18 Burying The Competition

The SnoWest Deep Powder Challenge is now in the books and this year’s winner was, well, over the top. We took the mountain sleds through a rigorous three days of testing and riding and are ready to give you the results. By Steve Janes

46 Light Is Right

            The 2009 crop of snowmobiles are ready to hit the snow and we’re ready for them to do just that. We had a chance to see all the new hardware for 2009 and even ride some of them. Here’s a look at what you have to look forward to next season. By Ryan Harris and Lane Lindstrom

            50 Arctic Cat

            56 Polaris

            66 Ski-Doo

            72 Yamaha

76 A Grand Experience

            It was flakes of gold that first attracted settlers to the Grand Lake area of Colorado. Now it’s flakes of snow that are the big attraction. Big snows that fall on big mountains—that’s Grand Lake. By Lane Lindstrom

Departments

8 Runnin’ On Empty By Lane Lindstrom

10 Letters To The Editor

12 Fronts & Forecasts

16 Gear Box

92 Advertiser Index

94 Snow Dust

On The Cover

Arctic Cat is taking its mountain sleds to the next elevation by stripping weight everywhere possible on its M sleds. Here the M8, which is about 20 lbs. lighter than the 2008 model, slices through the southern Idaho snow.

Photo by Ryan Harris