Anybody heading west soon?

[MN Mike]

Just wondering if any of you guys have trips planned to the mountains? If so, where are you heading to this year?

I was looking around at the weather forecasts out west and it looks like they are getting dumped on pretty good with these series of storms coming in.

We are headed to Cooke City on the 5th of Janrary for about 5 days........ I'm SO ready for a good snowmobile trip!

Mike

[311Hemi]

My group is heading to Togwotee in January, but unfortunately with the wife looking for a new job and the baby at home I won't be making the trip. I am hoping that I can maybe make the trip in March if they go out again.

Man...I really have the itch to get out there, or just ride anywhere at this point. All this snow finally in MN, and no machine to ride. Need to at least get up to my in-laws in DL so I can at least scratch the itch.

[MN Mike]

Well, hopefully thing will work out for you, definetly a blast to get out there.

You probably don't want to see this pic I snaged off of the NWS site a little bit ago.......... I can't imagine what it's going to be like out in Colorado this year, RE and Buffalo Pass have been getting slammed with snow already this season,,,,,, NOW THIS!

[311Hemi]

Man....your killing me!!! LOL

I want to hit up RE again bad....had a blast there last year! I can't image it after a storm like that.

I'll be looking forward to some of your pics this year.

[MN Mike]

Well, the first round in the Mountains is in the books. The sleds and our bodies came back in one piece so that was good, one sled lost it's ignition but that was about it, they did manage to put a truck in the ditch by Fargo on the way out but they got back on the road again in short order.

Headed for Cooke City last Wed., pulled into town about midnight. Rode Thurs, Friday and Saturday, visibility was poor everyday, snowed pretty good Friday and all day Saturday, wish I could have been there for Sunday, sun was shining but it was cold from what I hear. We didn't get much higher than 9000 feet, then you were in the clouds and couldn't see a darn thing, snow was VERY good and got better every day we were there, the shovels DEFINITELY got a workout!

Managed to get a few pics, wish I could have had more but we just couldn't get to the big stuff, maybe in a couple months we can get back out there and get some sunshine!

SHH!!! Don't tell anyone but Cat's got a mid season release coming soon, should be interesting, if I'm not mistaken it's their 50th year coming up.

Mike

[MN Mike]

[311Hemi]

Nice pics Mike....looks like you guys had a good time and found some snow!! I'm jealous!

My father in law is trading in his Phazer Mtn. lite today for a 2011 M8 HCR. The Phazer never gets ridden and is not a very useful sled, and doesn't start in -20* weather. I am sure he will have fun with the new M8 in a couple weeks....looks like someone in your group has one. Any idea how he likes it?

It will be interesting to see if Cat does a mid season release. Lots of rumors out there as to what it will be.

[chasineyes]

Awesome pictures!!!

[leech~~]

Holy C%ap guys! Looks like you had a great outting. Cooke city is a very cool place to see. To bad you didn't get to the high country but it looks like you had some fun anyway. But, half your pic's show sleds stuck or upside down! It must have been over board fun!

[Central Bassman]

MN MIKE I dislike you ... Leaving at the end of the mouth for Wyoming!!!

[MN Mike]

Where you been Mitch?! Better yet...... where are you guys headed to? Hope you guys get into some great snow! Any new rides? You better throw us some pics this year!

HEMI.... 2 guys have the HCR's in our group and both like their sleds, one has a turbo but it wasn't running right this year, he's thinking the mixture of pump gas to Av fuel is messed up, he had a spare '11 M8 Sno Pro to ride so he was still having fun. Either way the HCR's have happy riders on them.

Leech...... I probably would have had more pics but I was right there with those guys getting stuck!!! MAN we were a bunch of whooped puppies Thursday night, even just riding in the powder works you over!

If you guys don't mind a little cuss'n this video is pretty funny, Joey ( HCR ) is the first guy to go, Pat is the second and he's the one that started the ' challenge ' to ride this hill, even though Joe hits the rock on the way up, Pat can't let him say he was the only one to ride that hill, we have 3 guys that just have to compete, even if it means damage to the sled! makes for some funny pictures and good conversation

Rock Video

This picture was the result of that climb, Joe got a little out of whack on that climb and got thrown into the next hill, that and the rock were what we were laughing about in the begining.

GOOD TIMES FOR SURE!!! Can't wait to get back out there......

[Central Bassman]

MN Mike, Been really busy with work No new rides this year just a turbo!!! The Assault will be ripping this year that for sure, I can't wait. First trip is to the Big Horns second is to Colorado again... Rabbit Ears Pass.

[MN Mike]

Thats a good thing you put A turbo on that Assault, the ones that were with us needed all the help they could get! ...... J/K

How are the Big Horns doing on snow this year, the last time I looked they were down quite a ways, Rabbit Ears and Buffalo Pass have been getting HAMMERED! Seems like every week I see AVY warnings out there. We are pushing our luck but we are planning a March trip to Colorado, that's if Spring doesn't set in before we get there, if it does then our plans will change to a more northerly destination.

Mike

[Central Bassman]

The Assault will be sold at the end of the year for a new Pro RMK ... The HCR don't got nothing on me... It's all about the rider!!!

The big horns has been getting hammered as of late with snow. I cant wait.... I like the idea of a March trip, some of the best riding I think.

[Central Bassman]

Just got back from Jackson Hole, Wyoming yesterday. We were on a business trip and had one day off so we rented a few sleds and went out ripping. WAS THE BEST DAY OF "WORK" EVER!!! Found some really deep POW as well. I'm 5'10 standing in this picture!!

[MN Mike]

NICE STUFF C.B. !!! Looks like that Cat got you places you couldn't with that Polaris

Was this your first trip this year? I know you had said earlier that you were going but never heard anymore?

One of the guys is in Cooke this weekend with his buds, Snotel site for Cooke City just went from 109" to 125" in 1 day ( TODAY ) We will be there in 2 weeks! hope it keeps it up.

Nobody could get their ' you know what ' together so we could get to Colorado, so we switched it to Cooke now.

Mike

[Central Bassman]

Mike,

I wish I would of had the Assault with me on this trip but the Cat worked just fine. The Assault is SOLD!!! Needs to get picked up soon, it's going somewhere in Wyoming.

We did hit up the big horns earlier this year, It was good!! Could of used some fresh snow later in the trip but we still found some deep POW!!!

Cooke is getting DEEEEEEEP!!!

[MN Mike]

Our 2011 season is in the books...... What a great weekend for riding in Cooke, 5 of us took off on Wed morning about 5:30, one of our buddies was driving by and texted a couple choice words because he was working and we were heading back to Cooke where he REALLY wanted to be going but couldn't get the time off, I told him since he gets off work at 6 a.m. Friday, call up a couple guys and get loaded and head out....... he made a couple calls and had a pickup full in nothing flat, 4 more made it out at 11 pm friday night to ride Saturday and Sunday, you gotta love snowmobiling to do that! One other buddy made it up from Colorado too so we ended up with 10 total riding on Saturday.

It was warm, for those of you that go to Cooke, you know what I'm talking about when I mention the parking lot, it was flat out RAINING there, I figured GREAT! missed it and now we will end up with junk to ride on this weekend, but about 2 miles up the trail, it turned into a flat out snow storm, snowing to beat the band and we rode in on the trail with about 8 inches of fresh powder, I don't think that has ever happened to me before.

We started riding Thurs. morning, we got stuck SOOOO much that by the time noon came around, we were wiped out, rode back to town and took it easy for a while, then we geared up for the rest afternoon and went back out til dark. The snow was really different, like a heavy powder, it was just wierd and unforgiving, no base to it and if there was a base, it was DEEP, I think they said they had 4 feet of snow in the last 2 weeks or something like that, it was a lot of work! I looked at the Snotel site and it peaked on Wed ( the day we got there ) at 130", that was the high for the 2010 - 2011 season so far and I'm sure it's going above that. The snow banks are HUGE out there this year, as big as I have probably ever seen them, same goes for the cornices'...... just huge!

Friday we managed to get a few more miles on and stuck a little less, the snow firmed up some but not a lot, if you messed around, you got stuck pretty easy, I was a little worried about riding Friday because it drizzled in Cooke City all night Thursday night but you didn't have to go far up the mountain and you were right back in nice snow again.

Saturday things started firming up pretty good but still managed to get stuck a few times.

After the snow and wind mid week to the weekend, the avalanche danger was pretty evident, we saw probably 1/2 dozen natural avalanches and numerous smaller slides, one of the guys even ended up in a small, slump, lets say, his eyes were as big as saucers, it defintely caught him off gaurd, it only slid maybe 25 feet but it happens so quick it's over before you brain can process it, I came around the corner just as the snow was coming to a stop, I drove past him and just shook my finger, all I saw was his big eyes behind the goggles.

I didn't get to take many pics this time, again, this trip didn't see a lot of sun, maybe 3 - 4 minutes, then a complete whiteout as another squall moved thru, the wind up there on Saturday just about ripped your helmet off your head, you would look like a bobble head sometimes, it was brutal! We would stop and the guy 20 feet from you would disappear for a few moments.

Mike

[MN Mike]

And of course the cookout....... I just noticed there are WAAAYYYYYY too many Polaris jackets in this picture, HMMMMM maybe that's why we so tuckered out on Thursday

[Central Bassman]

DUDE!!!! I was just reading last night how much snow cooke still had!! SICK!!! Looks like you got smart and starting riding with some real sleds!! just kidding!! Great report!!

[MN Mike]

I have a pretty good feeling they are going over 150" pretty quick, in a way I'm sick I'm not there but the avy danger is big enough I'm kind of ok with not being there too. Unless there is a huge warmup of some sort soon, I can't see why a person ( if they had time ) couldn't go riding in May / June sometime this year, the whole month of April will be NO problem at all, a person should have no problem riding right out of town the whole month !

I like the Avalanche reports over the past couple days:

Tuesdays avy report…….

Someone forgot to tell Cooke City that winter is over. Ten inches of new snow with strong winds is the avalanche story in a nutshell. The same goes for West Yellowstone and the mountains south of Big Sky; new snow + wind = avalanche activity. Mark found a few sizeable slides riding around Lionhead on Friday (photos). Since then, new snow and strong winds have increased the avalanche danger. Yesterday, my partner and I skied Bacon Rind in the southern Madison Range. At 7,800 feet on a southeast facing slope the snowpack was moist to the ground while up higher at 9,000 feet the pack was dry (snowpits). Regardless, most aspects were capped with a thick, supportable ice crust with no significant buried weak layers. Wind loaded slopes will be the most susceptible to avalanching today. I expect drifts to be 2-3 feet thick and will likely run long distances given the hard, icy bed surface on many aspects. For today, the avalanche danger is rated CONSIDERABLE on all wind-loaded slopes and MODERATE on all others.

Wed. Report…….

If you love snow, your heart will be stolen by Cooke City. Twenty inches in the last two days seems par for this season. It’s snowed 30 out of the last 36 days and the Fisher Creek SNOTEL reads 136” on the ground. With the recent snows and strong winds we’ve got avalanches. Yesterday someone called in to report a large slide on the southeast face of Scotch Bonnet. It looked to be almost three feet deep and a few hundred feet wide, most certainly wind-loaded. Even without prominent weak layers, twenty inches of new snow will avalanche, especially when it’s blown into thick drifts of snow. A skier reported yesterday’s new snow density was slightly inverted which creates short-lived, but very real instabilities. For today, the avalanche danger is rated CONSIDERABLE on all wind-loaded terrain and MODERATE on all other slopes.

Todays Report

The mountains outside West Yellowstone and Cooke City have been hit with a lot of snow in a short period of time—a reliable recipe for avalanches. In the last three days over 2 inches of snow water equivalency has fallen. Although these mountains have almost 12 feet of strong snow on the ground, I expect to see avalanches breaking directly under this new snow. Slopes that were wind-loaded will be especially sensitive to triggering, but with all this new snow I suspect you could trigger slides on other slopes too. On Tuesday, a natural avalanche outside Cooke City on Scotch Bonnet provided conclusive evidence that instability exists. For today, the avalanche danger is rated CONSIDERABLE on all wind loaded terrain and MODERATE on all others; however, if the forecast is correct and it continues to snow hard, I expect the avalanche danger to rise to CONSIDERABLE on all slopes. A considerable danger means natural avalanches are possible and human triggered slides are likely.

Downloaded my track data from my Garmin GPS, this only has Friday ( blue ) and Saturday's ( Red ) ride on it but both days were about 35 - 40 rides.

[Central Bassman]

That is a great idea... I never thought of bringing my GPS with!! Next year I will have to do that and i'm 100% sure i'm buying a Go Pro Camera. We had them when we rod on a trip this year in Jackson Hole and they are must have no matter what!!!

[MN Mike]

I put my GPS in my backpack the first time out and had some good track data there, I'll have to see if I can find that again.

Good luck with the GoPro cameras, I didn't buy one but the other 3 guys did and 2 were junk, they sent them back to get replaced and they were still garbage, hopefully you have better luck.

I think this weekend would be better riding that last

[Central Bassman]

I have read and heard a lot of mix reviews on the Go Pros... I hope I get a good one out of the bunch!!

[311Hemi]

My FIL just got back from a trip to West Yellowstone and Togwotee on Saturday. Him and his brother west out to buy a few rental sleds and do some riding. Went out with one sled and came home with 5. A 2011 Polaris RMK and 2011 Skidoo Summit with the 800 E-tec which blew a ring the first day(replaced under warranty), and a couple 2008-2009 fan cooled MTN sleds.

Anyways, sounds like west yellow stone was decent but the snow was somewhat heavy and sticky. He said Togwotee was great riding and was better than it was earlier this year when they went out in Jan. and that trip was some of the better riding he has had. Lot's of powder out there right now. He said the trail signs have been taken down and there is was pretty much no one out riding. I believe he said they were around the 150"+ mark. They did not see much slide activity last week.