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**Disclaimer - this is my recap of the weekend. We had several groups with many different stories.
This year’s Ladies Ride in Halfway, OR was an energetically invigorating experience. To me, it showed what the Ladies Ride is all about. It made us dig deep, come up with solutions, fix things, negotiate unfamiliar situations. It was fabulous!
The ride continues to grow over the years, not only in number of attendies (we had 48 total this year on Saturday) but also to the number of days. It originally started out as one, then went to two and this year 90% of the ladies showed up to ride on Thursday as well. Of the 48 women we had 21 new faces showed up.
Our first day of riding this year was pretty uneventful. We had sunshine and somewhat spring snow conditions so many of the ladies set off exploring parts of the backcountry that in the 5 previous years we’ve held it at Halfway haven’t been accessible due to bad visibility, crazy deep snow or both! Upon returning back to town we are told there is no more premium fuel, truck should arrive around 9-9:30 the next morning……..
Friday was eventful. We wake up to the possibility of no fuel for the day and start making plans to head to McCall since they have powder and fuel when we receive word the fuel truck has arrived, whooooooo…
Our group set off with 13 ladies ranging from first year rider to RMSHA badass. Our fabulous guide Linda took us all over the mountain and giving the ladies a variety of hills, trees, creekbeds, ravines, bumps/ jumps. We were having so much fun that we pushed ourselves until almost dark before finally giving in to head home. On the way out we ended up on the wrong side of a creek and at a dead end, at this point we realized that we had to get back across this creek with one route which was a snow bridge that with each sled that went across was slowly eroding. Adding to this was the hill straight back up from it that with an icy path. Making an assessment of the situation, the time of day, the snow bridge, the tired girls, the experience level we decided to widen the path a bit and have the more experienced riders take the sleds across and up the hill. We just couldn’t chance the snow bridge collapsing or due to the time of day any stucks or predicaments. With a lot of team work we got the path wide and started bringing the sleds up. It is now dark and we have to work our way back to the trail, the long way, through all the fun areas we had played in all day. However, in the dark it is a different story. Lucky for us it was a clear night, not a cloud in the sky. The stars and moon were a beautiful sight and the headlights in the aspens were one of the most amazing scenes I’ve ever witnessed! Two of the ladies started texting to town letting others know we were fine but delayed. Smart move.
Linda knows Halfway like no other and so at no point was there concern of spending the night, just missing dinner! Even with her knowledge though, coming out at dark provides its challenges. We had several stucks, someone took out a tree, a roll over. We make it to a warming hut that is still not on the trail, it is back in on a lake, but it is still a good feeling to hit this point. The ladies stop to get water and food and with all of the sleds turned off it is now pitch dark and the stars are shining bright. With new energy we head back up into the trees to the ridge lines, knowing if all goes smoothly we are only a few miles from the trail. A few more stucks, dilemmas and we get into the open where the wind is now howling and Karen’s sled dies. Couldn’t have died down in the trees with a wind blocker! LOL We try to start it, it sounds awful, one cylinder. Rotate the clutch, no sounds and rotates just fine, hmm… pull the plugs, bone dry. Odd. We change them out just in case, but no change, it won’t stay running. It is now about 7:45 so we give Karen the option, try to tow it or leave it and ride out double with me. She wisely chooses the 2nd option, hops in front of me and away we go for some roller coaster fun. I tried to play and carve as much as possible which resulted in giggles. We finally make it to the trail and you can feel the relief in the group. Some have never come out at night before. 2 of the ladies are about out of fuel and it just so happens that they run race fuel, no one else in the group does. UHG. A few minutes into the trail and we are stopping again… a XP side panel dislodged itself and this about brought hysterical giggles from the group. Seriously, what next? We meet the groomer and this is a welcome sight, a nice smooth trail down! At 8:30pm we arrive safely at the parking lot just as the one sole lady left waiting for us was calling 911. Wheww… Friday night is one of our group dinners and as we are loading and starving we realize that the restaurant closes at 8, but luckily the amazing ladies back in town packed up the left over pizza and brought it to the lodge for us. What a welcome sight when we return to town, the ladies come out of the lodge to help us pack our gear in knowing we would be beat. LOVE THIS GROUP! So, cold beers, cold pizza and lots of funny stories of our conquering’s of the day.
Saturday starts off with the knowledge that we have a sled to get towed out and it had snowed over night. Add to that some guys who had been camping in the parking lot deciding to leave, down a one lane road at the same time we have 48 women driving up to the parking lot. Oh and the roads are icy. This leads to someone going off the road, several having to chain up and a severed brake line due to chains. Shannon arrives in the parking lot with a pair of vice grips clamping the hose closed! Once we get everyone to the parking lot we get a group picture and send the majority of the ladies off for their day of shredding. Our focus turns to the brake line. One lady gets on the phone and starts calling everything possible within a 3 hour radius to find a Ford brake line. Over an hour later, nothing. While she is doing this I spot a work truck that looks like it might have useable items. Ask the guys if by chance they’d have some sort of hose that we could rig up to get her back to town, no but they have brake fluid and hose clamps. The nice gentleman asked if we needed help and I explained to him that this was the Ladies Ride and part of the purpose of this ride was to fix things ourselves, get ourselves out of situations, learn, grow, empower, etc etc. His eyes get big and he says “Amazing!” and asks again if we need help, I say no, thanks much and turn back to the truck. As I’m under the wheel well looking at what we have he slides in under the truck. I smile, Ok, I’ll take help. Shannon has every tool known to man in her trailer making this a much better situation. So about an hour later we have the hose folded over, crimped by hose clamps and a screw in the end to hopefully keep it from leaking all the fluid out leaving her with no brakes at all. She starts the truck and presses on the brake pedal, IT HOLDS! YAYYYYYYYYYYY
Now, onto the next project…. Towing the sled off the hill! The girls get unloaded and geared to beeline for the dead sled as it is now 1pm. It has snowed some overnight but the wind had really moved some snow around. We arrive to the sled quickly, hook it up to Amanda’s “tow sled” and first attempt is denied. We rearrange, get more girls to push/pull and off Amanda goes! She had several hills to climb, several long sidehills to hold and did so without any further issue. On the downhills we had our lightest rider ride and work the brakes then I’d double her back to her sled. We arrive at the trail at 3:30 and take lunch. With new energy some of us broke off from the group and boondocked our way back to the truck while the other group focused on getting the sled back.
That night’s festivities included good food, good drinks, good friends, music and dancing… and a raffle that raised $1562 for SAWS. Thanks to the following for their donations:
Tedd Unlimited, WhiteOut Magazine, BCA, Elk Lake Resort, HMK, ArcticFx Graphics, Ortovox, Snacker Packers, HID Source, Rexburg Motorsports, Coyote Eyewear, Timbersled, 2Cool AirVents, FeetHookers, Motorfist, Sledspace.com, Sled Divas, Team, WPS, CCP, Klim, Thin Air Powersports, Flying Saddle Resort and BCR!!
My Facebook photo album for the Ladies Ride.
Ladies Ride Facebook page
Friday's group -
Official Ladies Ride group photo - missing 4 riders
This year’s Ladies Ride in Halfway, OR was an energetically invigorating experience. To me, it showed what the Ladies Ride is all about. It made us dig deep, come up with solutions, fix things, negotiate unfamiliar situations. It was fabulous!
The ride continues to grow over the years, not only in number of attendies (we had 48 total this year on Saturday) but also to the number of days. It originally started out as one, then went to two and this year 90% of the ladies showed up to ride on Thursday as well. Of the 48 women we had 21 new faces showed up.
Our first day of riding this year was pretty uneventful. We had sunshine and somewhat spring snow conditions so many of the ladies set off exploring parts of the backcountry that in the 5 previous years we’ve held it at Halfway haven’t been accessible due to bad visibility, crazy deep snow or both! Upon returning back to town we are told there is no more premium fuel, truck should arrive around 9-9:30 the next morning……..
Friday was eventful. We wake up to the possibility of no fuel for the day and start making plans to head to McCall since they have powder and fuel when we receive word the fuel truck has arrived, whooooooo…
Our group set off with 13 ladies ranging from first year rider to RMSHA badass. Our fabulous guide Linda took us all over the mountain and giving the ladies a variety of hills, trees, creekbeds, ravines, bumps/ jumps. We were having so much fun that we pushed ourselves until almost dark before finally giving in to head home. On the way out we ended up on the wrong side of a creek and at a dead end, at this point we realized that we had to get back across this creek with one route which was a snow bridge that with each sled that went across was slowly eroding. Adding to this was the hill straight back up from it that with an icy path. Making an assessment of the situation, the time of day, the snow bridge, the tired girls, the experience level we decided to widen the path a bit and have the more experienced riders take the sleds across and up the hill. We just couldn’t chance the snow bridge collapsing or due to the time of day any stucks or predicaments. With a lot of team work we got the path wide and started bringing the sleds up. It is now dark and we have to work our way back to the trail, the long way, through all the fun areas we had played in all day. However, in the dark it is a different story. Lucky for us it was a clear night, not a cloud in the sky. The stars and moon were a beautiful sight and the headlights in the aspens were one of the most amazing scenes I’ve ever witnessed! Two of the ladies started texting to town letting others know we were fine but delayed. Smart move.
Linda knows Halfway like no other and so at no point was there concern of spending the night, just missing dinner! Even with her knowledge though, coming out at dark provides its challenges. We had several stucks, someone took out a tree, a roll over. We make it to a warming hut that is still not on the trail, it is back in on a lake, but it is still a good feeling to hit this point. The ladies stop to get water and food and with all of the sleds turned off it is now pitch dark and the stars are shining bright. With new energy we head back up into the trees to the ridge lines, knowing if all goes smoothly we are only a few miles from the trail. A few more stucks, dilemmas and we get into the open where the wind is now howling and Karen’s sled dies. Couldn’t have died down in the trees with a wind blocker! LOL We try to start it, it sounds awful, one cylinder. Rotate the clutch, no sounds and rotates just fine, hmm… pull the plugs, bone dry. Odd. We change them out just in case, but no change, it won’t stay running. It is now about 7:45 so we give Karen the option, try to tow it or leave it and ride out double with me. She wisely chooses the 2nd option, hops in front of me and away we go for some roller coaster fun. I tried to play and carve as much as possible which resulted in giggles. We finally make it to the trail and you can feel the relief in the group. Some have never come out at night before. 2 of the ladies are about out of fuel and it just so happens that they run race fuel, no one else in the group does. UHG. A few minutes into the trail and we are stopping again… a XP side panel dislodged itself and this about brought hysterical giggles from the group. Seriously, what next? We meet the groomer and this is a welcome sight, a nice smooth trail down! At 8:30pm we arrive safely at the parking lot just as the one sole lady left waiting for us was calling 911. Wheww… Friday night is one of our group dinners and as we are loading and starving we realize that the restaurant closes at 8, but luckily the amazing ladies back in town packed up the left over pizza and brought it to the lodge for us. What a welcome sight when we return to town, the ladies come out of the lodge to help us pack our gear in knowing we would be beat. LOVE THIS GROUP! So, cold beers, cold pizza and lots of funny stories of our conquering’s of the day.
Saturday starts off with the knowledge that we have a sled to get towed out and it had snowed over night. Add to that some guys who had been camping in the parking lot deciding to leave, down a one lane road at the same time we have 48 women driving up to the parking lot. Oh and the roads are icy. This leads to someone going off the road, several having to chain up and a severed brake line due to chains. Shannon arrives in the parking lot with a pair of vice grips clamping the hose closed! Once we get everyone to the parking lot we get a group picture and send the majority of the ladies off for their day of shredding. Our focus turns to the brake line. One lady gets on the phone and starts calling everything possible within a 3 hour radius to find a Ford brake line. Over an hour later, nothing. While she is doing this I spot a work truck that looks like it might have useable items. Ask the guys if by chance they’d have some sort of hose that we could rig up to get her back to town, no but they have brake fluid and hose clamps. The nice gentleman asked if we needed help and I explained to him that this was the Ladies Ride and part of the purpose of this ride was to fix things ourselves, get ourselves out of situations, learn, grow, empower, etc etc. His eyes get big and he says “Amazing!” and asks again if we need help, I say no, thanks much and turn back to the truck. As I’m under the wheel well looking at what we have he slides in under the truck. I smile, Ok, I’ll take help. Shannon has every tool known to man in her trailer making this a much better situation. So about an hour later we have the hose folded over, crimped by hose clamps and a screw in the end to hopefully keep it from leaking all the fluid out leaving her with no brakes at all. She starts the truck and presses on the brake pedal, IT HOLDS! YAYYYYYYYYYYY
Now, onto the next project…. Towing the sled off the hill! The girls get unloaded and geared to beeline for the dead sled as it is now 1pm. It has snowed some overnight but the wind had really moved some snow around. We arrive to the sled quickly, hook it up to Amanda’s “tow sled” and first attempt is denied. We rearrange, get more girls to push/pull and off Amanda goes! She had several hills to climb, several long sidehills to hold and did so without any further issue. On the downhills we had our lightest rider ride and work the brakes then I’d double her back to her sled. We arrive at the trail at 3:30 and take lunch. With new energy some of us broke off from the group and boondocked our way back to the truck while the other group focused on getting the sled back.
That night’s festivities included good food, good drinks, good friends, music and dancing… and a raffle that raised $1562 for SAWS. Thanks to the following for their donations:
Tedd Unlimited, WhiteOut Magazine, BCA, Elk Lake Resort, HMK, ArcticFx Graphics, Ortovox, Snacker Packers, HID Source, Rexburg Motorsports, Coyote Eyewear, Timbersled, 2Cool AirVents, FeetHookers, Motorfist, Sledspace.com, Sled Divas, Team, WPS, CCP, Klim, Thin Air Powersports, Flying Saddle Resort and BCR!!
My Facebook photo album for the Ladies Ride.
Ladies Ride Facebook page
Friday's group -
Official Ladies Ride group photo - missing 4 riders
