Anyone ever go snowmobiling?

I'm going to fly to Milwalkee in the morning and meet up with a friend of mine to ride snowmobiles. I've never riden them before, and my buddy has only ridden them once! I'm going to fly out tomorrow, pick up two new sleds with a trailer and then he is going to meet me there Saturday.

From what I understand we will need to drive North about 5 or 6 hours to get to some "deep" snow in the Northern peninsula.
Supposedly there are miles upon miles of kept trails in that area, similar to the motorcycle trails in the national forest here.
What I am most concerned with is the cold. I have lived in Texas my entire life and have never been in 10 degree weather for any length of time.

I have been to Wal-Mart and gotten long undies, fleece shirts, etc. I also have a heavy, zipper vented motorcycle riding jacket that should do well. What I don't have is a waterproof pair of pants or riding boots that I think would be up to the task. Does anyone have any advice?


Oh, additional gear that I am taking
-insulated sox
-motocross helment
-3 pair of goggles with different shaded lens
-motocross gloves
-kidney belt

What else do I need?

I live in Snowmobile Country in Northern Ontario Canada.
We get sometime as much as four feet of snow here in the winters and temperatures get down into the minus 20s, 30s and Sometimes even 40 below.
Its definitely a good idea to get
- long underwear
- really good footwear ( thermal socks, good insulated boots )
- toque
-a warm pair of snowpants and a warm jacket ( your motorcycle jacket may not be as warm as you think )
-good gloves or mitts ( gloves are better )
-a good helmet with a faceshield ( it will keep the wind off your face )
- a balacalava for your face so you dont get windburn

Also there are little things called hot packs they sell that work great. You just break them and it creates heat through a chemical reaction. They work great if you stick them in yoru socks or gloves to keep warm.

The Most important
is to keep your hands feet and face warm becuase they are the most suceptible to frost bite and wind burn.

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions post them up and Ill see if I can help.

Have FUN

Oh and make sure you stay off Lakes, Rivers, Ponds etc.
Although they look safe they probably are not.
We pull probably 5-10 guys out of our lake dead each year cause they are dumb enough to go out on the ice and they break through.

Ok, I know what the balacalava is and I will have to wait until I get there to buy one of those since they don't sell them in Texas. What is a toque?

I heard that the lakes were not frozen solid yet and to stay off of them.

Snow pants I am assuming are an insulated water proof pant?

I just put on all three layers of stuff and went out side in the rain in about 40 degree weather and was burning up. I could not get the stuff back off fast enough. It felt like summer time in the desert. I'm afraid of overdoing it and getting the bottom layer sweaty and then that causing me to freeze.

Thanks fitchick, I want this to be fun, and freezing my arse off does not fit the criteria. lol

hehe a toque is a winter hat hehe . Yes us Canadians are quite goofy but thats what we call it.
Snowpants should be waterproof and insulated for sure.
Im sure you will be fine.
Wear lots of clothes cause you can always take them off if you have them but its hard to put them on if they arent there. Sleds all have a storage system usually under the seat or in the back so bring extra stuff and stash it there in case you need it
GOOD LUCK

I'm glad to hear of the storage compartment, I was wondering if I should bring a backpack for my food! LOL I've got to eat!

EM...that storage copartment isn't the size of the trunk in your car or teh bed of your truck so you wont be able to bring all of those protien bars and 50lbs of meet...lol
I always scotch guard my snow pants when i get them it helps out with the water proofing or so i've been told. I'm like you(not wanting to freeze my arse off) so i try to stay as dry and warm as i can. btw...dont eat the yellow snow.

yeah another thing if you do go on a lake if you see black ice stay the hell away from that, I use to live up north sault ste marie way if you know where that is we use to get extreme cold weather but one thing for sure is dont wear too many layers if you start to sweat you will freeze your ass off, we use to go and buy battery heated socks they worked like a charm.

sled necks

ride the lakes it will be okay,go where every one else does...if you come to open water sit back on the seat and stay on the gas,they will ride on water. don't layer,but get a snowmachine coat...i only wear a long sleeved t-shirt...ditch m/x helmet,i wear a SNO_CROSS helmet but would not recomend 4 first time.snowmachine helmets are alot different than cycle helmets. you R going to be riding in powder for your first time !!! somebody must not like you very much!!! you have to be a very good rider to ride in powder...trust me on this...if don't remember anything bring a SHOVEL!!! if you want to learn a lot more come over to my other site about sledding www.ilsnow.com ... i'am speedwerx 8...you can see pictures of us doing watercrossing and digging out of drifts...please don't mention muscle chem or gear ..this is sled head site...they would't understand....sledding is my 2nd passion..but when you get the hang of it what a blast

Sled necks hell yeah

dude listen to dick.... the man knows what he is talking about.
When riding I usually only wear sweat pants and a long sleeve shirt under my snow gear. remember that riding is a great work out so you will be sweating. If you get your clothes wet you will get cold, otherwise you will be fine. bring an extra pair of socks to wear if your feet get to sweaty.
Why do you want to ride in powder first? does someone not like you? Powder like that is really for experienced riders. But if you stick to the trails you should be fine. Good luck and have a great ride.

Well, my buddy has only ridden once or twice and probably does not know what we are getting into! It can't be that bad, I am always up for a challenge when it comes to motorsports anyway! I've ridden motorcross and street bikes my entire life, so hopefully the learning curve is not bad.

I've seen some pictures of people riding the powder and it looks like riding sand on a bike. Keep the power ON and make sweeping turns. Is that even close?

It also looks like turning is more like a road bike where you slice a corner and less like a dirt bike where you skate the rear. Just observations. LOL

The sleds we are going to be riding are yamaha pieces that I believe he said were a hybrids with 13" or so inches of travel and 800cc 2 stroke engines with a total weight in the 400lb range. It sounds like a recipe for fun.

Dick, I checked out the site you suggested, there was not much info that would help someone as green as me. Anyway, if you have any other suggestions or riding techniques to share let me know.

Do ya'll carry some kind of camping/folding shovel to dig out when stuck? Tow straps?

shovel

i don't carry a shovel but ride with 8- 10 people ...we dug for 20 minutes last year just on a hedge row drift. i ride road bikes raced motocross..sledding is entirly different...but i perfer sledding to anything else..also sorry to hear that you will be on yamaha..ARTIC CAT RULES...but hey rookie mistake....just kidding have fun bro wish i was going

Well, my buddy just called and told me that he changed his mind on the yamahas and got the skidoo MXZ renegades instead. I don't know the difference, I just hope they are fast.

sleds

your getting closer,but better for deep snow

I'm here in WI now and it's cold on this Texas boy! I'm freakin stoked to go rip through the woods.....I feel like a kid before Christmas!

sled head

ride to the right...careful that ski-don't doesn't get eating by a big CAT...have fun let me know what you think of it.

Wow! That was fun. We rode 2 1/2 days and put a little over 300miles on the sleds. I only had one minor incedent where I mistook the snow build up on the outside of the turn as a potential berm, lol, I went off the compacted trail and wedged the sled between the edge of the compacted snow (4') and a tree. OOPs. I ripped the windshield off, tore a piece off of the helment and got a couple of bruises.

Actually after the shield was gone, I liked the sled better. It allowed me to shift my weight up over the front of the machine and also cleared my vision. The only thing I missed was the hand guards! My dang hands would actually ice up and freeze around the bars.

Other than that, things are fast, I don't really know how fast they would top out, I got to 90mph and did not feel safe going beyond that. Acceleration on packed snow with the studded tracks is impressive. I could actually lift the skis if I encouraged it enough. I loved the winding trails through the woods, especially early in the am, right after they had been groomed and a few inches of snow had fallen on the fresh groomed trail.