3 Old Guys Ride to Alaska

Purely as a machine, I find snow machines fascinating. That they even work at all for more than a few miles is incredible to me considering all the intricate little parts that all have to work and not just snap and break in the cold and wet environment they run in.

The one that blew my mind was when someone figured out some years back how to provide reverse on a sled by stopping the motor and then restarting it running backwards.

Pretty interesting nowadays the HP they are getting out of some of these big turbo mountain sleds. Box stock sleds at 180+ hp. Wow.

But the more things change…I occasionally do simple jobs on sleds and I’m by no means even at the intermediate level, but here’s the observation I’ve formed over the years:

TFG’s Snowmobile Ownership Therom #1 states thusly:

Only an airplane requires more maintenance per hour of use than a snowmobile. You have been warned.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

The one that blew my mind was when someone figured out some years back how to provide reverse on a sled by stopping the motor and then restarting it running backwards.

My buddy broke the recoil rope on his ski doo several years ago and he was dumbfounded on what to do. I went into my tool kit which had a strap and wrapped it around his primary clutch intentionally backwards and pulled. The engine fired right up and when he hammered the gas he went flying backwards and lord almighty did we laugh about that. I knew what was going to happen, but that was hilarious.

ThunderLund78 wrote:

Hope they stay safe when they hit the Canadian Rockies.

Looks like their planned route avoids any major ranges. From reading their posted plan, they are riding a major river system (!!!) that stays east of the mountains until they reach the Arctic Ocean (!!!)

I can’t wrap my head around the feat these 3 old guys are on, truly epic stuff. Will be a success and create lifelong memories whether they reach the intended destination or not.

The hardest part might be riding over legendary lake trout lakes like Reindeer, Wollaston, Athabasca, Great Slave, etc. and never wetting a line

I wonder what they’re doing with their sleds when they get there? Sell em?

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

I wonder what they’re doing with their sleds when they get there? Sell em?

they have to ride them back!

I know Paul from this crew. He’s always on the go, and a heck of a good guy. Its crazy to imagine doing a trip like this and all of the times he has raced the Iron Dog.

As far as running these sleds, Paul knows Arctic Cat better than most. After the years of racing and having an AC engineer/racer as a son, I’d say he chose what he’s comfortable with and knows. Same could be said for Rex Hibbert.

Yep the Hibberts are absolute legends.

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

I wonder what they’re doing with their sleds when they get there? Sell em?

Last I read, they were going to fly home and figure out the sleds later.

These guys sure are dedicated. 16.5 hrs from departure yesterday morning until they stopped in Stony Rapids, Sask. for the night. Incredible!

Yeah and they arent spring chickens either. All of them have spent a ton of time on sleds in their lives so no surprise. Sounds like they are taking a rest/maintenance day today.

*edit, I see Ryan pointed out the Irondog already*
Did I read correctly that a couple of them ran the Irondog a number of times back in the day? If that’s the case, this is right up there alley. Still amazing to be doing it at their age. Especially the boondocking they have to do!

I dont think Paul Dick did the Iron Dog, but Rex may have. Paul was a heckuva cross country racer though and engineer at arctic cat.

Don’t mean to derail the thread but is Artic Cat even a player anymore? These companies all look the same to me. I remember Cats being black, Ski Doo being Yellow, Polaris Blue & Yamaha white. Heck the Rupps were Red and John Deere Green.

Dutchboy wrote:

Don’t mean to derail the thread but is Artic Cat even a player anymore?

Since Textron bought them things took a left turn. They are now essentially a pre-order only sled maker which is actually good since dealers arent left sitting on tons of inventory. Trouble is if you dont get in early they are sold out. Their brand new chassis across the mountain segment, crossover segment and trail completely sold out in just a couple days. This sled is a game changer and yes, they are in the game. People like to rag on them since their previous chassis came into production in 2012 and largely looked the same, but they made subtle changes over the years that made a world of difference. Very dependable.
I believe their partnership with Yamaha is ending or has ended. They still basically build all the sleds for Yamaha in TRF and even some youth Ski Doo sleds, so yeah, they are still relevant.
The days of green, yellow and blue are all gone. The brands all have multiple different colors. When the bigger than 800 engine drops in this new chassis next year Cat better figure out how to increase production because it will be selling like hotcakes since they only offered a 600 this year. This sled is 10% lighter which is incredible to do.

Thank you. I really can’t tell much anymore as they all look the same to me.

Yeah they all look so similar and I hate that cat went away from the cat names. That’s classic AC. The colors bother me but not as much.

CaptainMusky wrote:

I dont think Paul Dick did the Iron Dog, but Rex may have. Paul was a heckuva cross country racer though and engineer at arctic cat.

Rex and Paul have both run the Iron Dog.

Paul’s son Brian is the engineer and XC racer. They ran Iron Dog together at least once.

Ah that is right Brian not Paul my bad. Its a bummer that Brian got let go and it really sucks now he races Ski Doo.

15 Days, 2,100 miles and they made it to Great Slave Lake.

IceNEyes1986 wrote:

15 Days, 2,100 miles and they made it to Great Slave Lake.

And they’re only half way with the easiest half being behind them! So fun to follow, I wish them good luck the rest of their journey!

Did you see the moose tounge they were eating the other day from some of the locals? Pretty interesting

Tongue is one of the things few people take from an animal, but watching a lot of meateater and Steven Rinella does it all the time. Not sure I want to try it but they say its really good.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Tongue is one of the things few people take from an animal, but watching a lot of meateater and Steven Rinella does it all the time. Not sure I want to try it but they say its really good.

A coworker of mine eats it from a mexican joint a fair amount. He says it’s good but it is very important to get all the taste buds off the meat before cooking it.

I had tongue tacos a bit ago. MEH, they were ok but meh.

The reception these guys are getting from the indigenous people along the way is absolutely fantastic! Quite the trek.

CaptainMusky wrote:

The reception these guys are getting from the indigenous people along the way is absolutely fantastic! Quite the trek.

I was thinking the same thing! Pretty neat stuff they are experiencing, everywhere they go.

So now it’s 1,000 miles down the Mackenzie River until they reach the Arctic Ocean. Wild.

I was wondering if they were headed to the Arctic. Seems to make sense to avoid the mountains.

I thought they said they are going to the ocean just to say they have been there and then they are back tracking

tswoboda wrote:

So now it’s 1,000 miles down the Mackenzie River until they reach the Arctic Ocean. Wild.

1000 miles of river riding would scare the he// out of me. Even that far North. I’m not a fan of river riding. My buddy up North does a ton of it. it always scares me when I do it .