SilentSno | Mountain Snowmobiling

End of Season / End of Blog?

2008-06-12T15:57:00.003-06:00

So honestly, my season ended a month ago. Snow is still on the mountains, people are still finding fresh snow weekly, which is an incredible thought.

But after realizing I have nothing to talk about this past month as its now getting to summer time. That means yard work, camping, motorcycles, etc... No snowmobile talk.

I think a blog should be a minimum of 1 post a week, at least. As such I'm not sure if I'll continue this blog. I enjoy blogging, but I just may need a topic that I can talk about more frequently.

I have a number of hobbies, skills, interest, so there are lots of ideas. The trouble is narrowing it down to one. You can't have a jack of all types posts as you alienate too many people. I can't write about snowmobiles, then video games, then motorcycles, then latest computer hardware. It just doesn't feel right.

You need your returning visitors to know what they are coming back to, at least in general. For the past year its been Snowmobiling here. Its a tough call.

So people who are interested in anything I am, stick around and check out silentsno.com sometime. It will have something soon, just unsure of the topic.

Thanks for everyone who read this, commented, or maybe even enjoyed this blog.

Dustin signing off.

My sled update

2008-04-23T14:19:00.003-06:00

I figured I would update all of you with the status of my sledding this year with some simple facts.

12 Trips
502 Miles

Issues:
Assume to be the dreaded bent sub frame (had after 3 ride, no recall of big hits to cause this)
Maverick track is really folded over, missing 1 lug, tore down pretty bad
Previous trip finally had the belly ban pop off from freezing snow that others have seen.
Typical oil spilling out when tipped over, but I've put a screen on the vent line to slow it, we'll see how that holds up.

Looking forward to the May trip, maybe another 150 miles I can get out of her those 2 days, we'll see.

Spring Time Riding

2008-04-23T14:12:00.002-06:00

Spring time riding is typically over this time of year. Usually most of the snow has melted except in the highest of elevations. But the key point about enjoyable spring riding is usually the nice weather.

Its warm and sunny, with little snow showers and amazing time to take pictures. Might not have the best snow conditions, but even old snow can soften with some sun, but always a great time. Make that an exceptions this year.

All my riding this month of April has been like riding in mid January. Cold, overcast, and snowing. And more snowing. I think this years season could be one of the longest in a great while. In fact, not only this year did I make my first ever APRIL ride, but I will attempt and probably succeed with my first ever MAY ride.

So I'll be up in Cooke City, Montana, the weekend of May 2-4. Driving up from Billings Friday night to sled all day Saturday and Sunday. I'm looking forward to it.

Yellowstone Expo continued

2008-04-11T13:12:00.005-06:00

Apologizes for not posting this up sooner. No excuses.

The expo continues to be a great place to shop for accessories and apparel. Both for yourself and your sled. Even though the expo in size is relatively small, there were still some fantastic items to be seen. I'd like to highlight a couple.

First and foremost, Tobe Technology. They are a clothing company based in Sweden. All the stuff, jacekts, pants, etc... at all made there too. High quality and fantastic looking. I highly recommend their stuff to anyone. I bought a jacket at the show and now have pants as well. Well above my previous Castle X stuff.

Tobe Technology is an exciting new and fresh line. They have the quality of Klim but a completely different look, which I dig. I'm a Yamaha rider, currently, but by no means am I brand specific, and thus I don't want to be color specific either with my clothing. Tobe allowed me to do this, without comprising style.

Check them out here: http://www.tobetechnology.com

I'd also like to give a shotout to Rexburg Motorsports in Idaho. They were at the show and their sales staff there was fantastic to work with and I'd recommend them to anyone.

Stayed tuned today as well, I feel a multi-day post coming on. Making up for lost time.

Yellowstone Expo Demos

2008-03-24T16:11:00.004-06:00

Sorry it took over a week to write about the expo. There is a lot to talk about what's gone on these past two weeks. But we'll start with the Expo.

Bret and I travelled Friday night and stayed at my uncle's cabin near Big Sky. This made the morning drive that much better, only about an hour from their to West Yellowstone. When we first arrived we immediately headed to the demo rides to sign up, there can be substantial waits for these. We first signed up for Arctic Cat, then were going to do Polaris, but the time conflicted with the Arctic Cat ride, so we decided we'd come back later. We never got that chance. :( And then finished the sign ups with Yamaha, which was no wait and hopped on immediately. There was no Ski-Doo nor have I ever seen them there doing demos, bad move BRP.

Yamaha's ride and lineup was pretty much the same as last year. Mostly trail sleds there with a few Nytro MTXs and Apex MTXs, but it didn't matter because all we got was like 15 minute trail demo ride. It was even shorter than my ride last year. This only gets you comfortable with the basic ergos and power of the sled. Nothing on how well it handles the powder or boondocking through the trees. As consumers get smarter these rides will need to get more expanded, but I guess its better than Ski-Doo's offering there, which was MIA.

After that we grabbed a quick lunch and watched a snocross race there and then headed to Arctic Cat's trailer for that ride. Boy we never knew what we got ourselves into.

The previous demo riders showed up about 10 minutes after we got there, all smiles. We were then told the demo was 2 HOURS long! Not only did we not expect that, we weren't properly dressed. We had our helmets and jackets, but no pants or thermal gear. Lucky it was fairly warm and nice day.

Most of the lineup was their new M8 with 153" track, which is new this year, more about that in another post. With a pair of M1000s. Bret took an M8, and I was left with a M1000, which we decided we would trade off during the ride. Our tour guide then grouped us up and introduced himself as Bret Rasmussen. In case you subscribe to SnoWest magazine he's on the cover and inside pictures on the new Arctic Cat sleds. Thats him on the right.

I'll do my "mini-review" of the new M series when I go over the new 2009 sleds. But needless to say Arctic-Cat did it right. A true "Demo" ride. It gave me the perfect idea of how this sled would work. I recommend anyone that can go to the expo and do a ride with Arctic-Cat. Its well worth it.

I assume and heard Polaris does the same thing in West, but we never got the chance. I would have really liked to ride the new Assault RMK, it looks pretty sick!

Next time we'll go over the Expo show with coverage of the venders. Needless to say, we spend some money. :)

SilentSno - The prototype

2008-03-12T13:53:00.002-06:00

First off I'd like to say welcome, and that I hope this is a long term relationship. :)

Ok with that out of the way, lets get to business. I've contacted a few of my friends in the gaming industry about hooking me up with a freelance artist to create the snowmobile I'll be using for the prototype. Depending on costs, I want two, but will settle for just on model. First would be the 2008 (or 2009 maybe!) Yamaha FX Nytro MTX and then a 2005 Ski-Doo REV 800. If successful, we'll get all the mountain sleds in it.

The biggest hurdle I will face is making the sled handle right in the snow. I want that balance and flotation to be just right. I want it for once to at least to some degree feel like riding a snowmobile, not just a vehicle shaped like a snowmobile.

So the goal before next column is the sketch out some physics for the sled and get someone started on the 3D snowmobile model.

Response

2008-03-12T13:44:00.004-06:00

Wow, I'm blown away at the response I had to the snowmobiling game poll over there. Looks like mountain riding just barely edged freestyle. My vision for a complete game really would cover all aspects of riding a snowmobile, but will be first focused on mountain riding.

I will be started a weekly column update about the game's progress. I'm trying to decide on a day, maybe today is that day. It will be an update of what I've been doing with the prototype, design, programming, and art assets. Along with concepts that feel free to comment on, because the more "eyes" we have on this the better.

Other news I'll be heading down the World Snowmobile Expo in West Yellowstone, MT this weekend. Its a great time to see the new 2009 sleds. Not to mention the incredible aftermarket support shown as well. Oh yeah, then theirs Snocross and drag racing there too! Years past their had been a freestyle event there as well, but I've heard its been cancelled this year. If that's true then it's too bad. Always have been a good show.

Oh, and we'll be doing some riding around Big Sky as well while we are there.

Anyway, I'll probably post the first "SilentSno" Prototype column later today, and start a weekly habit from it.

West Yellowstone success

2008-02-29T16:06:00.002-07:00

West Yellowstone went great for my wife and I. She got her first experience on a snowmobile and a positive one at that. Well for the most part anyway. We did about 25 miles before her rental "gave" out on her. A bolt came out of the lower right side a-arm and caused some trouble steering.

But before that we did some trails, bumps, and played in some small patches of fresh snow, which she enjoyed the most. So that's a positive. Next time we'll get her out in some deeper stuff and see how she enjoys carving and climbing some hills with deep snow on them. So far I'm very impressed and excited about her future riding with me and our other riders.

Here's a quick picture she got of me playing around. She's pretty handy with a camera.

Snowmobile Game

2008-02-13T09:58:00.003-07:00

So you may or may not know, but I'm a software engineer in my day job. I can make computer software, web sites, and web applications with the best of them. However, this wasn't my dream. My dream was the create video games. I went directly to school for this. I have a best friend who works for a AAA video game company. Yet here I am, in Billings, Montana not doing what I love.

So I've decided I'm going to attempt to prototype a snowmobiling game. There have been a few games out there, I mostly have them all. Sled Storm, Ski-Doo Racing, a few titles I own on PC that are forgetable. They were fun and decent, but really didn't define snowmobiling at all. You could pull out the sleds and put in ATVs or Motorcycles and the game wouldn't change at all.

I am going to try to change that. I plan on paying for some freelance art to get started. (Get me a good looking snowmobile to use) I want to get all aspects of sledding. The mountain riding, so that include weight transfer, carving, jumping, climbing, not getting stuck, etc..

Its quite the chore but I wanna do what I can to make a fun game out of this.

I'll keep the updates going on this blog for now. We'll see where it goes in the future.

Future Ride Report

2008-02-13T09:53:00.003-07:00

Well my wife and I are all set on a trip the West Yellowstone on Feb. 22-23. This will be my first attempt at bringing her into the darkside. I'll be bringing down my Nytro of course, and we've arranged to rent her a FX Phazer MTX, which I've ridden breifly during the Yamaha Demos last year.

It should be a great time and hopefully my wife will see what the fuss has been about! I haven't ridden in West Yellowstone in probably 2-3 years, what a shame. I hear they've been having awesome snow there this year. So I'm excited and we'll take lots of pictures because I need to capture this moment with my wife.

Previous Trip Report

2008-02-13T09:45:00.003-07:00

Ok, so I've been on 5 trips sledding this year, halfway to my goal of double digits! Me and the gang headed out to our "secret" southern Big Timber location again this past weekend. Its not really secret, but the snow can be quite good and its not large enough to have a lot of people sledding in.

Few observations this trip. The Maverick track keeps showing its suckiness more and more. I had a hard time climbing some crusty layered, though deep poweder underneath snow that normally I should be able to. Even the Rev 600 in the group didn't have this problem. I was able to finally get the climb in, but I had to take a slight run at it, a few more sled lengths than the other guys. I probably could make it stock, once the clutching is dialed in, but the track is really the biggest issue. Challenger will be going in this summer.

I made a few suspension adjustments before this trip and failed to see any improvements. First I sucked the limitor strap top its 3 holes tigher than I recieved the sled, which was in the first loosest hole. This seemed to have no baring on climbing, but may once I get a different track.

I also tighted up the front spring pre-load on the shocks a bit, probably 75% tight that the stock shocks let me adust. Still again, didn't really notice much. Sled might have been a little worse on trails with this, not sure if it was the adjustments or the trails themselves.

BTW Stay tuned as I'm writing 3 posts today!

Disappointment

2008-02-04T10:26:00.000-07:00

Well this is going to be just a short update. Saturday was to be a great day. Fun snowmobiling, great weather, cameras ready for both video and stills.

I should have known better.

Bret and I ventured out way to Red Lodge, MT with the intention of going up Beartooth pass like I've done twice this year already. Well we didn't make it to the top, close, but not close enough.

Snow drifts covered many sections of the road and we crossed many of them, some dangerous, but not enough to stop us, until we got to the big one. It was huge, probably 15 feet tall and covered the entire road, from rock face to guardrail, not that you could see that guardrail.

It was either roll off the the right into the rocks and hurt yourself and your machine, or roll off to left and over the guardrail and down to your death off a huge cliff.

Needless to say, we turned around. So much disappointment. We will never come here again unless Red Lodge or Carbon county decide to maintain the pass at least to the rest area that almost reaches the top. It hurt to waste such a beautiful day...

Recent Ride Report - Independence

2008-01-16T14:22:00.000-07:00

Wow, its been almost two months. I see I have a few visitors so for them I'll keep posting.

Bret and I took a trip south of Big Timber Montana for my 4th ride of the year. This is down near the old Independence mine and Monument Peak. There is a ungroomed trail that leads us to our destination, but at 15 miles its a little trek in.

We were greeted by fresh snow everywhere! Even experienced our first in person Avalanche. Not so great! So lets start with that.

We were doing some high-marking on this North Facing peak with some decent powder on top of it. I had just gotten down from getting stuck about half way up, and was sitting on my sled cleaning out my goggles and helmet from snow when Bret took another run at it. He reached his high mark and began coming down. I then heard a loud "thud" and looked up and saw the slide coming down the left part of the grade. (We had been climbing the right) I pointed and yelled at Bret, "Avalanche!" I held all of my stuff (gloves, goggles, helmet) and started up my sled. (Thank you Yamaha for eclectic start!) And started my way away from the slide. I saw Bret slow and point that the slide had stopped.

Talk about heart stopping. At this point in the day I was ready to call it. The weather was great, a storm had been moving in, reducing visibility. With that and the slide I felt ok with leaving at that point. Luckily Bret wanted to show me another spot just up the hill to the west of our location.

We hit this great area with consistence deep powder and a decent hill to climb. We played in this spot for easily over a few hours. Its was the most fun I've had on my sled all year long. Bret and I really started to see how much we've improved since we started sledding 3 years ago. (I've been sledding since I could barely walk)

We are doing things most people wouldn't try. Not extreme things like jumping off cliffs or things like that. Just certain climbs thru the trees that are semi difficult. We are getting a lot more skilled with our machines and with ourselves.

Anywho, attached is the Google Earth view of our trip. My path is in yellow. Gotta love my Rino GPS! BEST PRESENT EVER!

Next time, soon within a week I have some small mods I've done that I'll talk about, along with a few issues I'm having with my FX Nytro that appears to be a big problem on Totally Yamaha forums!

First Ride Report!

2007-11-25T12:44:00.000-07:00

Location: Beartooth Mountains, just outside of Red Lodge, MT
When: 11/23/2007
Total Miles: ~50 (have to check the odometer still!)
MPG: ~10 (will figure once I check odometer)

Rode about 10 miles on trail to get to the decent deep powder of 4 to 6 feet. Total trails 20 miles.

Deep powder, boondocking, hill climbing around 30 miles.

Trail/Road Notes:

Sled handles pretty well, but a little tippy. Its nothing bad, its what I expected with this sled and my additional handlebar riser I added. It did seem to "dart" a bit, but I might have been getting down to the road thru the packed snow, it was a bit low in some spots.

Takes the bumps and little jumps really well. I haven't messed with the suspension at all yet.

On flat smooth spots this sled just hauls, quick and easy up to 80 mph.

Hill Climbing:
This sled climbs really well. You can really control the sled while climbing. Shifting it side to side controlling the direction you climb up the hill.

We ended up riding with another guy from Cody, WY with what we thought was a M8. So the three of us, (97 Summit 670 (piped and canned) with a 136x2, M8 with 162x2.25, and my Nytro 153x2.25) and I easily beat the older Summit, and for a bit stay with the M8. I was a bit disappointed in that aspect at first. We came down the hill and talked with the guy a bit. Well I immediately became much happier with my Nytro when we found out what his sled really was. A fully loaded M10.

So he really had a M10, with pipe, can, fuel controller, airbox mods, custom clutching, and nitrous! That run I mentioned he used Nitrous on. Him and I did it again this time without Nitrous. I had a huge holeshot and pulled probably a length on him and it was until the top 20% of this somewhat small climb that he pulled ahead.

I'll have a real comparison with a 05 Rev 800 next ride.

Boondocking:
Still getting used to the balance, the next trip should be much more successful for me. I could easily lean control her without moving side to side of the sled. Could easily move in between the trees but did get into trouble a few times. Mostly because of my inexperience on this sled. And by trouble I mean getting stuck. I fell off a few times in deep powder and while slightly uphill, a no no, and almost a guaranteed "stuck."

Deep Powder:
Did extremely well, wasn't enough in some spots to do any real technical stuff. (doughnuts, etc...) Will reevaulate next trip.

Overall:

Great day and first ride of the season. I'm extremely happy with my choice and can't wait to get out and ride again.

I've attached a picture of our trip in Google Earth, our estimated path is in blue.

Start of the season

2007-11-19T22:35:00.000-07:00

Well the snow is falling. Here in Billings (~3600 feet) we just had about 2" - 3" inches fall this afternoon and evening. In the mountains, much, much more.

In case people are familiar, I'll give into a little secret I have. Its called Snotel. Its a website with Snowdepth and weather information. Its a government ran website with Snow information all over the Western USA of Alaska.

Here is there link:

http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snow/

Fisher Creek Snotel site which is located right out of Cooke City, MT in the very nice Beartooth mountains shows almost 4 feet of snow! And that's just at that site.

What does this mean? Means, sledding season has begun. Stay tuned for a report of the first ride of the season. We've got our first ride planned for "Black Friday." Women will be getting up earlier for doorbusters and we'll be the "Snowbusters."

So can't wait, might have to take the sled around the block in the morning. I don't need those Carbides that sharp anyway, I ride in the deep stuff!

Such a sweet sweet sound

2007-10-31T09:18:00.000-06:00

I might have found an exhaust for my new FX Nytro MTX. Its made by Skinz, a popular aftermarket company. I drops over 5lbs of weight from the sled while adding 3 hp. And for the price ($200-$280) can't be beat. Embedded is a video clip of the exhaust. Let me know what you think.

Oh, and I'm very excited to see the increased activity around here, big thanks to everyone. As the season progresses, things only will get better!

Better of the rest DVDs

2007-10-19T09:14:00.000-06:00

Most sledders know the Slednecks. They are by far the most celebrity sledders out there. With their insane jumps, drops, highmarks, backflips, etc. they have shot over 10+ movies and even have X Games gold to bring home.

While Sledneck films are great, they don't always represent what real mountain riding is about. That's where I come in.

I'd like you to meet Far West Films, and more importantly their movie "Boost." If you haven't guessed it, most of the movie is of boosted Yamaha 4-Strokes. But please, don't let that turn you away if you are a die-hard Ski-Doo, Arctic-Cat, or 2-stroke fan. Its just awesome sleds, riding in one of the most beautiful parts of the world, classic Revelstoke.

Embedded below is a YouTube scene of the DVD, entitled "Breathe." Give it a look, and it may just sell you on their DVD, I know it did me.

http://www.farwestfilms.com

Almost complete

2007-10-15T13:43:00.000-06:00

Alright previews over. Now is the time to unveil the new sled. It's not complete yet. I still have Skid Plate, A-Arm Protectors, and possible a few more decals. Final mounting of my trunk bag as well.

Let me know what you think.

To Blog or Not To Blog....

2007-09-24T14:39:00.000-06:00

That is the big question.

I've seen a steady number of hits from around these internets.

Yet, we've had no comments. Maybe its the lack of exciting topics, maybe the writing sucks, but whatever reason, its hard to continue this without support.

So basically, I'm seeing if you guys/gals out there would like us to continue the blog, which is about to get much more exciting with the Winter coming up. Not to mention mods to my new FX Nytro MTX!

So if you'd like to see the blog continue, please leave a comment! Its easy, you don't have to register or anything.

Surprise, surprise

2007-09-11T12:05:00.000-06:00

We have a little sneak peak for you. I'll let the picture do the talking.

Snowmobile Backflip

2007-08-23T10:59:00.000-06:00

Sorry for taking about 3 weeks off, but a lot has been going on. First a took a vacation in the Western part of Montana. We have some cabins over there.

Second we had an amazing freestyle show on August 15th at Metrapark during the MontanaFair. The show was put on by Jimmy Blaze, non other that the Yamaha freestyle snowmobile rider himself. What a show! We had motorcycles, quads, and of course SLEDS! Without further ado, here's a shot of Jimmy's finish of the show.

Snowmobile Backflip Jimmy Blaze - The most amazing bloopers are here

If people like I have the quad backflip here.

project "Tall Monkey"

2007-08-01T12:24:00.000-06:00

So as you readers may or may not have read that Dustin and I (Bret) were going to install some risers and pivot adapter to my rev 800. Well we did it the other day. Dustin should have some vids up soon. The project went well for the most part one broken drill bit and no split knuckles so I think that is a good project. We did run into a small hang up on the throttle extension part though. Not quite sure what the problem is yet. Maybe the part I bought is defective. the next time I get a chance to work on it I will figure out what the problem is. But at this point the sled is standing tall but standing still till things are resolved.

Stay tuned later on this month for hand guards and rear foot rest install.

until then
brap brap

Bret

Coming soon!

2007-07-25T14:53:00.000-06:00

Great news readers!

Fellow SilentSno blogger Bret has recieved in some parts for his Ski-Doo Rev 800! We have some new PowerMadd 6" Riser with the Pivot block.

We will also be installed a pair hand guards with the flexible mounts!
No more busting off in the trees!

Videos coming soon!

2008 Yamaha Lineup

2007-07-17T09:23:00.000-06:00

Last and certainly not least we have Yamaha. The 4 stroke one and only. Yamaha took the pludge a few years back realizing that 4 strokes were the future and started coming out with some amazing sleds ever since.

This year we have 3 models. The 150hp Apex MTX, 130hp (dyno'd at 138) FX Nytro MTX, and the 80hp FX Phazer MTX. The Apex put Yamaha back onto the playing field in the mountain sled category, but its heavy weight put a burden on a lot of people. Sure people have turbo-charged them to god only needs horsepower levels, but still doesn't help with its nimbleness (is that a word?!) in the powder.

Enter today. The brand new 2008 FX Nytro MTX. Way, way lighter, its roughly 600 lbs WET. A brand new 4 stroke 1050cc engine, most torque of any Yamaha snowmobile engine ever made. The new light weight, rigid, rider forward FX Chassis. Sounds like a match made in heaven for me.

I got a chance to demo ride the Phazer and Nytro in West Yellowstone during the snowmobile expo. Here's a quick summary:

FX Phazer MTX:
Quick, Nimble, and feels light weight
No top end, but expected because of only the 80hp
still fun great handling, if i get my wife into sledding its what i'd buy her

Switched and I got on what i drove down for, FX Nytro MTX
FX Nytro MTX:
Torquey! Tons of it, they don't lie. Sled just wants to go
Also very nimble a lot like the Phazer, obviously not as light, but still rides light to me. (a lot compared to what i ride now: A/C 900 triple Powder Special)

Overall, as this was my first 4 stroke ride, I was very impressed with with the smoothness of the engines and love electric start. Never tried the reverse.
Build quality is top notch, probably the best in the industry.

Needless to say, I found my first brand new sled purchase. Its exactly what I've been waiting for. Power, Fun, Low Maintenance, Styling. We'll have a first look with video and up close pictures the moment it arrives at my local Yamaha dealership sometime this late summer, very early fall, followed by a full review with video after the first snow starts to fall. Not to mention accessory installs!

It's already shaping up to be a very exciting winter for all of us here.

Link

2008 Ski-Doo Lineup

2007-07-13T14:43:00.000-06:00

Up next is one if the most incredible changes ever in the history of sledding. Ski-Doo introduces a brand new chassis that reduces the sleds weight to the low 400 lb range. See 439, almost 50 lbs lighter than previous generation, and a huge fan favorite the Rev.

This all new chassis is 37% stronger than the previous Rev. Pretty incredible considering the weight loss. Lots of engineering went into this. Weight loss was also found in their new SC5 rear suspension.

Engine choose were to remain the same from last year, 1000, 800, and the 600, but in April Ski-Doo decided to do away with the 1000, leaving only Arctic Cat as the 1k in 2 strokes.

Also note the new Rev-XP chassis is only available at this time in the 800 class. The 600 will remain the the older, but popular Rev platform.

I had a chance to sit on and play around with a 2008 Rev-XP 800R at the Snowmobile Expo in West Yellowstone. First thing was, they had it setup on digital scales so you could see the weight. Including when someone got onto it upping it to between 650-700 lbs, proving the scales did work, but accuracy remained a question.

The chassis looks and feels great. I have no worries there, my only concerns were with the "cheapness" of all the other materials. Hood plastics were paper thin, I could even see the handlebar risers flex when tugged. Now I'll give Ski-Doo the benefit of the doubt here as this was a prototype model, but hopefully they beef up a few of those areas.

It'll be a make or break year for Ski-Doo with this new chassis and we can't wait to see how it holds up after some major pounding.

Link