600 trail sled vs a 12,000 mountain

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mxzxrs800

New member
went out west for the first time over new years week. grand lake colorado to be more specific. I litterally feel born again. the snow was deep, the trails where perfect, and the smoke was thick.;) I love the utter lack of bars outside of town, it makes for real riding. Anyways a 600 etec feels like a 550 fan but it's still fun. Playing in fresh snow was impossible. Forget that idea right now. the trail system was suberb and well groomed everyday. careful on the corners though. the option of fallling off the side of a cliff is ever present if you need to bail from a sled on sled encounter.

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sjb

Member
Huh - I was also out for a day over the holidays at Grand Lake. We rented 600 etec's with 153" tracks. Unfortunatly for us, they were brand new, 200 miles on them and were not past the broke in period. So we continued to hit the rev limiter. So I don't know if that is why they somewhat felt like dogs, or due to altitude. But they did not have the torque I am use to with my 4 stroke. I agree, the trails for the most part were very nice. Some major studder bumps at the end of the day, but there was a lot of traffic. The views were amazing - like driving to lake of the clouds or copper harbor around every corner. People were nice. Powder though? We found most areas very tracked up. An area we did find untracked - I talked to a local heading away from there. He said the hill was about to fall so we left (no Avy gear). Once we were on the very west part of the trail system, the pow was better and we did find some untracked meadows. However, without any gas stations near by, we were at risk and limited our riding. Good experience on our end as well and will go back.
 
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mxzxrs800

New member
sjb said:
Huh - I was also out for a day over the holidays at Grand Lake. We rented 600 etec's with 153" tracks. Unfortunatly for us, they were brand new, 200 miles on them and were not past the broke in period. So we continued to hit the rev limiter. So I don't know if that is why they somewhat felt like dogs, or due to altitude. But they did not have the torque I am use to with my 4 stroke. I agree, the trails for the most part were very nice. Some major studder bumps at the end of the day, but there was a lot of traffic. The views were amazing - like driving to lake of the clouds or copper harbor around every corner. People were nice. Powder though? We found most areas very tracked up. An area we did find untracked - I talked to a local heading away from there. He said the hill was about to fall so we left (no Avy gear). Once we were on the very west part of the trail system, the pow was better and we did find some untracked meadows. However, without any gas stations near by, we were at risk and limited our riding. Good experience on our end as well and will go back.
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my group found a few meadows to attack but not many. The same sled in wisconsin does 110mph on a cold day on the lake. there was one quarter mile straight at 10,000 feet and fulll throttle was 67 mph. she was clutched right to. I can't imagine how gutlessthey would be with more track. the farther west the better the trails. I was averaging 14mpg riding hard so that gives you 140 miles and it was only 70 to the back of the mountain and back. still didn't feel easy about it
 
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sjb

Member
We had about 80 miles on the tanks and down to 1 bar. I don't run etec's on a normal basis so don't know if one bar means we are good for another 20 miles or running out at the next turn. We did run WOT a lot - both on the trails where we could and when ever we were in the pow. I hate to say this, but kind of glad you state you had major loss of power too. This is the most riding I have ever done on an etec and was not impressed - was scratching my head why there was such a following. But saying what you are, makes me think the alltitude was more of a factor than anything else.

I helped dig some guy out on a skidoo 600 etec that was buried just off the trail on Stillwater Pass. That wasn't you by chance, was it? I thought he said he was from MI and not Madison. Yellow and black sled.
 
C

cooksend

Active member
We just rode for one day in Grand Lake this weekend and is a place I would like to explore more! Short day with a Mechanical shutting our trip down. Meadows are always tough if you are close to the trail. Need to push a bit deeper to find the goods. We did find some sweet tree lines!
I will return again and we loved the Gateway Inn...
 
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ezra

Well-known member
cooksend said:
We just rode for one day in Grand Lake this weekend and is a place I would like to explore more! Short day with a Mechanical shutting our trip down. Meadows are always tough if you are close to the trail. Need to push a bit deeper to find the goods. We did find some sweet tree lines!
I will return again and we loved the Gateway Inn...
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how was the snow in grand? up in rabbit there was a fresh 2ft sat/sun otherwise it would have been pretty tough ridding
 
M

mxzxrs800

New member
ezra said:
how was the snow in grand? up in rabbit there was a fresh 2ft sat/sun otherwise it would have been pretty tough ridding
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one or 2 rocks at the end of the day but the snow was deep and the trails where great until you were 5 miles within town. I got off my sled at one point on what i thought was hard pack up near gravel mt. and found myself tangled with the top of a buried tree while my eyes became level with my running boards.
 
S

sjb

Member
Builder Bob said:
I have heard;
For every 1000', the engine will lose 3% of its horsepower.
I cannot speak for it accuracy!
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If that is right, or even in the ball park, I saw we were around 11,500' a few times according to the meter on the ski doo dash. That would be almost 35% power drop.
 
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ezra

Well-known member
mxzxrs800 said:
one or 2 rocks at the end of the day but the snow was deep and the trails where great until you were 5 miles within town. I got off my sled at one point on what i thought was hard pack up near gravel mt. and found myself tangled with the top of a buried tree while my eyes became level with my running boards.
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yeah deep up at the ears also . prob 2 to 3 ft fluff over a crusty 3 to 4 in base .if u break through and get stuck it gets real tough rolling them over .prob over 4 feet of sugar snow under crust.
 
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skidooking

New member
Grand Lake is a hidden GEM, plenty of rental places, On the trail Rental, has poo, doo, and cats, Grand Adventures has doos this year, and several smaller mom n pops rentals downtown. All kinds of lodging to choose from, and a great club there that keeps up with grooming...https://www.facebook.com/GrandLakeTrailgrooming/?fref=nf If you need a dealer, Spirit Lake Polaris will take care of you they are on the east side of 34 as you are traveling from Grandby...Woody is the best. Let me know if you have questions about the area, I should be able to help with whatever it may be, I ride there regularly and the surrounding area including Buff Pass, the ears, and Fraser area..
 
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ezra

Well-known member
Best deal in CO is extreme rentals in Denver.
they rent ram trucks and 800 M cats and trailer for less than rental of a trail sled in the resort towns. and they will pick u up at the air port.
play your cards right frontier out of MSP can be had for under a hundo round trip
 
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