Ok let me start by saying this was my first real snowmobile trip. My brother Cliff has been going on this annual trip for years and I have always wanted to go but never had a sled that would keep up. Last year my younger brother took my sled and had nothing but problems with it, if you read last years trip story by triplepleasure you will see what I mean. Just as a reminder people call me CRASH for some unknown reason they think just because I end up in the hospital alot it should fit as a nickname I dont remember crashing alot but maybe the whole concusions thing has something to do with it.
This year I was going to ride my 2000 xc600 which is painted more like a ski-doo than a polaris but thats another story. As it happened my wife wanted a new car 2 weeks before the trip so we found her a 2004 Land Rover and bought it. Her 1999 Volvo now had to be sold but as luck would have it I found a guy in VT that wanted to trade for a 2004 ski-doo Rev 600 H.O. so of course I traded (DUH). Now I had a great sled and was Psyched to go. So we loaded my new sled unridden or tested into Mikes trailer. The ride up was anti-climatic which is a good thing besides several pee stops by my brother and Scott( dam guys got the bladder of a teenage girl) On arrival I unloaded my sled and went for a test ride with no problems and relief that I had a great sled to ride.
The trail conditions were excellant plenty of snow weather was great had a blast first 2 days put almost 150 miles on sleds. Thanks to Tom and Pete we had plenty of beer at night and the food that was brought up by all was fantastic. Late friday night one of Mikes friends showed up at 10 oclock at night walks in the door and says "I'm here to tear up grass" My first thought was does he know there is three feet of snow out there and this sled he has must be a monster when he unloaded his formula III and started it up my second second thought was dam does that things oil stinks, but it was racing oil so what don I know.
When we headed out the next morning we stooped for fuel first and I saw that Scotts Yamaha had a bad wheel bearing which was quickly fixed at the dealership next door(trouble averted).So off we went for a great day of sledding all the way up until the "GREAT OFF TRAIL ADVENTURE" To set the scene it was late afternoon we were playing in a sand pit and decided to hed back me and my brother Cliff at the tail end. When we got to the first intersection our group took a left while my brother went straight in front of me. I thought great my brother knows a short cut so of course I follow (first mistake) the trail seems well groomed and going up the mountain in the same direction as the group. On top of the mountain the trail veered to the right so Cliff veers to the left and I follow (second mistake) the trail keeps getting smaller and smaller and I realize we are no longer on any trail but heading down so looks good until trail dead end on top of a very steep drop with all trees and nowhere to go or turn around.
Now Cliff is 20 feet ahead of me down this hill facing down and I think well I will get off help him turn his sled around and we will go back the way we came. As soon as I jump off my sled and sink up to my armpits in snow I kinda got the feeling we may be here a while. I crawl down to his sled and we attempt to turn it around with a bit of work and 20 minutes later we have moved his sled 10 feet and now it is up against a pine tree facing the wrong direction still. The time is now 530 the sun is setting over the mountains and nobody knows where we are. I finally realize I have my cell phone on me so I ask Cliff for Petes cell phone number and he looks at me and says "DAM I DONT REMEMBER" So I go back in my history and realize Pete called me 2 days before so I call him and OH MY GOD HE ANSWERS WITH "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU" Which I reply "HEY PETE WE'RE LOST AND STUCK" with what was later described to me as a slight panic in my voice.
Cliff decides he is going to walk down this hill through the trees over the river to the trail and try to find our group now returning back up the main trail which actually works. Now Cliff is on his way back to our location with the group."THANK GOD" At this point I start to belly crawl up the hill so I can stop the rest of the group before we are all stuck.Crawling past moose and coyote tracks.The first sled I meet is Mike on this little hill with Cliff on the back. So now Tom,Cliff,Mike and myself trudge back down to our sleds to get them out while the rest of the group gets the rest of the sleds turned around no easy feet in 8 feet of snow.When I get to my sled finally the guys have it turned around and I am able with a little help to get it up to the rest of the group. Tom and Mike get Cliffs sled unstuck and he is up and out shortly after myself. Now Tom and mike get the job of crawling back up the hill carrying mine and Cliffs gear that we left down there back to us. "Thanks guys your the best" It is now an hour and a half later and we are finally on our way home (Not following Cliff) and we get back to the cabin in the dark. To this day Cliff will swear we were never lost and he had everything under control.
Like I said this was my first snowmobile trip and a great adventure since we were all safe, But the moral to my story is this if your gonna ride in the woods of Maine first have a cell phone, know were you are going and above all if someone says "I know a shortcut" do not and I repeat DO NOT FOLLOW THEM. Especially if he is riding an Artic Cat F-7 in orange and black.
This trip was in my book one of my favorite memories and I could not have asked for a better group of guys to go with so I thank them all.I cannot wait till next year to do it all again minus the "great adventure",so if you find yourself in Maine,Vermont or New Hampshire and you see a guy with "CRASH" on his helmet stop me and say hey. Hope to see you out there and dont forget"If you dont crash your not trying hard enough"
PS: I only fell off my sled once and no trips to the hospital


Where: Rangely,Maine
When: 03/12/2009-03/15/2009
Snow: 3-4 feet at base 8-10 on mountains
Characters:
Scott"CRASH"Guerrette-2004 Rev 600 H.O.
Cliff "Really I'm not lost" Guerrette-2004 Arctic Cat F-7 SNO-PRO
Tom "BREWMEISTER" Kennedy-2001 SKI-DOO MXZ
Pete "Time to watch the video" Bakker-2005 REV 500
Mike "Must be meticulous" DeLuco-2007 REV 600
Scott "Snores-a-lot" Kozak-1997 Yamaha V-Max
Tom "This thing is a rocket" Stanley-1999 SKI-DOO Formula III


More to come as I remember more thanks for reading and please give me all bad or good replies Thanks
Scott

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Not a bad write up..."slight panic in your voice is the understatement of the year though!!! ROTFLMMFAO!!!!

And my REV is also an HO SDI version. Welcome to the site!

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so who is crashskidoo?

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Mike "Must be meticulous" DeLuco-2007 REV 600 OH MY GOD THATS TO FUNNY
Mike thats name is fitting :o) I remember you detailing your sled before are ride. I am the opposite My sled gets washed once a year wether it needs it or not

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John, Crashskidoo is Timmy's brother Scott. Aand Scott...John is Scalora from Timmy and I's High School class... isn't that neat a reunion on the internet. Ha ha ha.

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lol

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Funny story!

First trip? Now you are hooked! Bring a camera next time to go with the story. I look forward to your future reports!

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we need to get that group and me to go on the next tug hill group ride :o)

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Hooked is right getting my sleds ready now where's the snow dammit Cant wait for a huge group ride everyone invited even Cats

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AC MATT, All of the pics can be seen here.

http://www.snowmobilefanatics.com/forum/...splay.aspx

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if you boys come to ny this winter and i still have a job ill pay for the cabin

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How about you come to us.

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that 16 hours to maine

some where a little closer?

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You tell me where I'll be there but I'm not waiting for slow people to catch up on the trail "I will be there to tear grass" right Mike cuz this sled is fast

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hahahaha you dont have to worry about me going slow right mike
my skidoo sings a sweet tune, and i am picking up a new xp 800 x package .......
........can you keep up? Is Timmy whipped or can he ride to?

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Nice sled bet you cant wait to get it. I was not referring to you but someone on our trip. Cant wait for our next trip. Post pics when you get new sled.

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i will , i have been told by a lot of young guys that me and my riding partner are insaine and these 25 year old guys cant keep up. We ride 200 hard miles a week when the snow is good sometimes more Me and deluco logged 3oo miles on are weekend but it was really cold -15 or colder

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I hope you were not referring to me as being slow... Last I checked the two of us left the rest of the group in the dust. BTW...Did Cliffy get the sign I mailed him?

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No you jackasses formula boy or slow boy

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Scott, Did Cliff get the gift I sent him in the mail??

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Dont know what gift and why didnt I get one?

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"Stay on Marked Trail" sign. And you did not get one because you would have stayed on the marked trail if you didn't have "Cat-man"-doo in front of you.

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Yes I got it Mike Thanks. I was on a trail for most of the time just one wrong turn LOL

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Sounded like a fun trip. I think it's pretty funny the first time someone gets stuck really good. They usually do like you said and shift into panic mode. The first time my friend Curt got his machine stuck really good up in Northern Ontario, I told him "There's nothing else we can do Curt, your just going to have to double back with me and hope no one steals it while we get some help." We had it out in less then 5 minutes after I told him I was messing with him.

You just need to set back a minute or two and assess your dilema. Usually it's the snow around your machine that you need to work on first if your stuck really good. Each circumstance is a little different. I usually start by getting the sled on it's side and pack the snow under it as hard as I can. If I have to do a 180 like you, try and break up a semi-circle to let the track pivot on the packed snow while you pull the front end 180.
It's still a lot of work, but less than if you panic and waist a lot of energy and get all sweaty and start peeling layers of clothing off.
You learn after a while to first chill a minute and have a good laugh at your situation and then work it out.

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I agree Trick, after hearing CRASH's panic I was fearing for the worse and began to conjure up all sorts of images of how stuck they were. But, when I arrived and saw the two sleds on top of the snow on level ground I was like, "What, that's it?" I mean I was alomost disapointed~! So yeah, initially it looked real bad but to a person who was not affected by the initial panic of being stuck it really was not nearly as bad as it could have been.

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