tips for a new rider

bstephanie said:

Hello All,

I'm curious if anyone has some good resources or tips that are targeted for beginner riders who are smaller in stature.

This is my first year snowmobiling (riding a Polaris Pro RMK 800). I'm a 5'3'' and 130 pound female, which makes weight distribution a key factor. The idea of muscling the sled around seems counter-intuitive and rather impossible for me. What sort of tips do you have to help me maneuver in powder?

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where do you live? my wife is 5' 3" and 115 I taught her how to ride. im short myself at 5' 6" and am more then willing to help you learn how to use the sleds power to your advantage

Amber Holt (back country basics) had a great
short video for entry level mountain snowmobilers. It covered safety, loading your machine, stance, weight distribution, getting your sled on edge, sidehilling, climbing, descending and more. It is necessary to practice these skills if you want to really enjoy this sport. I would highly recommend that you find Ambers video.
Also, a ladies riding clinic or two would be a huge help getting through the learning curve and providing some valuable technique.
My wife is 125lbs, she has done a couple of clinics, watched video's and practiced the necessary skills to improve her skills which has made the sport way more fun for her and safer.

My wife, 52 years old and four years in the sport. She is really having fun now that she has mastered some important skills. As Christopher stated the schooled videos are helpful, the first 2 will be the most helpful for a beginner. Enjoy the journey, as your skill progress so does the fun factor, the fear factor also diminishes too.

bstephanie said:

Thanks for your response DDecker! I live in SW Colorado and will most likely be riding around Mancos and Durango. Where are you located?

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I live in northwest Colorado, But more then willing to ride and meet ya, and help with what I can then from there I also know a few girl riders I can set you up with to help.

Countersteering is your best friend

Sidehilling too.

Let sled do the work and u provide the balance.

Practice everychance u get.

Counter steering and the throttle is your friend two things that make
Riding a lot more fun once you master it.

Just be aware, the single greatest invention of mankind is the muffpot, snomobiling or otherwise, but mostly in snowmobiling. (stay with me).

You can spend all day practicing skills, watching videos etc but real life happens out in the wild. That's where things will break (including your will to live), sleds will end up where they're not supposed to be, you'll end up where you're not supposed to be......but you know what? At least you've got a warm burrito, and it's cold outside.

That burrito is going to be even warmer if everything goes right too. And it's going to taste really good on top of that ridge you spent all day working your way up to just to get a sweet view of where you came from, and where you'll go someday™

But here's where the wisdom of the muffpot really shines through. The muffpot judges you. It's true. The more time you spend digging sleds out, stopping to figure out if you're where you meant to go, with sleds idling or off, the more lukewarm that burrito is going to be. Only burned a gallon of gas because you kept getting stuck? Muffpot gives you an 80 degree burrito. Still better than refrigerator temp but it could be better. Spend all day moving through the woods, punching climbs and staying on the gas because you sought out the deepest spots? Muffpot thinks you deserve a steaming hot, melt in your mouth 365 degree burrito. Because muffpot knows.

The corollary of this is that the better that burrito is, the better you're becoming as a rider. Facebook and instagram can be good gauges of progress, but really how do those folks know what really happened out there? You see......muffpot really knows. The better the day, the better the lunch. No two ways about it. And the better you get at riding, the better that burrito is going to be. Muffpot is the true gauge of awesome.















In all seriousness get some avalanche education and learn the danger zones around where you'll be riding. That should be priority number one in a continental snowpack. The rest will come if you're having fun.

Nothing better than a hard earned hot burrito in the backcountry.

For me as a new rider in the mountains, I think the hardest thing was not becoming frustrated with myself. That's when things can spiral out of control and you don't have fun anymore. Confidence is key, and like many other have said the real learning and confidence building happens out there on the sled. Know the basics, also as other have said; counter steering, throttle control, body placement/wrong foot forward. Then the progression from there come from you doing it and feeling what works. Soon things once daunting become effortless and, most importantly, just a damn blast. Riding with a group that is more skilled than you (with both riding and avalanche knowledge) and also willing to dig you out every 20 minutes is a huge bonus too, I was fortunate enough to find that. You can learn from observation, and you are forced to push yourself to go where they do. Pushing yourself is essential for progression. So long story short be patient, be confident, and most importantly have fun!

The others are telling you the right stuff. My wife and daughter rip. You can too! Just be stubborn about keeping it fun.

sledhead685 said:

Nothing better than a hard earned hot burrito in the backcountry.

For me as a new rider in the mountains, I think the hardest thing was not becoming frustrated with myself. That's when things can spiral out of control and you don't have fun anymore. Confidence is key, and like many other have said the real learning and confidence building happens out there on the sled. Know the basics, also as other have said; counter steering, throttle control, body placement/wrong foot forward. Then the progression from there come from you doing it and feeling what works. Soon things once daunting become effortless and, most importantly, just a damn blast. Riding with a group that is more skilled than you (with both riding and avalanche knowledge) and also willing to dig you out every 20 minutes is a huge bonus too, I was fortunate enough to find that. You can learn from observation, and you are forced to push yourself to go where they do. Pushing yourself is essential for progression. So long story short be patient, be confident, and most importantly have fun!

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Man, no one could have said it better than you did.
I will say just for myself, that last year, confidence played a huge role in my riding ability.

Just go out and have fun is my # 1 tip. Too many people these days trying to be pros in a sport with basically zero professional benefit. Have fun, enjoy the views, skip the go pro and buy more gas!

Counter steer in powder and look where you want to go. And set your suspension up softer than OEM specs cause you're light.

my number one tip for any new rider is to ride as much as you can and all the other stuff will take care of its self:face-icon-small-hap