Cobra

Hey Alain, I just took a ride down memory lane while watching your videos since I was in some of those same areas back in 2017. THANK YOU!!!!!!
So glad you and Kristine had a great trip and as always, the videos and pictures are FANTASTIC!!!!!!!

Only on a snowmobile forum!!!!
Priceless!!!!

Hey Alain, I just took a ride down memory lane while watching your videos since I was in some of those same areas back in 2017. THANK YOU!!!!!!
So glad you and Kristine had a great trip and as always, the videos and pictures are FANTASTIC!!!!!!!

How about a little sound effects to go with the visual, Braap!

Only on a snowmobile forum!!!!
Priceless!!!!

Hey Alain, I just took a ride down memory lane while watching your videos since I was in some of those same areas back in 2017. THANK YOU!!!!!!
So glad you and Kristine had a great trip and as always, the videos and pictures are FANTASTIC!!!!!!!

Well I think you created a PERMANENT GROOVE in that entire trail system this season. No More gps needed 😂.
Really enjoyed following your EPIC adventures this year for sure. Finally meeting you and seeing that RIG of yours at the Le Cabanon in February was a Trip!!
Enjoy the WIND the next couple of days, be safe and get home to your family for some well deserved RR!!!!!!!!
CHRIS

Kanawata right now.....
i cant begin to describe the conditions on the 345/83 at the moment. The weather today, trail area and conditions are one you couldn’t dial up if you had to. One of THE most EPIC snowmobile days I’ve EVER had....and like all of us “I’ve had a few”
AND.....the days not over......

This is THE LAST club sandwich coming out of Kanawata this season. The cook here “knows me well” just made this for me. I think there is a half pound of chicken on this sucker.
back to Haltaparache for steak/shrimp/salmon/beer/wine dinner but maybe not before we go see the overly friendly people of Wemotaci

The ROCK STARS!!!!!!! at it again.So glad you guys had a great trip. Look forward to seeing the rest of your trip.Kristine forget the best pick at Kanawata, I’ll add it HAHA!!

The ROCK STARS!!!!!!! at it again.So glad you guys had a great trip. Look forward to seeing the rest of your trip.Kristine forget the best pick at Kanawata, I’ll add it HAHA!!

Last thing Dennis said to me was he’ll keep my club sandwich in in fridge until Dec 27 for my return. 😂

Here is Snowmaster live!!!!!!
IMG_0322.MOV

Just came from Quebec riding 8days.
Have to say people are OUT OF CONTROL!
Riding center left, blowing turns, 2 wide Johnny racers thinking they are the only ones on the trail system ect.
Had 2 instances where I was almost wiped  out. 
People really need to check themselves and start riding more responsible!

Here is Snowmaster live!!!!!!
IMG_0322.MOV

You bet, after 33 seasons only 1 of the guys I rode with is still riding, and he is talking about quitting after this last ride next week. I just went on a 1959 mile ride alone...some say it is crazy, but it was a great ride...with zero snow dust...and I met a lot of great people out there...I do not get too crazy about it...when your number is up...that's it...might as well be doing something you enjoy!!

And jackass me last night at hotel....
i bought this sandwich at the grocery store in Chapais for 5.67    Heated half of it up in the oven in our apartment room last night and it was fu%#cimg YUMMY. Got the other half all wrapped in tin foil and pulling the BRP 1200 muffler trick with it when we get to Sciere 54

Ok......
At  Chapais tonight....
first off fuel at Repos.....all I know is my two buddies started acting up with exact same symptoms within 50 miles of leaving there. 
They filled up there and I only threw in 20 bucks. Two days later (and many refills) they seem to be back to normal. Bluebloods”s group with the acting up 900 Turbo rental was the 3rd suspect from Repos gas. When we left the dealer this morning they supposedly said it was a bad coil and taking on off a new sled to fix. But when I saw them very briefly in Desmairsville they said that the dealer said that coil was bad too. I call bullshit on that matter but what do I know. Weather or not there was at least a shot of bad gas that came out of Repos (and I still firmly believe there was) one will actually never know. I know it could happen anywhere at anytime and this year is bad with temperature swings and above ground tanks. 
My oil leak is another conundrum. After further thinking and spending time in the shop with the mechanic on my problem I now believe that Gero wasn’t the cause of the problem. I changed the oil and chain case service at 500 miles. I remember having trouble with my torque wrench setting and possibly over tightened it. I backed it off and reset it at spec. No trouble for 4000 miles. 
When the mechanic (40 years there at AB Sports) looked and “scoped” everything you could see a small section where the crush ring sits that was worn/broken away. Case was NOT cracked. We wound up making a thicker aluminum washer to fill the small void and I’m back in business. After rethinking the whole thing the guy at Gero problably did his job right and when he dropped the plug the little piece that was crushed around the circumstance fell out and left a small void. 
Trail from Senneterre to Chapais today was like a bowling alley the whole way. Saw two groomers pass us and two sleds the whole way.

Mario here at Kanawata says 30 people last night and 30 more tonight and tomorrow. 
You certainly wouldn’t know it as it’s like a ghost town right now with only me here. The nicest thing about that is I can actually sorta use the internet.....LOL

We stopped in Hotel central in Parent, had dinner with slyvia's cousin, he said she is at home and doing well, her eye is going to be OK and is now open. The idiot that did this is most likely going to jail, as far as I council tell he should consider that protective custody, he is not welcome in this area and it would be quite wise for him find a new place to be if he would like to stay whole. We left a 100$ donation for her fund on behalf of Quebec rider, these folks are very nice people and have been very good to our community for decades, support them when you are in this area.

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.

Scum bags like him know how to play the system and use bottom feeder lawyers to keep them walking the streets.

Scum bags like him know how to play the system and use bottom feeder lawyers to keep them walking the streets.

While doing my cleaning, chaincase oil and tension adjustment on my sled, had on our local 93.3 wmmr station on. Preston and Pierre did a whole tribute to Rush and Neil with a lot of personal insights. The drum solos they played were Amazing🤘🤘.