gizz

This is some of the best early reporting i've ever seen! Keep it coming please. It is very much appreciated, way more than you might think, for those of us still stuck in snowless places. From all the reports it pretty much seems to be province wide so the season should get off to a very good start this year. Hopefully those that depend upon it for a living have a great year. I'm tired of seeing places closed or burned down.

Playhard, you pretty much summed up everything i was thinking. This whole thing actually makes me sick to my stomach. I can't even imagine what that must be like. Without getting into any arguments or pissing matches i'll just add that when i went to school as a yound kid, when i got out of line i got "cracked"...plain and simple. Looking back at it i deserved every paddling, spanking, you name it. I was not a bad kid but if my parents or principal or teachers noticed me going down the wrong path they would and could immediately correct it without ramifications. Now-a-days there's too much "feel good" stuff and dicipline is not allowed by parents or guardians without fear of being sued. I think we need to get back to that a little more instead of pumping the kids full of meds....Again this is my opinion and nothing more. God rest the poor souls of those involved in yesterdays massacre.

Damn! Looks like things will only get better after this weekend. Big storm ejecting ouf the Mid U.S. headed your way for later in the weekend

I'm intrigued by that 600 ace motor and i'm betting it's really sweet. Give us some feedback on that motor and ride if you can. Thanks

There's that and the border crossing. A big deal is made of it from many people i talk to and even though i tell them that as long as you have your paperwork you won't have any problems.Even so there's a perception that "we" aren't wanted up there. I've personally never experienced and bad feelings up there so i'm not sure where that all comes from. The language barrier is interesting but never a problem.

We got gas there as well. I kind of like the place, never seemed slow to me. We have talked about staying there but the trips just never worked out that way so far.

I bet they are all for sale for the right price

Huge pattern shift very late next week for the entire northern Hemisphere. Winter is coming for sure....hold on for another week or so

It's a start

The reply was a very short "the place is closed". I didn't feel like pressing him for any more information. I figured he was entitled to his privacy and i appreciated at least the reply he gave me. If he does decide to elaborate please fill us in, that was a great spot.

Gas -n- Go i guess

Richard replied today that the place is closed.

You have the strikethough option set in your font selection. (looks like a capital S with dash through it)

Anyone know what the story is with Richard and the Mekinac for the upcoming season? Really liked starting and ending at that place. Was VERY MUCH CLOSED last season when we passed through.

I confirmed that GPS Quebec is no longer updating their maps (i've used them for years). The only "commercial" place that i've found is Trakmaps so i purchased that card for 2012-2013. Are there any other gps map vendors out there? I'm sure they all get the info from FCMQ but the difference might be in the "point of interest".

The "t" version has topo maps preloaded into the GPS. I went with trakkmaps and it looks pretty good so far. I kind of like the idea of the camera (and a good one at that!) built into the GPS. We went with the quick holder That keeps wires from having to be attached to the GPS sort of like the dashboard thing but only it's standalone. It will be nice pushing a button to release the GPS, taking a picture, and putting it back into the holder without having to dig around for my camera.....at least that's the idea i'm going with.

I like to keep my main GPS software up to date each year with any trail changes and i've always used the gpsquebec program/maps for that. I just got an email from them saying they will not be producing an update for the 2012 season because the federation has resigned their contract with them. So i guess i'm wondering if the GPS trail system is going to be available for free or through the federation now (whether free or for a price). I just purchased a new Garmin Montana and while i know i can use last years maps it still would be nice to know what the plans are going forward. Anyone know ?

You didn't ask me but mine is a 2009 FST Switchback and it had about 5000 miles on it when the bearing on the alternator started to make noise. It got louder until it finally let go at about 6000 miles. That bolt on the muffler is a bad design as well. Mine got too close to the tank and put a hole in it as well. I used epoxy to patch it on the trail and it did such a good job it's still on there, figured it would prevent another hole in the tank. I love my sled for the power, pull, and ride but Polaris really needs to do some work to the design so that these hoses, tanks, etc don't rub so close together.

MidRange, Nice report. We were up there the week previous, it was much colder although not cold enough at times. Just for referance I agree 100% with your assessment on the Polaris 4 strokes. My sled handles well when it's not soft but i tend to get tired of throwing the beast around on soft trails, although i'm not sure the Yamaha is any less of a chore. My alternator went out on my trip and a great dealer (Pro Performance) got me back running in not time. I had taken mine to my dealer at the end of last year, when it was still under warranty because of the whining alternator and they said it was "normal" which of course we know is simply just "i don't want to deal with it" on their part. Bottom line is once you hear the alternator start to whine (bearing) you've got about a few hundred miles maybe until she fails and then you don't move. Luckily mine died at a gas stop so i could get some help to get it to the dealer. This is likely my last Polaris although i really like the sled. They need a more refined 4 banger and i'll stick around, otherwise it's Doo for me.

Thanks for all the reports this year. The detail of your reports is second to none and always honest. I was hoping to come up on the 24th of March but like you said they stopped grooming a couple weeks earlier than previous years so i didn't want to make the long drive for sub par quebec conditions. I'm sure they were still very good if you were closer than 12 hours but for me it's too far to drive for just good conditions.

Valin looks great but i can't take the drive all the way to the Mountain from central PA. Guess we'll hold off til next year. too bad they stop grooming so soon near Shawinigan. I did this a couple years ago and it was groomed into the first week of April. Bernard was alive then and i know he pushed hard to keep things groomed for as long as possible. Sounds like there's plenty of snow though.

I was hoping to head up to Richards place on Wednesday night to ride Thu Fri and Sat from there up to Valin and back. Is the grooming done around Shawinigan? We did this a couple years ago the last week of March and they were still grooming so we figured we could do the late march thing again. Maybe we waited too long? I don't want to do the 9 hour drive for sub Canadian conditions. Thoughts?

Damn! I was hoping at least through March. We were planning on going to shawinigan (Richard's place) next Wed 3/23 and riding to Valin for a couple days and then back. Anyone have any idea how much will be affected? I'll have to rethink if they are not going to be groomed anymore.

I guess if you are mounting it on a handlebar it would be tough to use while driving and probably dangerous i would think. Mine is located behind the handlebar on a flat part of the console. I find it very readable but the screen is definately smaller compared to some of the newer units. I'll have to research the zumo but i'm very happy with my 60 csx. The one thing that i wanted to avoid was something that was too large that you couldn't pop it off the mount and throw it in your pocket.

I have the 60 csx. That's a good model for sure and i've seen it discounted this summer which may mean a new and improved model around the bend but i can't find any faults with the one i have.