Leaderboard

Rode from Sauble Beach up to Ferndale today. I was impressed by the amount of snow on the trails, although there were icy sections and the trails through the wood lots were very bumpy......my kidneys dropped 2 inches I'm sure.. Stopped at Skinners Bluff for the obligated season photo.....lol brian

We just got back from Chapleau last night. Stayed at Valentines B&B for 4 nights. Todd is the son, and we also met the dad the one night when he came out for a visit. Great times, did a trail ride to Foleyet one day for lunch and back and the other days did back country riding on the logging roads.

Come ride in Barrie. Trails are in excellent shape here. Orillia has great trails also, I'm not exactly sure why they are still listed as limited. I rode from Barrie to Norland yesterday on 9/10 trails.. Traffic has been very light and we are grooming daily..

We stayed at Valentine Farms. Their son is a fireman in London and took 6 weeks off this winter to look after the place. He was the one telling me that they are basically out of business with the trail closure and now HH closed. Sounds like the dad is in pretty rough shape. We never saw them at all. That being said, it was a fun spot. $60/person cash. Not fancy but did the trick and our entire group could sit around and watch the hockey game on TV.

More rain for the south coming Sunday with high of 8, warmer temps to follow. Debating whether I cram in one last ride on Thursday in Durham or just put them into storage. I had hoped to head north for at least a couple. days in March but I can see plenty of things I could get finished at home. I bought that new sled for the wife because she said she wasn't going south again for a couple of years and wanted to ride. Friday she bought another place in Florida. Takes possession April 1. 🤪

Help me understand why everyone is so eager to sell their barely used 2022 models in favor of a 2023? Especially with all the supply issues. Hell most don't even have 2-3000kms on their sleds. Are all these sleds so unreliable after 1 year? I guess I don't understand as I have had Yamaha or Yamaha engine'd sleds for many years with no warranty issues. 2008 Apex LT-X Anniversary with 32,000kms, 2017 Sidewinder LT-X with 24,000kms and now a 2019 SRX with a bunch.

I think the release went well last night, they finally addressed the gap in the lineup with the new 4 stroke and hopefully a sign of bigger and better things to come. The Boosted trail sleds are very interesting for sure. Time to make a decision as to what to order very soon. Kinda of wished there was a Boost XCR but maybe next year we will see it. If anyone is interested I will be selling my 2022 XCR 136 850 at the end of the season. PM me

Pricing is out of control for a 2 month hobby. Love the sleds, they're super nice and have never been more advanced, but I still prefer the simpler times.

I am not spending 24k on a sled. FFS

I’m sure a 900t R has increased in price substantially for 23’. If the MachZ were available again it wouldn’t be $22949 but more like $25k.

I believe Camp Conawonga at the top of Talon Lake on the trail has fuel as well.

The highlighted one is the one that is likely to do the most for the bottom line of Polaris sled division over the next few years. They have started to address what was a gaping hole in their line-up. Very anxious to see what the real weight of this sled will be. 90 HP is likely a low ball number. Turbo versions will follow. Big step has finally been taken.

They are great people. Ross and Frenda. Forget the sons name but have met in the past.. Hope the best for all of them. Just shows what link in trail can do to affect many lives..

Yea, just look around and be happy that they have anything to offer. I bought a German sports car in 2020 (at a discount) and now I can sell it for $25k over MSRP. The world is upside down so your opinion really means nothing to anyone but you. Can you sell your Mach for MSRP? Likely so It all works out in the end.

Check out the Windy.com snow depth map at https://www.windy.com/-Show---add-more-layers/overlays?snowcover,45.878,-79.568,8 Click on any point on the map.

l told the sales rep to surprise me . Just thrilled she called me , could not get the deposit down quick enough .

I can deal with list in todays market, but extra add-ons drive me mental.

Go riding, winter weather is short, season is short, and things around the house can get done at any time.

Entry level XC is over 16K........, an EVO is over 10k ( for kids ). Things have gotten stupid. You will not grow sledding with that - you will keep the die hards - which you need - but show me a line of newbies dropping 20 + to get into sledding - it's not happening. I was able to buy a brand new dirt bike, bike hauler, and outfit my son for just under $5,000.00 last summer. He can ride from April till November. Could I buy him a brand new entry level sled, outfit him, and haul it around for the same? No chance. Great line up - sleds look amazing and I am sure ride even better, but pricing is out of touch.

yes & no - there are more cost effective choices to pick from vs. only looking at the Cadillac options. You tend to hear more about the purchases of the higher end vehicles vs. the entry level ones seeing as most have been sledders for a while so worked their way up to that, and I think kind of expect or feel they deserve that. But, no matter whether you buy the Chevette or Cadillac, the season near here is way to short when you think about the investment you have made and the return.

yes the S4 is a new 998 twin 4-stroker in their adventure and utility sleds the new 1000cc ProStar S4 engine is in the “under 100 horsepower

the difference between a voyager 650 2-stroke and S4 4-stroke is 5 lbs not sure where you are seeing the 100 lb difference.............certainly hope its a typo will be very interesting on the S4 fuel mileage, being we will all be paying $2.00/L soon haven't had much time to ride what I got so no need to upgrade for a few years anyway, the 650 works great

We saw a wolf at sunset , in Sudbury, a couple of weeks ago. Wasn't in a hurry to get off the trail. Moved aside and sized us up. We completed the Wolf loop and Moose loop. Saw both animals ( pair of moose ). No cougars 😁 As for far north sledding, needs to exist. Trails need to stay open.,If it was an ofsc survey question vis-a-vis staying in the sport - it " matters". Extends the season, if nothing else. Thanks for terrain and logistic answers, group.

Nice to see a 4 stroke. Direct compete to the 900 ace. This will be interesting.

As crazy as it sounds, I just sold my 22 600XRS. I put 2000kms on it and got all my money back on it. I looked at my calendar and I only had 1 weekend available in March to get away and just said screw it and sold it. Yes. I probably could have sold it for the same amount in the fall but this way I dont have to worry about storing it and I can cancel my insurance this week as well. I can put the cash to work over the summer for me and start over in Dec. And FWIW, I will be ordering a 23 of some brand by the weekend.

Blah blah blah. I should have asked your opinion first I guess. Thanks for the tips...And the best thing is, your opinion is your opinion, and is meaniless to me as well...

X2 Kind man.

Ok, rub it in..lol

That Boost Flat Lander will be the sled to beat this year. 0-100mph it will be unstoppable. The 850 NA is arguably the quickest (not fastest) machine on the snow this year. The turbo will haul azz.

Yes, not bad considering the state of the world. New colour selection is sh!T but the all black and red is available so that works for me.

Rutherford Esso, accessible via Trunk Road from Bonfield when roads are good - - which they likely are at the moment. Also accessible (I think) via Talon Lake Road off BF201 from Lake Talon. On trail option for gas is the Freshmart in Astorville at the west end of Lake Nosbonsing.

Pretty impressive reveal today! 2 stroke trail turbo and a new 4s that sits in the Matryx chasis. Nicely done Polaris

Ski-doo and Grammaha can have that market

Maybe we can figure out a general area of what permit sales are for this year. I bought my permit within 6 minutes of sales opening in October. My permit # is J002009. I'm going to assume its the 9th permit that was odered which would mean that the first permit ordered was J002001. If we can find someone on the forum who ordered a permit late due to late delivery or whatever, and get their permit # , then we assume the permits were numbered sequentially it should give us a ballpark figure.

they have been cut back huge from what I have been told, I would think Floor models will be very scare as Snowcheck demand is crazy since last night.

I think for most it has to do with trade in value. Either have to keep flipping a sled every year or keep it 10 to make the price worthwhile. I'd be on the new sled every year for a couple of grand out of pocket train too if I could only afford the first stop.

Can't argue with that. Talked to the locals in Valdor. They just laughed when we talked the length of the seasons. I said we were open for 4 weeks and were happy. They are 4 months. But we always knew that.

Will be interesting to see what fuel economy is like. If it's on par with a 900 ace these sleds will do 350 km to a tank as they still have the 11.5 gallon fuel tank. Haven't wore our 900 aces out yet, but this will create quite the dilemma when the time comes. Gonna have to find a demo day next winter to go ride one. With the best gauge, smart warmers, suspension on par with r-motion and now the 4 stroke it will come down to handling. I hate the idea of having to replace all the accessories, but Polaris may finally have a superior product.

Yes, you can get to it this way.

It's funny how things work out, Nick. You were with me on what was likely my last brisk ride. I tore up my left rotator cuff sledding on the loop trails north of Hearst in January. That pretty much ended my season. When I missed half of last year on my dirt bike, I lost so much speed that I will never find it back again at 72.

The 7s does work well, glad I got it on mine

Your age or older ? If they have half your energy they are good to go

Boosted sleds , 900r but still can’t make a plastic gas can for their lock n ride system !!!!! can’t say I’m in love with 2023 colours.

Well, crap if you do not go far. If willing and able to travel, it has not been that bad - slow start, trail issues, etc......but I think it has turned out not too bad. Local'ish for sure has been hard for some. Head scratcher for sure how long the high will last.

Hey Scott, glad you got your trip in. Sounds like it went OK, even with the challenges. Was the Chapleau B&B Valentine's? If so, was it still being operated by the couple that are my age or older? Great people who deserved a better fate.

Could very well see some strong offers on possible used sleds - I assume the market is still silly.

the problem lies in the distance between Missanabi, and Chapleau. if I remember right, it is 90 miles one way (and was not that rugged of terrain). and Chapleau, hated to groom their side. getting operators, to run the whole thing was tough, due to the distance alone. the last year or 2 they put a groomer at Ernie's in Missanabi, to cut the distance, and Kenny (ernie's son) was going out, and doing their end, and did a great job but, in the end, from what I hear, the owner of Aux Trois Moulin's motel, (and the club president of chapleau at the time), put up a tremendous fuss, to get that trail closed, so he could get the trail from halfway opened, and the old F trail closed, to get more touring riders from the soo into his community, via the trail. Politics, involved hurting the sport in that region, yet again. the old F trail from Black creek/Aubrey falls, to Flame lake lodge, was pretty rugged but, fairly close to the paved hwy 129. from flame lake to chapleau via trail was either 50 or 60 miles. then to black creek was another 50 or so. one way it was 110 miles, or more and again, a tough sell to a volunteer groomer, not getting paid, with their own family, and full time job or business to tend to as well. Ski

it was a suggestion, that the clubs and ofsc should get a monetary guarantee from halfway, if the trail is being brought to them, they are responsible for the groomer fuel bill, if the business closes, during the grooming season. the ofsc, and clubs cant keep maintaining that section of trail, for that one business, without a guarantee, they will be there to provide food, shelter, fuel service for the groomer, and the sledders. and for those that think you can make it with a can or two, of fuel... maybe when it is groomed but, with no grooming and 4-6 feet of snow in there... no, you are not going to do that! the liability for the ofsc for the distance, weather, terrain, shelter, fuel, and services, for the average sledder (not the hard core explorers), is too much to take on for any entity. forget halfway, re-open up the trail from Misanabbi, to Chapleau, re connect the Big loop from there. leave the roads, hydro line, from south of wawa, to searchmont to the off trailers. people in the states can still start in the Soo, you just have to head east to elliot lake, then to sudbury, to go north. Ski Ski

the trail runs just south of that, from the hydro line, to Chapleau. grooming their road still doesnt give access to the fuel truck, to bring in thousands of gallons of fuel a week. it all boils down to the clubs, district, and the ofsc has put boat loads of money and time into that trail, to offer the trail to the riders, with a monetary benefit to that business... and it has repeatedly failed. when it fails, all that prep, signing, brushing, grooming maps, planning etc... is all for nothing, and money up in smoke. Halfway has to put some big work into it to reap the benefit, from this trail, they are seeking. I am not saying they dont work hard there but, there comes a limit at what the ofsc should do to bring a trail to a business. Ski

Sault Ste. Marie - Incredible Amount of Snow For my friends who are not living in Sault Ste. Marie, I just want to share with you that we have had so much snow this winter and snowblowing the driveway is a daily job and we are running out of room to put it. Enjoy the weekend humour (attached)