Black Hills Condition 1

[thierracing]

sorry it took so long, youtube was slow. The trails were good IMO today. Most of the off trail in this vid is just south of the 4A/4 trail junction on trail 4. You can find good snow for off trail play if you want to, just have to search a little. Last minute and a half of the video is just me riding the trails for all you trail buffs out there.
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Thanks a ton wag!! Looks pretty fun out there. Hopefully the warmer temps dont ruin too much and it stays cooler up there the next few days. Planning on bringing our crew up on the second. Off trail looks pretty good for this time of year! Thanks for the vid. I love the the air shots

 

[starrsleds]

wag, u have some serious vid making talents. most of us dont have the skills!!! thanks for the videos. sure hope ur going to school for graphic design to put that talent to good use.

 

[wag13]

wag, u have some serious vid making talents. most of us dont have the skills!!! thanks for the videos. sure hope ur going to school for graphic design to put that talent to good use.

haha, it's not the making of the video that is hard, it's mustering up the motivation to get the good shots. Without good video to start with, you have nothing. Some days you just wanna ride and not dick with cameras(like today), but you guys drive so far sometimes just based off of what they tell you for conditions when you call trailshead (which is always honest information) it's just nice to have a first hand view. A picture is worth a thousand words, so how many is a video worth???

Hope the holidays went well for everyone, safe travels and we'll see you on the hill!

 

[sledking120]

Thanks wag what kid of camera and heli do you use

 

[urbancamoM7]

wag, did you get a new sled?

 

[wag13]

Thanks wag what kid of camera and heli do you use

just a gopro, and a DJI Phantom.

wag, did you get a new sled?

yep, ripping around on a '14 summit SP now. Bright orange coat though. I'll probably wrap it next year haha.

 

[urbancamoM7]

yep, ripping around on a '14 summit SP now. Bright orange coat though. I'll probably wrap it next year haha.

nice! the only way i knew it was you before was because your sled wrap was so unique!

 

[SDPowderRider]

Thanks for the video Wags, awesome shots.

We rode from the 20-24th. Pleasantly found similiar conditions as Wags video dipicts. Rode 3x out of Rec Springs westerly directions and south. Powerlines were not too tracked up yet. Found many many untouched meadows. Trails were good, and light traffic.

Trailered up to Trailshead 1 day and rode Riflepit west and north up to Cement Ridge, down backside and rode meadows west and south before calling it a day. All in all was a great trip with some great riding. Don't think I can recall that good of riding, that early in season. Low traffic helped I'm sure. Leaving in morning for more fun..............

 

[polaris dude]

Rode today and the heat did a number on some of the trails. Not sure if it was the hard October snow or low snow but I heard my carbides hitting quite a bit throughout today. Also tweeked an A arm on the lower side in a meadow with my girlfriend. Not sure it would have broke with just one person but the added weight prolly didn't help. Overall it wasn't a bad day just lower snow than it actually appears so be wary.

 

[fatguyonthedock]

Vid looks awesome, can't wait till late jan, Thanks for all the info. Rode the snoweys last 2 days and all I have to say is I really love the hills, just as good, don't have to shovel for 2.5 hrs, at 10000 ft. and trails that are clearly marked, and regulary goomed. SDGFP and the forrest service do an awesome job, and My license is half, I think I will say in the hills,

 

[sdsnocop]

Hey Polaris Dude, was that you I passed coming out of Spearfish Canyon yesterday when I was looking for the sled that caught on fire? It was a Polaris riding 2 up with the girlfriend driving. I think we survived the warm day today OK except for probably trail 7. It seemed like it did not get warm until close to noon and by 3:30 it was already cooling off. Had 2 sleds so far catch on fire and burn to the ground (nothing left). Lots of rental sleds out there.

 

[wag13]

I think we survived the warm day today OK except for probably trail 7. It seemed like it did not get warm until close to noon and by 3:30 it was already cooling off. Had 2 sleds so far catch on fire and burn to the ground (nothing left). Lots of rental sleds out there.

yeah I rode from trailshead all the way to the top lodge of Terry Peak, and it was considerably warmer at Terry then it was when I got back to trailshead at 2:30. I also cut across the power lines on trail 5 the whole way, and I could not believe the number of renters I saw who were just aimlessly driving the power lines. Most waved me down and asked me where the trail was, and all I could think to myself was if you can't understand this trail system you'd sure be SOL anywhere else. By the way, I would suggest not taking the terry peak trail (5T, 5F??) it's kinda patchy.

 

[thierracing]

is it worth the 7 hr drive?

Ok guys so my buddies and I have a trip planned for the second but after hearing some guys are canceling idk what to do. I would really love to come out but one guy I talked to said he called a place in deadwood and they said its not worth the trip. I know you guys got the warmer temps but how big of a tole did it take on the snow? Seen there was a chance of snow today Tuesdays and Wednesday any idea on how much its spose to produce? Would sure love to come out and do some off trail riding but what do you guys think? Worth the 7 hour trip?

 

[wag13]

Would sure love to come out and do some off trail riding but what do you guys think? Worth the 7 hour trip?

not for off trail…might as well just keep driving west if you're already gonna drive 7 hours to the hills.

 

[sdsnocop]

Saw the first stuck sled of the year. Of course it was a rental in a location they should not have been. This has been the busiest Christmas - New Years holiday I have seen in many years. I have written more accident reports the last 2 days than I did all of last winter. Everyone I have talked to have been very happy with the conditions they are finding. Of course more would be better. Turned 5000 miles today on my 2013 Skidoo patrol sled.

 

[thierracing]

How much snow have you guys gotten today? Seen it was spose to be snowing up there

 

[03Firecatguy]

Didn't snow today but we found amazing off trail snow. Lots of untouched snow yet.

 

[polaris dude]

Hey Polaris Dude, was that you I passed coming out of Spearfish Canyon yesterday when I was looking for the sled that caught on fire? It was a Polaris riding 2 up with the girlfriend driving. I think we survived the warm day today OK except for probably trail 7. It seemed like it did not get warm until close to noon and by 3:30 it was already cooling off. Had 2 sleds so far catch on fire and burn to the ground (nothing left). Lots of rental sleds out there.

Yeah you met me today too my dad was the one that bent a tunnel on the rental which was pretty rough... But yeah it was probably us. A group of 8 or so mostly Polaris with the rental two up

 

[moonshiner]

Yeah you met me today too my dad was the one that bent a tunnel on the rental which was pretty rough... But yeah it was probably us. A group of 8 or so mostly Polaris with the rental two up

Ouch, bet that was not cheap, rear ended or what happened?

 

[thierracing]

Didn't snow today but we found amazing off trail snow. Lots of untouched snow yet.

Seen there's snow in the forecast. Where did you guys find the good snow? Is there a lot of landmines out there? Im just looking for opinions on if we should make the trip. its gonna cost us 350 a person round trip for all expenses. The guys im going with still wanna go but what do you think firecat, you had a long trip to, worth it?