18
Feb
Too Busy Snowmobiling to Write Much…
Well, the past two weeks have been quite busy. Our sleds have been out most every day, weekdays included. Weekends are booked, of course — I don’t think we have any weekend openings until March.
Conditions have been reasonably good for the continued light snowfall. There is snirt around on the trails, but few really brown areas around Grayling. The main trails close to Gaylord are more brown due to the higher traffic. With warm weather in the forecast this week (36 deg F on the 21st and 22nd) we hope the trails hold up for next weekend.
We have had one crash this winter, so our machine count is down. This was a young, relatively inexperienced rider. He had ridden 50 miles or so, and was confident in the machine’s handling. A little too confident…
He came around a few sharpish corners, with the last one at the end of a 50 yard downhill stretch. I’m not sure how fast he was going, but it was too fast to make the 90 degree left turn. He plowed straight into a pine tree — one ski on each side. The front plastic was crushed back to the exhaust manifold, but the tunnel, suspension, and skis seemed intact.
At this point I should reinforce the basics of our contract:
1. If the machine breaks down, it’s our problem.
2. If you run into a tree, it’s your problem.
3. We don’t have collision insurance.
On a positive note, this was only the second crash we’ve had in five years of rentals. Both were due to user error. BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!
