AmSnow Blogs

First Rides of the Year

2008-12-31T16:03:00Z

Well we've put on several hundred miles on most of our demo sleds already this year and things look to be going well for every sled in our fleet. The Arctic Cat Z1 Turbo has been hailed as 'stupid-fast' by many of our riders and the shock and suspension package on the Yamaha Nytro RTX SE has been a favorite through the rough trails. The Polaris Dragon 800 has also scored high marks early in the season for handling and the Ski-Doo MXZx 1200 4-TEC has been called the best all-day cruiser as well.

We will keep you updated on how our sleds run and any problems we have with them throughout the year, but we are just getting done breaking them in now and the 4-strokes are about ready for their initial service and oil change. After that, the gloves are off!

Snow Shows: A New Product Paradise

2008-11-05T17:27:00Z

We spend a lot of time at trade shows and see a lot of cool new stuff. Here's a quick list of companies and a few top notch or cool new things that we saw from them at the snow shows this year.

Boss Seats - The new Highrise seat from BOSS gives the rider an easier transition from sitting to standing, is cushy, weighs under 6lbs. and can be customized to your specs. This is the best aftermarket seat in the industry. http://www.boss-noss.com/snow/seats/index.htm

Rox Speed FX - New handguard flares and their tried and true adjustable risers are very cool and useful. http://roxspeedfx.com/

Premier Recreational Products - These guys make 3/4 sized sled for the tweener, novice, or small-person market. If you liked the old Sno-scoots, then you'll love these cool 150 and 300cc sleds. http://premierrpc.com/Premier_home_page.php

Boondockers - Pump gas turbo for the Cat M-8, and Polaris 6,7, and 800cc RMKs. This thing is wicked and doesn't need race gas to run! http://www.boondockers.com/turbo/turbo.html

Curve XS Skis - This company is pushing the edge of ski design. (no pun intended) While the product is in its infancy, there's a lot of potential here and when you have guys like Robbie Malinoski testing them for you, things will progress quickly. If you want more consistent and predictable turning, give these a shot. http://curvexs.com/default.asp

We'll have plenty more products updates for you in future blogs, but these are just a few that we've seen and liked.

Shoot-Out recap

2008-10-06T15:25:00Z

Butch Veltum won the Sunday Bracket at AmSnow's Super Sled Shoot-Out

Well, it's been a week since our Super Sled Shoot-Out in Martin, Mich. If you haven't seen our Racing forum for the latest details you should check it out, http://cs.amsnow.com/snocs/forums/t/50952.aspx. We had some crazy-fast times and plenty of hard fought action over the course of the weekend. We appreciate all the people who traveled from all over the country to come and make this a fun event. Also, if you haven't noticed, I put up a few photos from the event in a photo gallery on the Web site as well, http://cs.amsnow.com/snocs/photos/supersledshootout2008/default.aspx

There are a limited number of CDs available with photos from this year's Super Sled Shoot-Out as well. If you would like one please e-mail me at mboncher@amsnow.com. Finally, for a full report on the Super Sled Shoot-Out pick up a copy of or upcoming December issue as it will be hitting stands in a few short weeks.

Demo Sleds Beginning to Arrive

2008-09-23T20:26:00Z

This is probably going to be the shortest blog entry to date, but our demo sleds have started to arrive so I am off to pick up the first one of the year. Our shiny new Crossfire 800 R will then be taken up to Speedwerx in Minnesota and fitted with all kinds of performance parts. This will be a fun one!

AmSnow/Torco Super Sled Shootout Coming Up!

2008-09-16T19:13:00Z

In just 11 days, the staff here at AmSnow will be at our 19th annual Super Sled Shootout! The late September event will be held at Knollgas Motorsports Park just off US 131 in Martin, Michigan on Saturday the 27th and Sunday the 28th. Each year we have a blast watching and riding the fastest asphalt snowmobiles in the world at this great event. With more than a half a dozen classes and one of the biggest bracket races in snowmobiling, this is the place to be if you are a drag racer.

For more information about the event check out the post on our racing forum at http://cs.amsnow.com/snocs/forums/14.aspx

Hay Days 2008

2008-09-11T14:48:00Z

The staff at AmSnow just got back from Hay Days, the official start to the snowmobile season here in the Midwest. Each year this huge grass drag, vendor show and swap meet is held just north of Minneapolis near Lino Lakes, Minn. Many of us snowmobile industry types use Hay Days as a gauge for the upcoming season, and this year was extremely optimistic. Traffic at the show was up and so were vendor sales. There was even a rumor that the gate sold out of wrist bands on Saturday!

This is all good news for snowmobilers because even in a down economy our fellow snowmobilers are still true to their sport. Much of the optimism last weekend was fueled by a great snow year in much of the Midwest and West last year. In addition, Cat and Polaris both had their new race sleds on display and Cat introduced a new Z1 Turbo Sno Pro with a stiffer rear suspension package, FOX Float shocks up front, riser block, handguards and more. Cat also introduced the new M8 HCR for the hillclimb circuit. We'll talk more on these sleds coming up on the Web site.

Also, the show had an important visit from Todd Palin on Saturday. Todd, an Arctic Cat man at heart, is a 4-time winner of the Iron Dog endurance cross country snowmobile race held each year in Alaska. He is also the husband of Sarah Palin, John McCain's running mate in the upcoming presidential election. AmSnow spent some time with Todd on Saturday and we have the photos to prove it! Check out the photo gallery in our multi-media section of this site. Unfortunately a full interview could not be granted as we were quickly addressed by the Secret Service when we tried to ask a few questions on camera. We were told Palin will not be doing interviews yet, but we hope to be granted an interview soon!

Finally, AmSnow had plenty of great deals, cool sweepstakes and more at Hay Days. Our instant winners include the following lucky entrants:

Prize #1: The following people won AMSOIL World Championship Snowmobile Derby tickets:

1. Kyle Lindstrom of Duluth, Minn.

2. Chad Ozechowski of Green Bay, Wis.

3. Neil Schaible of Grantsburg, Wis.

4. Roger Thompson of Ridgeland, Wis.

5. Eric Poncek of Westboro, Wis.

Prize #2: The following people won AmSnow subscriptions:

1. Chris Neidig of St. Marys, Ont.

2. Dave Klew of Lino Lakes, Minn.

3. Brian Riehle of Trempealeau, Wis.

The next big event that the AmSnow staff will be attending is the Super Sled Shoot-Out in Martin, Mich., the weekend of Sept. 27th-28th. So mark your calendars!

AmSnow blog begins

2008-09-10T15:30:00Z

Fellow AmSnow sledders!

You've found the place where you'll get up close and personal with the editorial staff at American Snowmobiler. Here's where we'll let you know the daily/weekly/monthly covert operations that are going on at AmSnow. Well, maybe not "covert operations," but at least where we'll be hanging out and what we're up to. We will be blogging as much as we can throughout the fall and upcoming winter regarding shows, rides, products, adventures, people we meet along the way and more!

Right now, myself and the rest of the staff are already working hard at putting together the December issue of the magazine which will hit stands at the end of October/start of November. We've got a ton of great photos in the mag from photographers Kort Duce, www.kortduce.com, Jake Allred and others on top of our already stellar info. (Yes, we will be shamelessly plugging our magazine every chance we get here as well.) Sooo, peruse our brand new Web site, www.AmSnow.com, thoroughly and subscribe to the mag!

We've got even more archives of great info, videos, Buyers Guide data, sled tests and more on the new Web site, and the mag will give you all the exclusive info you want throughout the season. Check it out, you won't be disappointed. And keep coming back to the blog to see what AmSnow will be doing next!

Mark Boncher

Senior Editor - American Snowmobiler