NNE Winter Thread

[mreaves]

5 minutes ago, MaineJayhawk said:

Good to see the NNE peeps getting out and after it.  What a weekend for outdoor adventuring!  I hiked Mt Pierce yesterday with my gf and then today summited Mt Washington.   Winds were only about 15 mph, wind chill around 0F.  Simply unreal conditions

 

The Great Gulf flanked by the Northern Presidentials

 

 

Tuckerman Ravine filled with clouds

Those are practically summer like conditions for up there!

[MaineJayhawk]

53 minutes ago, mreaves said:

Those are practically summer like conditions for up there!

No lie, I think I have a sunburn!

[Lava Rock]

If i didn't see 150 sleds on the trails yesterday i didn't see any, Rode out of Eustis over to Grand falls then over to Parlin Township and had lunch at Lake Parlin Lodge in between the Forks and Jackman, 120 miles.

Excellent. We rode out of milli. Great riding if you know where to avoid the crowds. 600 mi.

[dryslot]

4 hours ago, Lava Rock said:

Excellent. We rode out of milli. Great riding if you know where to avoid the crowds. 600 mi.

 

Awesome, Not much traffic there, Other then the deer that crossed lol

 

[SJonesWX]

while you guys were out putting miles on your sleds, i summerized mine. no time left to ride, and no desire to ride in marginal conditions (or crappy conditions in C/SNH). drained the fuel out and added a little bit of fresh stabilized fuel. the Ski Doo e-tec makes it easy to fog the motor, just press a couple buttons and off it goes. takes longer to drain the fuel out than anything else. 500+ miles this season, not too bad considering the snowpack retention was ho-ho-horrendous this year.

[mreaves]

2 hours ago, SJonesWX said:

while you guys were out putting miles on your sleds, i summerized mine. no time left to ride, and no desire to ride in marginal conditions (or crappy conditions in C/SNH). drained the fuel out and added a little bit of fresh stabilized fuel. the Ski Doo e-tec makes it easy to fog the motor, just press a couple buttons and off it goes. takes longer to drain the fuel out than anything else. 500+ miles this season, not too bad considering the snowpack retention was ho-ho-horrendous this year.

Marginal hmmmmm

[dryslot]

3 hours ago, SJonesWX said:

while you guys were out putting miles on your sleds, i summerized mine. no time left to ride, and no desire to ride in marginal conditions (or crappy conditions in C/SNH). drained the fuel out and added a little bit of fresh stabilized fuel. the Ski Doo e-tec makes it easy to fog the motor, just press a couple buttons and off it goes. takes longer to drain the fuel out than anything else. 500+ miles this season, not too bad considering the snowpack retention was ho-ho-horrendous this year.

The E-tecs are da bomb, Buddy of mine in my pic has the new 850 renegade, He loves it.

[tamarack]

Managed to chop thru the 8" of crust in the middle of the 29-30" pack and get a SWE estimate of 9.50" - not too precise because I probably lost some ice during the crust-carving.  That LE is 0.21" less than I had on Feb. 18, from a 43" pack.  We had 3.50" precip between the measurements, 1.32" RA and the rest in 16.3" snow.  I'm guessing that the difference between 9.71 + 3.50 and the current 9.50 is a combo of sublimation and melting, with much of the latter recharging groundwater, as runoff seemed modest.

Some sugary operators must be struggling to boil fast enough to keep up with the sap - days of cold dawns, mild sunny afternoons, and little wind.

[SJonesWX]

2 hours ago, mreaves said:

Marginal hmmmmm

OK marginal in my area, with no desire to trailer 3+ hours north.

1 hour ago, dryslot said:

The E-tecs are da bomb, Buddy of mine in my pic has the new 850 renegade, He loves it.

yeah, i love my 600 e-tec. plenty of zip, and sips fuel and oil. I can go ~800 miles on a tank of oil, and i bet if i squeezed it right I could go almost 200 miles on a tank of fuel. after 130 miles up north in Feb (in powder), I took 6.5 gallons of fuel, while a friend took 9.75 gallons in his 700cc Arctic Cat

[dryslot]

10 minutes ago, SJonesWX said:

OK marginal in my area, with no desire to trailer 3+ hours north.

yeah, i love my 600 e-tec. plenty of zip, and sips fuel and oil. I can go ~800 miles on a tank of oil, and i bet if i squeezed it right I could go almost 200 miles on a tank of fuel. after 130 miles up north in Feb (in powder), I took 6.5 gallons of fuel, while a friend took 9.75 gallons in his 700cc Arctic Cat

My 800 p-tek is not as efficient, But still takes less then one of my buddies poos..............

[mreaves]

40 minutes ago, SJonesWX said:

OK marginal in my area, with no desire to trailer 3+ hours north.

yeah, i love my 600 e-tec. plenty of zip, and sips fuel and oil. I can go ~800 miles on a tank of oil, and i bet if i squeezed it right I could go almost 200 miles on a tank of fuel. after 130 miles up north in Feb (in powder), I took 6.5 gallons of fuel, while a friend took 9.75 gallons in his 700cc Arctic Cat

I know, just kidding.  It was just such a beautiful weekend I was just looking for an excuse to post a picture.  Here is one from Sunday

[mreaves]

21 minutes ago, dryslot said:

My 800 p-tek is not as efficient, But still takes less then one of my buddies poos..............

I had a 2000 Ski Doo liquid cooled 500 that liked to drink gas like it was going out of style.  I bet I was lucky to get 7 or 8 mpg out of it, maybe 9 on good hard packed trails.  The 2-up, 4 stroke non turbo Arctic Cat that I just sold was great on gas but was a tank to drive.  My new non turbo 4 stroke Cat is awesome to drive but only gets 13-14 mpg.  That may have something to do with the gas tank having a crack but I'm not sure it ever leaked that much.  I did have a chance to take a 600 Etec for about 100 miles on a trip this year and loved it.  I'm a cheap SOB though and those Etecs really hold their value.  I also keep my sleds for a long time so I like the durability of a 4 stroke.

[dryslot]

28 minutes ago, mreaves said:

I had a 2000 Ski Doo liquid cooled 500 that liked to drink gas like it was going out of style.  I bet I was lucky to get 7 or 8 mpg out of it, maybe 9 on good hard packed trails.  The 2-up, 4 stroke non turbo Arctic Cat that I just sold was great on gas but was a tank to drive.  My new non turbo 4 stroke Cat is awesome to drive but only gets 13-14 mpg.  That may have something to do with the gas tank having a crack but I'm not sure it ever leaked that much.  I did have a chance to take a 600 Etec for about 100 miles on a trip this year and loved it.  I'm a cheap SOB though and those Etecs really hold their value.  I also keep my sleds for a long time so I like the durability of a 4 stroke.

I can't justify a new sled right now, I use to ride 2,000 mi+ a season but get no wheres near that to shovel out $13-15,000 for a new one.

[mreaves]

1 hour ago, dryslot said:

I can't justify a new sled right now, I use to ride 2,000 mi+ a season but get no wheres near that to shovel out $13-15,000 for a new one.

That's why my "new" one is a 2007!  We had two sleds, a 2002 ZL550 and a 2002 660 two up that we needed to cart my son along.  Now that he reached the age that he can ride his own sled, we gave him the ZL and I bought a Jag Z1 and then my wife decided that she couldn't stand driving the big tank so I sold that.  She likes the one that I bought but wants a longer track so I am still looking around.  I'm just glad that she likes to ride so we'll do what it takes to keep her happy without going broke.

[Lava Rock]

3 hours ago, dryslot said:

My 800 p-tek is not as efficient, But still takes less then one of my buddies poos..............

Never said I'd go back to two-stroke, but after three 1200 4-strokers since 2010, I am ordering a 2018 850.

[dryslot]

Just now, Lava Rock said:

Never said I'd go back to two-stroke, but after three 1200 4-strokers since 2010, I am ordering a 2018 850.

 

[dryslot]

14 minutes ago, mreaves said:

That's why my "new" one is a 2007!  We had two sleds, a 2002 ZL550 and a 2002 660 two up that we needed to cart my son along.  Now that he reached the age that he can ride his own sled, we gave him the ZL and I bought a Jag Z1 and then my wife decided that she couldn't stand driving the big tank so I sold that.  She likes the one that I bought but wants a longer track so I am still looking around.  I'm just glad that she likes to ride so we'll do what it takes to keep her happy without going broke.

Yeah, Mine is a 2007 as well, I will run it into the ground, My other sled is an 03 MXZX 600 with 5,000 miles on it, Other then cleaning carbs and new reed's have not done anything else to it.

[eekuasepinniW]

I've driven my car twice in the last 60 days.

[justaroofer]

what do you guys think about starting a new "model mayhem"  thread for central and northern New England only??

Seems those south are not to enthused about snow but I 'am!  

I'm getting ready for a great late winter/spring, higher elevation backcountry ski fest and I'd like some more mood snow for my yard.

I'd start the thread myself, but as you probably know, I'm not very lucky at selling my thoughts! 

[Skivt2]

Makes sense to me.  What's gonna happen Sunday?

[ThatGirlWhoSkis]

I posted something to that effect also...but not a lot of interest. So it's back to wading through a whole lot of CT and MA posts to glean some kind of idea of what's up. I also check out the Single Chair Report thanks to a nice person here who pointed out that resource.

Anyway...lots of snow up here, lots of skiing. So it's a GREAT end to a so-so season. I'll take it!

And if anyone ever starts a post on Central/NNE Model Mayhem...sign me up

[Whineminster]

My 2002 Mxz 500 LC chugs gas....Feels like I'm always filling it up. 

Think riding will be good this coming weekend in the whites? I couldn't make it out this past weekend.

[SJonesWX]

15 hours ago, Lava Rock said:

Never said I'd go back to two-stroke, but after three 1200 4-strokers since 2010, I am ordering a 2018 850.

i have heard nothing but good things about that new motor. i know you will love the power band of that e-tec. i absolutely love mine, great low/mid range. I won't win any races on the lake, but then again, i won't be entering any races either lol

my '09 600 e-tec has right around 3500 miles on it (have had 2 seasons with 0 miles since I bought it). I would love to get a new sled, but just can't justify it. at this rate i should get another 8 seasons out of the '09.

[Lava Rock]

i have heard nothing but good things about that new motor. i know you will love the power band of that e-tec. i absolutely love mine, great low/mid range. I won't win any races on the lake, but then again, i won't be entering any races either lol

my '09 600 e-tec has right around 3500 miles on it (have had 2 seasons with 0 miles since I bought it). I would love to get a new sled, but just can't justify it. at this rate i should get another 8 seasons out of the '09.

Was thinking of getting my wife a used 600 etec.

[SJonesWX]

2 minutes ago, Lava Rock said:

Was thinking of getting my wife a used 600 etec.

I can't say enough good things about it. i am all done with cleaning carbs, used to have to do that before every season, what a PITA. i have heard that the intake boots on the e-tec are prone to failure (like the other Ski doo 2-strokes), but i haven't even looked at mine. I guess i should at some point. but otherwise the motor is flawless. Starts on first or second pull every single time, no matter how long it has been sitting.

[eyewall]

It is way too warm to stick but light snow falling here this morning.

[dryslot]

3 hours ago, SJonesWX said:

I can't say enough good things about it. i am all done with cleaning carbs, used to have to do that before every season, what a PITA. i have heard that the intake boots on the e-tec are prone to failure (like the other Ski doo 2-strokes), but i haven't even looked at mine. I guess i should at some point. but otherwise the motor is flawless. Starts on first or second pull every single time, no matter how long it has been sitting.

I changed mine over a year ago to V-Force Reeds, I know they have a better response in the mid range, They say they last longer then the stock doo boots, I guess i will find out, My sleds not going anywhere soon.

[J.Spin]

26 minutes ago, eyewall said:

It is way too warm to stick but light snow falling here this morning.

 

Thanks for the update eyewall - I just checked in to update with the same information from here in Burlington in case anyone hadn’t.  The flakes are nice – I’m seeing some up to 10-15 mm in diameter, but as you said, no sticking with the current temperatures.  I just checked our web cam at the house in Waterbury and don’t see any flakes falling at this point, although the moisture still appears to be pushing into the area:

 

[powderfreak]

Snowing pretty good on Mansfield.  Its one of those snows that's only sticking to old snow and not dark surfaces like cars or the parking lots.  

[adk]

2 hours ago, powderfreak said:

Snowing pretty good on Mansfield.  Its one of those snows that's only sticking to old snow and not dark surfaces like cars or the parking lots.  

Impossible. 

Yea, As it cools down and that front passes, this low level moisture is going to get wrung out pretty well.