• Please be sure to read the rules and adhere to them. Some banned members have complained that they are not spammers. But they spammed us. Some even tried to redirect our members to other forums. Duh. Be smart. Read the rules and adhere to them and we will all get along just fine. Cheers. :beer: Link to the rules: https://www.forumsforums.com/threads/forum-rules-info.2974/

Snowcat skiing 2017-2018 season

GlacierSean

Member
SUPER Site Supporter
Took what will likely be our last trip of the season. It was beautiful as always, mixed clouds and sun in the morning and a blizzard as we left. It was perfect. Just the yellow ducky today. Had some people from Liberty ski company join us. It's been a great season, probably start snowing again in a few months.

New sticker says it all.
IMG_20190518_110347.jpg
We were the only people on Vail pass
IMG_20190518_110555.jpg

IMG_20190518_113145_hdr.jpg

IMG_20190518_153301.jpg
May 18th in Colorado
IMG_20190518_163343.jpg
 

DAVENET

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
The way it keeps going you guys will probably be able to hit runs every month this year!
 

GlacierSean

Member
SUPER Site Supporter
Heard it was snowing while I was gone and the forecast was even more snow so I just couldn't resist going out for some fun. We probably had over a foot of new snow. The visibility wasn't great but oh well. Hopefully get out again soon. The first day catting this season was December 1, that adds up to a solid 6 months of cat skiing.

IMG_20190529_155454.jpg

IMG_20190529_155417.jpg

IMG_20190529_142704.jpg

IMG_20190529_142553.jpg
 

Archmage

New member
My first cat trip of this season was October 15 2018! Hopefully we go this weekend and make this a record long year for me! :boxing:
 

Attachments

  • 20181015_183707.jpg
    20181015_183707.jpg
    59.3 KB · Views: 614

GlacierSean

Member
SUPER Site Supporter
Went for a hike and ski on the East side of Vail pass. Guess the motorized side has been closed for a while. Oops. We got up to the first peak in the Gore range Uneva peak. Still lots of snow. But I guess we are only at 250% snowpack right now so makes sense that they would close the motorized side.

Does this adequately explain how I feel about the forest service and their signs?
IMG_20190601_140444.jpg

IMG_20190601_121542.jpg

IMG_20190601_112357.jpg

IMG_20190601_110313_hdr.jpg
 

GlacierSean

Member
SUPER Site Supporter
Rode a chairlift without snow, in a t shirt, and looking at the Mississippi. I am so confused. Chestnut is the name.


IMG_20190616_105138.jpg

IMG_20190616_104236.jpg

IMG_20190616_124321.jpg
 

Track Addict

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
East was still skiing in June!

We had to finally switch over to wakesurfing now. Not to the caliber of sno surfer though.
 

Attachments

  • 5E501F0C-EAC9-4CE1-9745-0179B509CF77.jpg
    5E501F0C-EAC9-4CE1-9745-0179B509CF77.jpg
    129 KB · Views: 483
  • A41A328D-16F8-4BBE-82EC-091577F4E12E.jpg
    A41A328D-16F8-4BBE-82EC-091577F4E12E.jpg
    98.6 KB · Views: 458

alryA

Well-known member
Here is the boat Whitefish bay filmed with a fishing boat with the idea of riding his wake. No fishermen were hurt, making this video.... :laugh3:
Details; the fellows motor had failed and they jumped out of there boat, just before the collision. The 2 were fished out of the St Claire river.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cazfUHEmx00
 

Track Addict

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
I tried the other day behind our diesel lobster boat that has a wet keel. 6BTA turbo.

Couldn’t get enough push from the wake to go rope free.
 

Attachments

  • 3B1D0DC5-9C58-4EFE-A1F8-1223262B3E9E.jpg
    3B1D0DC5-9C58-4EFE-A1F8-1223262B3E9E.jpg
    61.4 KB · Views: 489
  • 18601B45-E016-447E-96AF-157E3F35377F.jpg
    18601B45-E016-447E-96AF-157E3F35377F.jpg
    119.1 KB · Views: 475

GlacierSean

Member
SUPER Site Supporter
First cat skiing trip of the season went well. We were able to find a lot of skiable powder. And as always lots of fun with friends. We have had some snowmobiles joining us on the first two trips this season. Think we are slowly converting them into snowcat enthusiasts.

Top of Ptarmigan
IMG_20191228_133201.jpg
The one and only Aaron Tucker
IMG_20191228_153404.jpg
This area had a lot more snow than we expected
IMG_20191228_153346.jpg
The drift on top of Ptarmigan is already so huge.
IMG_20191228_113206.jpg
 

GlacierSean

Member
SUPER Site Supporter
We have done a lot of snowmobile recovery missions over the last few years. On the last one we came up with a pretty good idea to get the snowmobile out easily. With the track strapped to the rear bar of my cat (the bar normally holds the rear chair) I couldn't even tell there was a sled behind me. We did have to bungee the handle bars so it would follow the cat straight.
IMG_20191222_175805_edit.jpg

IMG_20191222_174129.jpg
 

Blackfoot Tucker

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
We have done a lot of snowmobile recovery missions over the last few years. On the last one we came up with a pretty good idea to get the snowmobile out easily. With the track strapped to the rear bar of my cat (the bar normally holds the rear chair) I couldn't even tell there was a sled behind me. We did have to bungee the handle bars so it would follow the cat straight.

Sean,

I've been involved in a fair number of snowmobile recoveries, though we've never had the luxury of a snowcat to drag the broken machine to the trailhead.

A technique you might file away in your bag of tricks: If you have to pull the machine backwards with the track elevated, you can unbolt the skis and then reinstall them with the tips pointing backwards; so they're correct for the direction of travel. That has worked well when we've done it.
 

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
around here if we have a sled with a locked up track we just slide a plastic tub sled under the track and tow it forward. same thing that way you will never feel it behind you.
 

GlacierSean

Member
SUPER Site Supporter
A group of us got out snowcating and cat skiing this weekend. The weather was windy and cold in the high alpine areas. And calmer but dumping snow down lower in the trees. There were 5 snowcats in our group and at least two others. Definitely looking forward to the Jamboree this spring.
Can barely see my little snowcat
IMG_20200111_120210.jpg
Jayson about to drop a pillow.
IMG_20200111_143409.jpg

IMG_20200111_154009.jpg

IMG_20200111_180956.jpg
 

mtncrawler

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
So was it your group that set off the avalanche in cupcakes/north ptarmigan then? Heard one was caught, none hurt.
 

GlacierSean

Member
SUPER Site Supporter
Went out last Friday with archmage and all of his cats. We had a big group of friends and skiers. Some people from Liberty ski company and free ski magazine. Check out their social media, they took some great pictures and I am sure they have more to post.


IMG_20200124_113729.jpg

IMG_20200124_152746.jpg

IMG_20200124_162434.jpg
 

Blackfoot Tucker

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
Sean,

I just noticed that the bench/seat on the back of your Bombi has "YAN" built into the seat back. That would likely indicate it's actually a chair from a ski lift. You probably already knew that, but do you know the safety record of that company?

From Wikipedia:

Lift Engineering, more commonly known as Yan Lifts, was a major ski lift manufacturer in North America. Founded in 1965 and based in Carson City, Nevada, the firm came under scrutiny by state safety officials after a fatal accident in 1985, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 1996 after multiple other accidents resulting in 3 deaths.[1]
The company built at least 200 fixed-grip chairlifts,[citation needed] as well as 31 high-speed quads.[2] The company's lifts have been involved in the deaths of five people and the injury of at least 70, the worst record of any ski-lift maker operating in North America.
After a series of accidents, Yan Lifts were outlawed in certain states including California and Colorado. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996. Eventually, Yan Lifts manufactured new track and cables for the Angels Flight funicular, but the company, now called YanTrak, went out of business in 2001 after a major accident.[3]
The last chairlifts yan in Iran, Isfahan city, was rebuilt and re-installed, in area forest_najvan park by yan 7 grip (designe pol X west).in year 2013 And now it's in operation.
Only one Lift Engineering Detachable remains after La Roca, the last unmodified Lift Engineering chair, was scrapped following an accident similar to the notable one at Whistler. This lift can be found at the Nazhvan Forest Park in Iran, and, unlike La Roca, is lift is a re-installation from Silver Star with the safer Pol-X-West grips.

And the Wall Street Journal:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB853365379870383500
 

olympicorange

Active member
….. Hmmm, … very interesting. so it would seem it's safer mounted on the back of a ''Bombi'' ,... rather than on a high Ariel …. I concur. sign me up... ( dry humor)… looks comfy, don't have to hike up to ski, carry equip., etc. no risk , no reward,.. cool info B/F/T ,.. :thumbup: I mean,.. how fast is the bombi uphill loaded ,.... deep snow... … :thumbup:
 

GlacierSean

Member
SUPER Site Supporter
Hello Blackfoot Tucker, thanks for the information about Yan lifts. As a kid I rode those chairs at Loveland. Then i worked at Loveland ski area for a decade. I worked the old chair #2 a lot and was really excited to get a chair off of it and put it on my br-100. It's fun and nostalgic to ride on that chair for cat laps because it has been taking me to ski laps since I was 10 years old.

Mr boring guy. The Bombi will go as fast as any old cat really should. I don't usually try and go fast. Last trip out I had 6 in/on the cat and two towing for laps at 10k-12k feet of elevation.

Here are some of the pictures Liberty Skis and Freeskier magazine posted on Instagram.

Taken from archmage 1643
IMG_20200127_075626.jpg
Put in this little road for some quick laps
IMG_20200127_075548.jpg

IMG_20200127_075601.jpg
My favorite picture of the day.
IMG_20200126_192325.jpg
 

GlacierSean

Member
SUPER Site Supporter
Got out in the snow yesterday. The snow was really good. It was super cold outside. There were 4 private cats out. My br-100, a thiokol, the Scooby-Doo cat and a yellow trooper. We skied most of the day and several different aspects. Expecting more snow the next few days but also increased avalanche danger.

I had issues with the cat running weird. It eventually threw a code and the check engine light came on. Turns out both of my O2 sensors were bad and the mass air sensor was full of junk. All fixed and ran great yesterday.

IMG_20200205_130908.jpg

IMG_20200205_130903.jpg

IMG_20200205_161631.jpg

IMG_20200205_104121.jpg
 

KickerM

Active member
Site Supporter
GOLD Site Supporter
Great that you figured it out! Mass Air Flow sensors can be pita! I had a truck that would start and run fine for 5 secs then shut off and it threw all sorts of codes, I changed out the Camshaft Position sensors, Crank Sensor, then finally I got to the MAF code and it was a stupid tiny bug between the wires.... how it got thru the air filter is beyond me...:hammer:
 

GlacierSean

Member
SUPER Site Supporter
Several feet of snow fell in Colorado over about 36 hours. It was a struggle to get to Vail pass and hours of waiting for the parking lot to be cleared. But despite everything it was totally worth the trip. The groomer didn't get out at all during the storm and was buried to the doors when we got there. So it was up to archmage to put in the road. The tracks he was leaving were over 3ft deep. He was pushing snow with the nose of the cat. We were able to make it most places. It was a great day. The next post will be pictures of all the getting stuck and breaking things.

IMG_20200208_113221_edit.jpg

IMG_20200208_124411.jpg

IMG_20200208_133124.jpg

IMG_20200208_171247_hdr.jpg

IMG_20200208_173046_edit.jpg
 

luvthemvws

Active member
I sure do miss your "field reports"!
I hope your crew are healthy and prospering!
Are all the areas closed down to recreation?
 
Top