Saturday was the last day of winter type weather before the warm winds came rolling into town. My buddy Nick and I went for a ride up in the Snake River Range towards the headwaters of Mosquito Creek.
Although this picture certainly doesn't do the "Stuck" justice, one of the many pieces to the big puzzle that is snowmobiling is dealing with your sled when it gets stuck. In this particular instance I got stuck because I wasn't looking far enough ahead (very similar to ski racing) with my line up a steep hill, and was forced to try and negotiate what I think to be the hardest skill in snowmobiling, "SideHilling." This requires a healthy mix of balance, throttle, and patience. I was lacking in all three and I had to pay for it. What you can't tell is that the back end of the sled was about 4 feet deep in snow and perched on a pretty steep slope. When the heat from the sled's tunnel comes in contact with the snow around where it is stuck, it melts and then very quickly freezes soon thereafter. So, you get what amounts to a 450 pound machine that is frozen in the snow and in this particular case, it had to be rolled uphill and back around the opposite way so to keep it from tumbling into the oblivion known as a totaled sled down the draw some 2,00oft below. Very gingerly Nick and I spent a good half hour bringing my sled around to safety.
This is why I am so enamored with snowmobiling. It is a serious adventure every time you go out and you never know what you are going to see and experience. I need to do a better job of first inspecting my line, then I need to look farther ahead with that line and make it happen, or, pay the price of the ever frustrating........."Stuck".
Nick, on his way out back to the trucks.
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