My season so far on the SW

[VX1R]

I thought that I'd post up some of my season so far with the 'Winder. Last season I only managed to put on a whopping 186 miles on one trip to the U.P. of MI. in March. Going into this season I had high hopes to click off quite a few more miles on the sled this season and so far I'm at slightly over 1200 miles for the year with one additional trip planned. All of my miles this year have been in the Keweenaw area of the western U.P. This area always is the most consistent area of good snow in the Midwest.

My first trip was the second week of January with a long time friend who picked up a 2018 50th Anniversary Apex. This was his first time riding the Keweenaw area and it proved to be a great place for him to break in his new ride with awesome trail conditions. We had a mixed bag of weather in the four days of riding with anywhere from bluebird sky's the first couple of days to blizzard like conditions the last day of our ride and managed to but on just shy of 400 miles on the trip. It was a great way to start off the season.

The next trip was a five day trip the first week of February with three guys that I've never ridden with before but will definitely try to hook up with in the future to put on some more miles with. Two of the guys are longtime TY members from my area of MN (snoseeker riding his '17 SW LT-X LE with additional BOOST and journeyman riding his trusty '07 Attak that goes like stink!) and the other guy had bought my wife's trusty VX1R Apex this year and had never ridden in the U.P previously. This ride was one of my most memorable rides ever. Great trails and awesome guys to ride with. The nightly BS sessions were off the charts. This trip was based out of Greenland, MI which is the hometown to TY supporting member Pat's Motorsports. It turned out to be a pretty cold week of riding and I was able to add another 547 miles to my season to bring up my season total to 1112 miles so far.

My latest trip was back to the Keweenaw area last week with my wife for four days of riding. This was her first time out the year so we were putting the first break in miles on her new '18 SW LT-X LE. The first day was heavy snow falling. The second day was freezing drizzle for most of the day, and the following two days turned out to be really nice with the sun peeking out a few times. We got on about 300 miles on this trip so her new sled is fully broken in according to the manual and my season mileage total is at 1402 with at least one more trip planned in March.

BTW........Did I say I love this sled?

 

[yamadoo]

“Love the sled” that’s what I was waiting to hear!

Glad you like it, as always beautiful sleds

 

[snowbeast]

Nice pics bro,yours looks different with that mid height shield on,but lets face it,its much warmer with it lol..

 

[journeyman]

Awesome report Don!!!

Mike and I got out today in the new snow. We managed to get about 55 miles on a short trip. We had lunch at Dan’s Bar in New Trier. I even got stopped by the DNR. No I wasn’t doing 110, he couldn’t see my new Mn stickers. Here they are red and they blend in with my red hood. Glad I just bought them Friday!!! Not sure what the fine is.

 

[SumpBuster]

Very, very nice, that's what it's all about.

 

[snoseeker]

Blue one looks nice on snow hope you have snow left forecast looks not to good

 

[stevewithOCD]

Don, you look like a prepubesent teenager smiling behind your goggles in that powder.
Some say we have a sickness.....i say we just love to live....and this Sidewinder is LIVIN'!

 

[cannondale27]

You seem like a great guy to ride sled and hang with! Enjoying life and having fun. Great write up once again.

 

[marc001]

Awesome pictures, I need to get up there!!

 

[journeyman]

You seem like a great guy to ride sled and hang with! Enjoying life and having fun. Great write up once again.

He is!! It's crazy...Don and I had talked on the phone several times before our UP trip. Mike (snoseeker) actually had met Don a few times. They met at Haydays last season and went to Kip's open house at Pat's Motorsports last December together.

Mike and I got to Michigan to our usual stomping ground near Pat's the day earlier. Don and Dan who bought his blue Apex showed up the day later. It was our first meeting. I thought it went great. Both of us had tons of good snowmobiling stories to share. The best part about Don is his incredible sense of humor....he's rather witty to say the least.

He seems to know lots of folks in the industry too and shared some inside stuff even I had not ever heard.

 

[74Nitro]

I thought that I'd post up some of my season so far with the 'Winder. Last season I only managed to put on a whopping 186 miles on one trip to the U.P. of MI. in March. Going into this season I had high hopes to click off quite a few more miles on the sled this season and so far I'm at slightly over 1200 miles for the year with one additional trip planned. All of my miles this year have been in the Keweenaw area of the western U.P. This area always is the most consistent area of good snow in the Midwest.

My first trip was the second week of January with a long time friend who picked up a 2018 50th Anniversary Apex. This was his first time riding the Keweenaw area and it proved to be a great place for him to break in his new ride with awesome trail conditions. We had a mixed bag of weather in the four days of riding with anywhere from bluebird sky's the first couple of days to blizzard like conditions the last day of our ride and managed to but on just shy of 400 miles on the trip. It was a great way to start off the season.

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The next trip was a five day trip the first week of February with three guys that I've never ridden with before but will definitely try to hook up with in the future to put on some more miles with. Two of the guys are longtime TY members from my area of MN (snoseeker riding his '17 SW LT-X LE with additional BOOST and journeyman riding his trusty '07 Attak that goes like stink!) and the other guy had bought my wife's trusty VX1R Apex this year and had never ridden in the U.P previously. This trip was based out of Greenland, MI which is the hometown to TY supporting member Pat's Motorsports. It turned out to be a pretty cold week of riding and I was able to add another 547 miles to my season to bring up my season total to 1112 miles so far.

View attachment 138471
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My latest trip was back to the Keweenaw area last week with my wife for four days of riding. This was her first time out the year so we were putting the first break in miles on her new '18 SW LT-X LE. The first day was heavy snow falling. The second day was freezing drizzle for most of the day, and the following two days turned out to be really nice with the sun peeking out a few times. We got on about 300 miles on this trip so her new sled is fully broken in according to the manual and my season mileage total is at 1402 with at least one more trip planned in March.

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BTW........Did I say I love this sled?

Nice pics, thanks for sharing.

 

[VX1R]

I couldn't believe it until I actually documented with pictures on the last trip out. There's been a few sightings of a little culprit tagging along on some SW's recently and now I've finally got the proof....

He's a sneaky little bugger and gets along pretty well with the snow bunny's of his size.

 

[Mileage Quest]

Very nice write up... Mitch and I were both out there during your first 2 rides... I know we stopped at a few places that your groups were at... I probably should have said hi then as apposed to here LOL... What sled did you have before your winder??? I also seen a sled with graphics VX1R on it and a huge GPS unit... I cant recall if it was on the winder or not... been a fairly good season so far... Found this north of Hibbing before Sundays snow!!!

 

[VX1R]

Very nice write up... Mitch and I were both out there during your first 2 rides... I know we stopped at a few places that your groups were at... I probably should have said hi then as apposed to here LOL... What sled did you have before your winder??? I also seen a sled with graphics VX1R on it and a huge GPS unit... I cant recall if it was on the winder or not... been a fairly good season so far... Found this north of Hibbing before Sundays snow!!!

Thanks Mileage Quest. We've got something in common.... Love the riding in the U.P. It's a darn shame that Mother Nature doesn't favor our area any more for riding.

We've got to hook up sometime to ride the U.P. It always surprises me when fellow TY riders are in the same area and don't hook up or know each other.

Both my wife and I rode '06 Apex based sleds before our SW's. Awesome sleds that treated us well over the years that we rode them. The new SW's are getting the job done for both of us so far.

 

[Snowaddict]

Thanks Mileage Quest. We've got something in common.... Love the riding in the U.P. It's a darn shame that Mother Nature doesn't favor our area any more for riding.

We've got to hook up sometime to ride the U.P. It always surprises me when fellow TY riders are in the same area and don't hook up or know each other.

Both my wife and I rode '06 Apex based sleds before our SW's.

VX1R, always enjoy your posts. Great pics. Actually, just renewed my interest in UP riding again last week. Thanks to TY member @jonlafon1. He was a great guide and host. Hadn't ridden up that way in years. He took us on beautiful trails in great conditions. Here's a couple of pics. Hope it's ok to post on your thread.