Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/18225
advertiser iNdeX mountains. We constantly explore dif- Advertiser ------------------------ Page # Absolute Power & Performance LTD------------- 49 Albany County Tourism Board ---------------- 55 AMSOIL, Inc. ---------------------------- 3 Arctic Cat Dealers------------------------ 35 Arctic Cat, Inc. ----------------------- - 15, 17 ArcticFX Graphics, LLC--------------------- 30 avalanchetools.com----------------------- 47 Avivest ------------------------------ 47 Backcountry Access ---------------------- 43 Bluhm Enterprises------------------------ 43 Boondocker, LLC ------------------------ 16 C&A Pro------------------------------ 25 Carver Performance, Inc. ------------------- 41 Charmac Trailers ------------------------ 26 Craiggerbuilt --------------------------- 33 CVTech - AAB Inc ------------------------ 47 Dalton Industries ------------------------ 41 Dugan Enterprises LLC--------------------- 47 Dyno Port Racing ------------------------ 46 E Z Ryde Suspension/ Great Lakes Sound --------- 51 First Place Parts ------------------------- 27 Full Throttle Inc. ------------------------- 48 Goodwin Performance, Inc. ------------------ 45 Helmetlight, Inc.------------------------- 43 High Performance Sports ------------------- 52 Holz Racing Products----------------------- 5 Jaws Performance Ltd.--------------------- 43 JT Sports ----------------------------- 49 Klim USA -------------------------- - 13, 56 Leipheimer’s Yamaha --------------------- 51 MBRP, Inc. ---------------------------- 13 Millennium Technologies ------------------- 40 Mirage Enterprises, Inc. --------------------- 7 MotorFist LLC -------------------------- 25 North Park Visitors Bureau------------------- 51 Orion Sleds & Trailers, LLC ------------------ 47 Polaris Dealers----------------------- - 45, 46 Polaris Industries, Inc. ------------------ - 22, 23 Powder Jack Inc. ------------------------ 26 PowderKeg ---------------------------- 52 PowerMadd Extreme Motorsports -------------- 40 PowerSeal USA ------------------------- 40 Pro-Vue, Inc. --------------------------- 52 Renton Coil Spring ----------------------- 40 Rexburg Motor Sports --------------------- 21 Rox Speed FX, Inc. ----------------------- 41 RSI Racing ---------------------------- 49 Scott USA----------------------------- 11 Simmons, Inc. -------------------------- 38 Ski-Doo ------------------------------- 9 Ski-Doo Dealers ---------------------- - 37, 49 Skinz Protective Gear---------------------- 41 Sled The Rockies ------------------------ 43 Slide Guides, Inc. ------------------------ 35 Snobunje, Inc. -------------------------- 41 Source Innovations Ltd. -------------------- 37 Speedwerx, Inc. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 33 SPOT Inc. ------------------------------ 2 Super Clamp --------------------------- 21 Sure Grip ----------------------------- 41 TEAM Industries, Inc.---------------------- 55 Timbersled Products ---------------------- 39 Tom’s Snowmobile & Service----------------- 33 Tracks USA---------------------------- 37 Triton Corporation------------------------ 35 True Adventure Gear ---------------------- 38 Turbo Performance ----------------------- 30 Walker Evans Enterprises ------------------- 39 Wiseco Piston, Inc. ------------------------ 2 WS Services / IWSF----------------------- 48 Yamaha Dealers------------------------- 40 Yamaha Motor Corporation USA --------------- 31 Yellowstone Teton Territory, Inc. --------------- 33 ZBROZ Racing -------------------------- 32 Zskinz, Inc. ---------------------------- 30 32 SNOWEST NOVEMBER 2010 ferent drainages and canyons. Yet we’re seldom more than a mile away from our basic course. So how can a group of riders get confused or separated in country they travel dozens of times? Well, for one thing, snow changes things. Even from day to day, new snow can erase old tracks and cover trails and landmarks. Things look different. Then when you add to the mix the common winter conditions of flat light or low vis- ibility due to falling snow, it’s easy to see how people can get turned around or lost. Another factor that occurs with rid- ing groups is people getting separated from the pack. When you try to retrace your tracks, you see tracks going in every direction. It’s hard to tell which ones are new or what direction they’re traveling. You may even hear other sleds passing through and think that it’s your group. By the time you realize they’re not, you may be two more drainages removed. How can you prevent these types of situations from happening? Well, you can’t. That is, unless you decide to sit in the truck while everyone else goes riding. So the next best thing is how are you going to be prepared to deal with such situations when they happen? The first rule is to know your riding group and establish some common guidelines that allow everyone to be on the same page. Such as, if you ever get separated, go back to the last place where everyone was together and wait. The idea is that once the group realizes someone is missing, the most logical thing is to backtrack to the last point where the group was at. Problems tend to arise when someone separated from the group assumes no- body will be looking for him and heads back on his own. What normally hap- pens then is that the group spends the rest of the day looking for someone on the mountain. In western riding, we’re usually calculating our planned route by the amount of fuel we carry. If we spend a lot of extra fuel running back and forth looking for someone separated from the group, we may not have enough to make it back off the mountain. A good day’s riding can be ruined by the frustration of searching for someone who has actually bailed on the group. Often, it’s not a situation of some- one getting lost from the group, but rather the entire group getting lost. Let’s face it, many times when we ride we don’t know exactly where we are at all times. And perhaps that’s not really that important. All you need to know is where you are trying to go and what direction you need to be traveling to get there. That’s where a good GPS or compass can be very important. Some people just have the ability to know their bearings. But you have to have some confidence in yourself and not be afraid to make a commitment. The important thing to be good at is using common sense. Don’t drop into a canyon if you don’t know whether you can make it out the bottom. Snowmobilers who tend to spend the night on the mountain are those who drop down into an area where they can’t come back out. The farther down they go, the more problems they have. Sometimes it is a situation where most of the group are capable of mak- ing the climb back out. But there’s one or two that either have incapable sleds or inadequate skills to make it out. So before you drop down into trouble, take a moment to assess the skills of your group. Often we have a couple of the more capable riders drop into problem areas to see if there is another way out. It’s easier to get the best two out of a jam