When he heard I was looking for interesting snowmobile pictures, Ron from gothotrocks.com just knew we’d want to see these.

 These photos cross the nation from the state of Washington, where Ron says, “we manage to run our sleds year round, even in summer.”

In regards to the event in the photos, Ron says,

“This event happens the end of July at Ione, Washington. There are 50+ sleds involved each year.  It is about 1/3 mile across the river and 70+ feet deep. Sleds start with skis almost touching the water, no running start.  Anyone is invited to compete, and Yes, some sleds do sink.”

Sled vs Jet Ski–Sled Wins!

It looks like tons of fun, and Ron assures me your first ride is the most thrilling, so if you’re already longing for white trails again, consider a trip to Ione, Washington in Eastern Washington state in July; or one sooner–last we spoke, Ron said there was still 4 to 6 feet of snow in the mountains where he sleds, with some locations reporting 10 feet!  One year, they were snowmobiling on June 1st!

Ron has a video of last year’s event up on his site.  You can see it here: WaterCross Snowmobile Video

Looks like good times riding in Washington!  And by the way for all of you watercrossers out there, I did find watercross snowmobile shirts at SledderWear the other day (the woman has everything…)

Thanks for the pics and links, Ron!  If you’ve got something worth looking at, send them along to sledderchick@gmail.com.

In closing, I’ll leave you with Ron’s words of wisdom, which I’m taking to heart to get me through the warm months ahead…

“…After all, water is just warm snow.”

We’ve had some great submissions for our Vintage Snowmobile Photo Challenge, but we need more!  So far only one challenger has had photos that could truly compete with David Crew’s late ’60’s/early 70’s era pictures, that being VintageSleds.com (but you have to go to the actual site to see the old photos, as opposed to just new photos of old sleds).

All Photos Are Welcomed And Greatly Appreciated

We’re having lots of fun with this, so why stop now? 

I can tell you that this challenge has netted a variety of different snowmobile pictures.  I’ve even had some great video feeds of crazy snowmobile events sent in (which will be featured soon enough).  David’s challenge is primarily to find other old photo collections taken when the snowmobiles were young and (relatively) new, but we’re all having fun with the new pics of vintage sleds and restorations, so send whatever you got and we’ll sort ‘em out later!

See All Vintage Sled Challengers Here

In case you’ve been blowing me off all week, (and you’re forgiven if you’ve been riding, but if you’re just out tanning, come in and see what we’ve been up to), here are links to David Crews and his original challenge, as well as links to all the submissions posted so far:

• The Challenger: David crews 
• VintageSleds.com
• Trucker & Kitty from KawasakiTrax.com
• Jim, another Kawasaki fan

I know there have got to be more great snomobiling photos out there, so don’t be shy, show us what you’ve got!  Leave a comment here or send your submission to sledderchick@gmail.com.  And by the way, if you’ve got a site to promote with it, let me know, I’m happy to offer up your link, too.

Thanks for joining in the fun!

This time they come from Trucker’s friend Jim.  I woke up to these vintage snowmobile photos in my inbox this morning.

 The first:

Jim describes this one as, “A group photo of the sleds from KawasakiTrax that made it to Hutchinson Mn show a few years back. The trailer and banner belong to Trucker as well as a few of the sleds. “

And this one is Jim’s personal favorite, at least until another comes and takes her place.  Jim says he spent a year and a half making it run, which leads us to wonder if he’s single or just has a wife with the patience of a saint (and an aroma of two-stroke floating throughout her house).

More thanks go out to Jim for playing along with our Vintage Snomobile Photo-hunt game.  Thanks for sharing!  (And hopefully you don’t take our jabs too seriously.  I’m banking on you having a sense of humor if you’re hanging out with Berleen (aka Kitty)!)

Join Jim and Send Me Your Vintage Snowmobile Pics, Too!

Send them to sledderchick@gmail.com.  Other Fun & Interesting Snowmobile Pictures also gladly accepted!

Remember Kitty from SledderWear?  You, know, the one that makes those really great snowmobiling T-shirts and gifts?  Well, as it turns out Kitty’s inspiration is her husband Trucker’s Vintage Snowmobile Addiction!  He even owns a website at KawasakiTrax.com.  It’s dedicated to vintage sleds, obviously more Kawasaki than anything, but I hear he’s working on an old Polaris this summer, so we’ll let him in.

Kitty is a bit of a shutterfly.  She’s sent a bunch of her husband’s vintage sled photos (not of the original era, so they’ll fall into the “Vintage Snowmobile” and not “Vintage Photo” category - because, you know, what David has really is old.

Here’s What Kitty & Trucker Have To Brag About

Guess Who!?

Kitty says there’s lots more to see at KawasakiTrax, so head over there and see what they’ve got!

Now, Where Are Your Vintage Snowmobile Pictures?

We have our first challenger for the vintage sled photo challenge.  Larry from VintageSleds.Com stopped by at the Original Vintage Sled Pics Challenge Post to let us know “the best set of vintage sled pics in the world are all on vintagesleds.com.”  He says, there’re “literally thousands of great photos on vintagesleds.com for you all to enjoy.”

Larry offered this pic of him and 500 of his closest friends at a Vintage snowmobile ride for illustrative purposes.  You can check out the collection at www.vintagesleds.com and let me know what you think.  If you find a personal fan favorite there, comment below and tell me just where to find it so the rest of us can have a look.

Sounds like a challenge, David! 

And remember, if you have vintage sled pics, let me know.  You can have your vintage or antique snowmobile picture posted here, too!  Comment here or email me at sledderchick@gmail.com

To learn more about the Vintage Snowmobile Photo Challenge, read the original SledChix post here: http://skinnymoose.com/sledchix/?p=127

I recently received an email from a friend of Tom Remington’s, David Crews, with this challenge:

 “I am declaring that I have the very best set of vintage snowmobile photos that there is.”

I have to say, I’ve seen the photos and they are pretty damn good.  As proof, David offered a couple of samples for me to post here with his challlenge.

There are some very good shots in the album on David’s blog, which he hosts on his website and describes as something “…like a digital coffee table book. The book is about an 18 year old Rock n’ Roll kid from the Dundalk suburbs of Baltimore City who moves to Maine in 1968 and fits right in. He became a bear hunting guide and country girl’s delight. It is my true story.”  (I wonder if we should challenge the assertion that he was in fact a ‘country girl’s delight’–maybe Tom or an old girlfriend could come out of the woodwork and support this claim! )

 On his blog, you’ll see David’s original declaration:

“I am issuing this statement: I have the best set of vintage snowmobile photographs in the world.

If anyone can come up with a better set, I’d like to see ‘um.”

Incidentally, his sister doesn’t believe David could possibly have the best set of vintage snowmobile pictures in the world, so he’ll need your help to prove her wrong–or to dethrone him and claim the title of ‘King of the Vintage Sled Mountain’ for yourself.

Now, to view all of David’s vintage snowmobile photos, you have to go to his blog.  You can access the main page here: David Crews Website & Blog.  Once you are there, click on the blog link in the center of the page (Read David Crews Blog), or go directly to the photo album (View the Photo Album of David Robert Crews) and scan through to see all of the vintage sled pics there.  The black and whites, as David will tell you, are of particularly good quality and there are some great action shots.

So there you have it, the VINTAGE SLED PIC CHALLENGE.  Think your collection is better than David’s?  Know your pictures suck but want us to see them anyway? 

Send Me Your Vintage Snowmobile Pictures

I’ll link to or post them and we can let my readers decide. (And don’t be afraid of David, it’s all in good fun.)

Join in the fun!  Send your pics to sledderchick@gmail.com  I’m looking forward to seeing them!

…and don’t forget…if you have information to support or deny that David Robert Crews was in fact a “Country girl’s delight” during the period of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, please don’t be shy!  We want to hear all about that too (you can even do a guest post if you like).

I’m cheating today because it’s 70 degrees and beautiful outside, and here it is 2:30 and I haven’t even been out to enjoy the gorgeous weather!  So I’m leaving you with some random sledding pictures I had sitting on my computer.  Enjoy the view!

Tomorrow’s supposed to be nice and I have a full plate of work again, so maybe then I’ll do more of the same.  Of course, if you’d like to share some of your snowmobiling picures here, I’d be happy to post those, too!  Email them to sledderchick at gmail.com (replace the word at with the @ sign!).

Enjoy the spring weather!

Apparently there’s still plenty of snow for riding in the Mountains of Colorado where snocross/freestyle rider Chris Burandt operates Burandt’s Backcountry Adventures. 

“ AmSnow just received Burandt’s latest update and it looks like a huge storm just dropped another 4 ft. of fresh snow in his backyard!”

And as long as there’s snow, there will be riding–and deep discounts, too:  “Burandt’s Backcountry Adventures will be open until June and has just dropped prices for late season riders wanting to take a shot riding big hills with Chris on the new 2009 Arctic Cat M-Cats…and between now and June 1, you can get snowmobile rentals at half price and $100 off lodging.”

 And for those that do the year-round thing with motcross and dirt biking, there’s even more fun:

 ”Burandt will also be offering packages that include moto/dirt-biking in the morning and snowmobiling in the afternoon. How perfect a day is that?” 

 Pretty close to perfection if that’s your thing, I’d guess.  You can read more from AmSnow here: Backcountry Riding Still Excellent

~~~By The Way–in case you missed it, don’t forget to go back and take this Snowmobiling Sled v. Spouse Quiz!  I’m curious to see how others of you scored (and you can see my score there, too)!

I just found this quiz on the Snowmobile Fanatics Forum.  It’s designed (not very scientifically) to tell you which is more important to you–your sled or your spouse.  Timely, since today we marry off another of my young and dreamy-eyed nieces.  So in the spirit of the day…

The instructions are to take the quiz by answering which applies for each question–your sled or your spouse.  You can credit both if both apply.  You don’t have to be married to play, though, girlfriend/boyfriend/significant other works, too.  Okay.  Let’s have some fun…

Warning! This is not a “family” activity! Before you read the list, parents, I have to warn there is some definite inuendo (nothing too extreme, but it’s there), so you may want to check out the list before you share.  There.  I gave fair warning.  Now…

                      SLED                                     ……Or……                          SPOUSE?

 Only One Can Win!

1.Ill never forget the first time I saw you. sled or spouse Both
2 I wanted you instantly. sled or spouse  Both
3. I often find myself daydreaming about you. sled or spouse Both (probably the sled more, I pretty much get as much of Bill as I want!)
4. Theres more than one photo of you on my desk. sled or spouse  Niether!  (Note to self: get sledding pic for desk) [+ .5 pt sled]
5. I love showing you off to my friends. sled or spouse  Both
6. My friends remark how attractive you are. sled or spouse Both 
7.In a typical week we spend5 or more hours of time toghther. sled or spouse Spouse
8.when your around I often look at you with admiration and longing. sled or spouse  Both
9.in the last 3 months Ive spent more than 250$ on you. sled or spouse Sled (counting fuel, etc.  Hey–It’s been more than 3 months since Christmas or Bill’s birthday!)
10our last ride lasted more than an hour. sled or spouse  Uh, duh!  Sled
11. its thrilling how you respond underneath me. sled or spouse Both (But Bill gets credit for response across the room)[+.5]
12.I would never let anyone else ride you. sled or spouse Spouse (I have admittedly and begrudginly let other people on my sled, but never other people on my  husband)
13. You make my heart beat faster. sled or spouse Both
14. you make me feel young. sled or spouse Both (honestly, both.  Bill keeps me feeling young–it’s all part of his Master Plan.  And he got me into sledding, so he gets credit by default, too)
15. you have taken me places and shown me things, I thought I would never see. sled or spouse Both (But again, since Bill took me sledding to begin with, and is almost always riding with me & leading, he gains credit by default again)
16. when im alone with you im at peace with the world. sled or spouse Both (Aren’t I required to say that?)
17. you were made for me. sled or spouse Bill (The sled’s getting some mods & will be upgraded one day; Bill we’ll leave as is)
18. I cant live without you. sled or spouse Both (he created a monster)
19. I will never upgrade to a newer model. sled or spouse Bill (one day the sled will go to the older boy, and I’ll be moving up in the world!)

The Grand Total

By my calculations, the score is Sled: 15, Bill: 16.5.  Bill eeks it out in the end, but I have to say it was a close race and I wasn’t sure until I did the math myself.

THE WINNER! (By a ski)

Okay, do share…what’s your score?  Who’s the winner? 

If you happen to be one of those nuts reading who does not have a sled, you can replace sled with your vehicle or hobby of choice, be it fishing, hunting, an ATV, a boat, etc…  But you still have to share your results!

Sledders, if you’d like to join the Snowmobile Fanatics Forum and post your results with the original, go here:  http://www.snowmobilefanatics.com/forum/topic/78952/display.aspx

Disclaimer: The SledChick can in no way be held responsible for any marital rifts that may result from participation in this quiz or subsequent discussion.  Really if this thing causes your relationship [with your sled or your spouse] to become that stressed, you probably had other problems anyway!  It’s all in good fun…

Not enough reason for us to jump the Polaris ship yet, but the four-year warranty Yamaha is offering on new sled purchases until April 15 as part of the 2009 Yamaha Spring Power Surge Program might be something to consider. 

As reported by American Snowmobiler, buyers who get in on the SPS program will get a one-year factory warranty, plus 3 more years through Yamaha’s “Y.E.S.” program for a total of four.  There is also the option to add a fifth year for around $100, which we know is all too easy to spend if something goes wrong with your snowmobile.  What makes it an even better deal is that the warranty is fully transferable, so you can still sell your sled under warranty, theoretically increasing its resale value and marketability.

 Here are some details from the AmSnow article:

• No deductible
There’s never a deductible to pay on covered repairs.

• Fully transferable: Increase value on your Yamaha
Your 4-year Y.E.S. protection plan is transferable, which can increase your Yamaha’s value if you decide to sell or trade it in later. There is no fee for the transfer.

• Affordable 5th year available
2009 SPS buyers can add an extra year onto the end of the coverage for about $100.

• TRIP benefit
Y.E.S. coverage automatically includes TRIP - Travel and Recreation Interruption Protection that’s in effect from the date of Y.E.S. plan purchase, even during the factory warranty period. With TRIP, expenses related to a covered failure can be covered as well, up to $150 per occurrence. This means unexpected food or lodging expenses, transportation expenses, even a rental vehicle can be covered - and that’s each time you have a covered warranty or Y.E.S. repair.

• Nationwide coverage
Have the nationwide network of Yamaha dealers behind you.

• Peace of mind
Repairs* become Yamaha’s problem, not yours. Y.E.S. will be there to help make it right.

*Excluding those repairs due to normal wear and tear or aging.

****

Sounds like a decent deal, but you have to wonder what the real worth of extended sled warranties are (not just for Yamaha, for any snowmobile).  The italicized print says it all, doesn’t it? “*Excluding those repairs due to normal wear and tear or aging.”  Which naturally, most snowmobile repairs are.  I guess it can’t hurt and it’s a good promotion for Yamaha.  Probably still not enough to make us make the switch, though. If we were to do that I think we’d have to bank more reasons than a warranty of questionable real-world value.