Id say at this piont its personal preferance, plenty of BARE ice out there with the biggest drift I found being only 18 inchs deep and 5 ft wide with bare ice right next to it.Average snow pack not over 3 inchs, travel is a breeze. There are some pretty LARGE areas of ruff ice that you need to watchout for. seems to me like they could really mess up a sled if a guys not paying attention and gioing to fast! Good luck and be safe!