viper2
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Posts posted by viper2
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Wait it's coming to me...Colobri !!! That's the name.
Or is it Colibri?
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Hi guys
I just post my report from last saturday here: http://www.quebecrider.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1200
Conditions were very similar from my last report from last monday ( just five day later) where they were just got a good shot of snow.
Greasemonkey, do you know exactly when the group you talk to went here ??? conditions improved alot between the last days of december and the 4 january. In fact, about a foot more snow between the 26 dec and the 4 january.
From what i have seen, it's more the traffic that downgrade the trail condition but they now have enought snow to groom near each day and since the christmas holiday is finished for everybody, the traffic over the week will be less and the trails will have the chance to recover better than what it was during holidays. I have to admit that there was alot of sleds on the trails on saturday (9 january) but the people from the group that stayed at the Cabanon and quit sunday morning to Outaouais said the grooming was done fine and they got very good trails to get back on the west side
I will try to get some information about trails more on the north side but it's propably the way to go if you want better conditions since the traffic flow usually stay near St-Zenon and St-Michel.
I would not be too worried if you just come at the end of the month unless we get catastrophics weather it should be very good.
here is the lanaudiere trail report..http://www.snowmobilecountry.ca/en/index.jsp?numPage=235
stay tuned...
Alain
Thanks Alain
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Heading on a Loop from St Zenon to HI in a few weeks. Remember the gas station in L'Etape haveing burnt down a few years ago. Is there gas in L'Etape on 23 or anywhere else in between St Raymond and Jonquiere?
Are they regularly grooming 23 - each year, I get different stories.
Thx.
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)
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Once again Alain excellent report. I will be arriving on Sunday the 17th.. at LeCabanon for a week in paradise can't wait
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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?
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I have been looking up info on the BV2 this morning and a lot of people are saying they have trouble with them fogging up. You are telling me yours does not fog? I have the original modular that BRP made, but I am tired of the face mask and have issues with the mask leaking, I had used that helmet about 5 years. Last year I bought a new full face with an electric shield. That helmet is hard to get over my big head and a lot of COLD air comes up under my chin and onto my face. Needless to say I am not happy with that either. The BV2 looked like a good choice but for the cost and then if I would have to buy electric shields that are about $160 each. I doubt there will be any happy shopping here, just one big tough decision.
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.
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Sandi and I were talking about a thread we read on Doo Talk from a sledder asking "What kind of sled to by the wife?" There were many responses and some of them were putting the wife on a smaller older sled than the husband.
Our question to those of you that ride with your spouse and you both have sleds, what sled does she have and what sled does he have? Do you ride similar to each other or is one always waiting for the other? If the wife is on a smaller sled, does she feel like she is always playing catch up?
Thanks in advance for responding.
Jack
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. -
Trails looking pretty good
rode TQ3 to 351 to St. Tite and back on 351 then to St Prosper and to Rogers Cabin then back to Shawinigan on TQ3
trails groomed and most signage installed
Rivers a bit slushy but they are riding on them (a bit scary if you ask me) need a little more cold weather to make me sure.
Rivere St. Maurice trail 347/318 is open but very slushy(pic attached)
need some real cold and one more big storm to crank things up to full on.
Will try to check the pipeline Wed and go to La Tuque for a ride.
over and out
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
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I must say you do some excellent trail condition reports!!!!!!! Keep up the good work
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
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It is not only the Gaspe this is a pic from the Forteau Bay Labrador web cam a couple of minutes ago. Plus 3 degree C!!!!
Andy
Hey Andy, this is where some knucklehead usually chimes in about global warming...............so I guess that's me.
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[We are thinking of planning a trip up that way this season. I'm trying to find this Scierie 54 on the map so far no luck, can some one please explain what and where this is.
Here are some shots from google earth.
The pumps are at 1. When I stopped there I found the attendant in 2.
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. -
Info on buying Canadian dollars.
I usually buy Canadian dollars on the way home from Canada for the next trip up. I exchange U.S. dollars at the Canadian duty free store on Auotroute 55 / Rt 91, Derby Line, Vermont. Today I asked and the clerk said they stopped exchanging U.S. for Canadian last year (2009). :sad: They only exchange Canadian for U.S. Apparently this service is for Canadians going to the U.S. or for U.S. citizens that are not returning to Canada and want to get rid of their left over Canadian dollars.
I don’t know if this is true for all of the Duty Free Stores or just this one. I think the Duty Free Stores are independently owned and not Gov’t run. If they are independent, then there may be different policies on exchanging dollars.
Has anyone else run across this? Any input would be appreciated.
Jack
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.
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I am looking at the exchange rate posted as of right now on a program called DCurrency. It's an exchange rate program for money all over the world. As of right now, it's telling me $1.042 Canadian dollar for every 1 US dollar. I haven't seen anything close to 1.20 all year. You guys are lucky, I guess. I haven't been north yet, so I can't tell from experience for this year.
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.
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We are thinking of planning a trip up that way this season. I'm trying to find this Scierie 54 on the map so far no luck, can some one please explain what and where this is.
Thanks in advance
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.
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We are home in CT. The end of 6 days of riding. Saturday, Jan 2 was our last day on the trail for this trip. We averaged ±150 miles per day. As said in previous posts, overall the trails were typical of early season riding.
Note: We were checked 3 times by security for trail permits. This is very unusual this early in the season. Make sure you have all of your paperwork with you and in order. We were just waved on once security saw the trial passes on the machines.
There were 3 new 1200 4-tec machines in our group. I have an 09 800R Gade. Yea I’m the smelly one. :sad:
General consensus from the riders of the 1200's is that they were very happy. I’m not saying this to start a brand discussion but just to give out some real world info.
On this last trip we met Longriderss and Iceman. Hope you had a safe drive back home.
We hope to see other QuebecRider.com sledders on the trail next trip.
Jack & Sandi
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?
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SnowIsLikeCrack 100% true Quebec has it's shit together and why ride anywhere else.
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.
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Found this on the Federation site:
Region: Saguenay / Lac St-Jean
Sector: Chibougamau / Chapais
Condition: Limited
Comments: Barriere Nord closed for the season. 154,5km between Scierie 54 in the Park and Chibougamau
Updated: 2009-12-30
If you gas at Scierie 54 you should be in good shape on gas.
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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
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Well, Ill agree with 90% of what you said, but lets not forget trail grooming. Especially in Quebec. The trails everywhere are 100X better than they were in the 80's.
I agree that the new sleds are a pain in the ass to work on. And your APEX is pretty much a dealer only maitainence rig. I think your married to Yamaha and thats great, but, you may want to get back on a light 2 stroke to have more fun. The Ski-doos are light, great gas milage (better than an APEX) and haul ass. Yes they are more fragile (cracked chain cases, etc) but they are nimble and peppy and thats what makes snowmobiles unique. I think Yamaha made a mistake going 100% 4 stroke, and time will tell if they were right or wrong.
I still think the 2002 SRX triple triple 700 will beat your Apex up to 100, and after 100 who cares? Virtually all cars on the raod go faster top end than any snowmobile and what fun are they?
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
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The trick is not to forget anything you don't need.
If this is your 1st ever saddlebag trip here are a few suggestions.
* I always use 2 bungies to help hold the saddlebags in place, keeps them from bouncing and tearing if you get on something rough, not Groomers trails. Stretch them from running board to running board.
* Find a place for extra oil, OEM oils are hard to find at times, not suggested to carry in saddlebags.
* A tow rope, extra plugs, basic tools, mechanics wire, zip ties, fuses, isopropel, flashlight, extra maps, phone numbers and a list of places to stay while on the trip.
* hand gauntlets, if the warmers die these will make the trip bearable.
* A camera is a must for this area.
* A tall windshield, again if it gets real frosty this can make a day more enjoyable.
* use plastic bags for your clothes as suggested, and also some slippers or sneaks, boot liners just dont cut it.
Very good list I like the tall windshield, I have seen many guys go home with their tail between their legs after the trip to Quebec they either didn't relize the importance of a high windshield or did'nt want to sacrifice the cool look (Dumbass') Many never to return to Paradise
When you finish packing your gear, ask yourself what do you think your buds missed and then pack some spares.
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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.
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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.
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they use to groom right to the bay on both sides and stake the river when safe
i found my way on the river 2 years ago not fun it was black ice all the way and was hard to find a way off ice was all pushed up on the banks once off its rabbit tracks to you get to the pastali
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
Joliette/St-Michel des Saints/ Taureau lake+Dam 9/1/2010
in General Discussion
Posted
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.
