'Etape is open and so is Mt. Apica (between L'Etape and Chicoutimi)

Once again Alain excellent report. I will be arriving on Sunday the 17th.. at LeCabanon for a week in paradise can't wait

Hey Towing, did you get to ride this weekend? I am anxious to hear a trail report from Lanaudiere. Have you heard anything about the trails north toward Kanawata and Casey? Are there any major trail reroutes this year?

I will check what kind I have for sure I got them at the Yamaha dealer. I think they are made by agv or lazer? Never ever fog no matter what dont have to use heated shield and the facemask clips on the side so it is easy to take off on the trail to talk. You can lift shield only or lift whole front mask.

Good question revct1! Many times it seems a woman either gets a hand me down from her husband/boyfriend or just a cheaper model that may be less powerful and have an outdated suspension. My wife has an '05 Vector, when we bought it I let her decide what she wanted and she got to ride one. At the time I was on an '02 Viper now I am on an '09 Apex GT. She loves her sled and it gets great gas mileage and it can run as fast as she wants all day. Many times I have opened mine up on a nice straight trail only to look back after a few miles and see her right on my tail. Another interesting thing is I have never used studs in fact any sled I have ever ridden with studs I have hated............INCLUDING HERS that's right she tried a sled with studs and liked it and I figured ya know what if it makes her more comfortable and feel safer that's what she's getting As far as riding styles maybe I answered that I told her when she started riding always go your own pace don't feel rushed, and she has progressed to the point where she rides almost as hard as I do. I also have gotten a feel for how she rides so 90% of the time when I am leading I go at a nice pace for her and when I hit a hammer down section I go as fast as I want for a few miles and then slow down (if I have to ) till she can see me again. Works pretty good.

Iceman just remember this when you feel unsafe on the ice...............there are guys that run whole tanks of gas out on open water in the summer on snowmobiles (werks fer me) LOL

Once again Alain you have outdone yourself, excellent post and I want you to know how much we appreciate the time you take to update us. For many of us we get only 2 or 3 weeks in paradise each winter you my friend are lucky enough to live in the center of it. I will be spending a week at LeCabanon starting the 17 of Jan. I have been spending a week there for about 20 years and even though this area and somrtimes Denis especially takes alot of bashing you and I both know this is probably the most groomed and maintained trails in all of Quebec! Thank you again for the post

Hey Andy, this is where some knucklehead usually chimes in about global warming...............so I guess that's me.

Wow that's neat, I think though you may have too much time on your hands Usually when we ride in there they just come out, although I think last year we went into the cafeteria to track someone down. That's another thing artcat,they do have a nice cafeteria there where you can get something to eat. There really is nothing else to speak of until you get almost to Chibougamau.

I know it does take a little time out of riding but,the best way to assure you get 100% of the rate is stop at the bank. Most towns you can ride right to it some you may have to walk a block or 2. I still got over $1500 from last year left so I guess I got lucky with the rates. We always try to have at least $300 to get started with from the year before. The other thing you can do if you like using your credit card is do that you will get 100% exchange with most cards. I prefer to use cash then it's all paid for when I leave.

Guy's ya gotta look at the dates, this is a thread I started last year at this time so those rates are from last Jan. revct1 dug up this thread and added to it so that is why there is confusion.

Scierie 54 is a sawmill that sells gas. This is the most important stop on the way to Chib. If you have a national map and you see where the trail (after leaving Ladore)MEETS UP WITH THE ROAD FOR THE FIRST TIME (rt. 167) It is about 60 miles from Ladore to the Sawmill. If you are planning a trip go on the fcmq website and request a map for the James Bay region this is a good map for trip you are planning. On this map it shows the sawmill (Abitibi-Consolidated) and it shows the Barriere Nord which has been reported to be closed this year. From Scierie 54 to Chib. is about 115 miles according to the map and from my memory that is about right. We gassed at the sawmill last year and then didn't even stop at Bar. Nord. It is more or less a relay with an above ground tanker, they put in to make it easy to go to Chib., all the newer sleds can make it pretty easy.

Thanks for your report,I don't know if I will be heading up that way this year,my first trip is in a few weeks to St. Zenon and after that we are not sure for the next trip. By the way what kind of fuel mileage did the guys with the 1200 4-Tec's get?

X3 on Quebec I do 95% of my riding in Quebec and the people are awesome. Met alot of good people up there and made many friends.

If you gas at Scierie 54 you should be in good shape on gas.

Great comments, I feel the same way as you guys. Once it gets in your blood it is hard to stop,people think your nuts when you tell them you go to Quebec in the winter and them when you tell them you ride 200-300 miles a day sometimes with temps. at -30 or -40 they say when does the fun begin? You just can't explain it

Heck, I think my '02 Viper could beat my Apex, but I don't ride Yamaha's because they are the fastest. I guess if I had to be fastest I would jump around every year or 2 like alot of guys do. Like I said I ride Yammy's because they are #1 in reliability, if Yamaha went out of the snowmobile business tommorrow I would probably go to Polaris. I am not looking to ruffle feathers here but I ride with alot of different guys with diff. brands and the Doo's are about the most prone to problems. But hey let's get back to why I started this thread why or what do you like about snowmobiling? Oh and ditto on the grooming there is def. some better eqipment in that dept. and it shows.

Just would like to get comments why you guys ride snowmobiles. I got alot of things going through my head lately and I will try to get some out here in an orderly manner. Snowmobiling has changed so much in the last 30 years...................for better or worse. Some things have been great others...............well lets just say be careful what you ask for it may come true. I started riding my own sled when I was 10. My family always had Arctic Cats my first recollection was a Puma and a Panther. In 1978 my dad got a 440 Exciter and we have been on Yamahas ever since. He bought them because they were dependable and we never looked back. The thing with me and riding is I love anything that moves under it's own power, especially if I can be on it. I have had motorcycles and ATV's I raced go karts and later stock cars. The thing with snowmobiling is alot different, it keeps you active in the winter and for me personally it is much easier to get away from the family business in the winter. One thing I learned in racing is we are our own worst enemy when it comes to making it expensive and that holds true for snowmobiling. In the 80's the sleds were light,fast,tough and easy to work on. Now they have gotten almost like cars where you can hardly work on it yourself. The first thing we wanted was more power (I admit I wanted to go over 90 mph myself) with this came the race to be the biggest and fastest and also lots of weight. Then we wanted it to ride like a luxury car presto................. more weight. More recently we asked for lighter,lighter,lighter and we are getting it......... so long to the tough (everything is plastic now and if you need storage you better put bags on it) To get to this weight everything is crammed in a tight space, my '09 Apex GT is so hard to work on you have to take the hood,side panels,gas tank cover,headlight assembly,and airbox off the snowmobile to change the battery.We are getting so many relays,sensors etc. that it's like a car, how can we figure this stuff out on the trail? :wacko: Now don't get me wrong guys I am not saying I want to go back to 1980, I mean I know I am not going to do a 300mi. day on a 1982 250 enticer, but how far have we come? Even in the late 80's we could ride our Phazer or SRV fan cool's 90-95 mph 90-95 miles to a tank (8 gal. tank) the suspension was not what it is today but they were fairly light and easy to work on. Up until the 4 strokes the gas mileage wasn't much better top speed was slightly higher (how much time do we spend above 90mph) and we have a cheesy sled (plastic) that you can't work on. I ride because I love it and I always will no matter what the future brings. If you ever want to taste a little nostalgia get off your 2010 with the the GPS and heated grips and all the bells and whistles and jump on a sled from 1987 (like I did on my kids Phazer) and you will truely remember why you started this. The old sleds were a blast, they were quick,narrow, light you could throw them around and just have fun. These are the sleds that made you the rider you are today and these are the sleds that challenged you. One more thing, we are driving the price of our sport out of control and it will soon be a rich mans sport. We will be the ones to blame we only got what we asked for. Have fun........keep it upright

I have an'09 Apex GT and ON a hard smooth trail I could get darn close to 18 MPG. Now this would def. be at a liesurely pace (mostly 60-65MPH occasionally faster for a short burst) Also I only weigh 160 lb. so you have to consider that. I don't know about the Attak but I assume they have the same tank and it is not 10 gal. more like 9.5, the Apex RTX that rides with us def. gets less MPG.

Also for a Yamaha 4 stroke maybe a couple key tools as the tool kit leaves alot to be desired. 10mm socket extension and rachet, to take headlight/cowl off to access battery and air box if necessary, metric allen socket or even a ball driver would be better to loosen/tighten bolts on airbox boots ?4mm I think maybe 5mm. Also a couple spare screws for the windsheild (Apex) damned plastic. :wacko: That's my one peeve about this has to be lighter mentality the only think light and cheap is plastic we are asking the manufacturers to make us scrap.

Yea been there 4 years ago left from Caribou ME crossed at Van Buren then went east to Campbellton and the markers just kinda ran out. So one guy in our group who had crossed before said we have to run down the river,well we did, but when we got down to the bridge you could see open water, we made a quick left and jumped up the bank. On the way back we found the marked trail below the bridge. Hey how about the view from the ski area above Point la Croix