Passenger Set Ups

[Vegas_Sirk]

Hey guys,

New here (first post),

I just moved to ID (Boise area) and am looking at getting a sled to use for backcountry access for snowboarding and skiing.

I have been checking out the Polaris RMK-Pro and the Arctic Cat M series and also the Ski Doo Summit series.

Besides the Ski Doo Summit Burton I don't see any designed to support carrying a passenger. With that said how are you carrying passengers when backcountry riding?

I have friends that would come up from out of state to go riding with me, so it would be nice to be able to take them out and since they dont live here I doubt they would be willing to buy their own sled.

 

[kidwoo]

The driver stands up with a passenger seated in front of them with hands on the underside of the handlebar or the risers. Then every time you hit a bump, the driver lurches forward and smashes the passenger's face into the bars.

-OR-


You do it the right way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc0dRVBEIXM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-Y-XDE6UEI

 

[Vegas_Sirk]

Thanks for the links. So I'm assuming that most people ride their own sleds out into the backcountry and then will double up like that for shuttling ski/snowboarding runs?

Is anyone using one sled to take their self and a friend out into the backcountry? Meaning 1 sled 2 people from the parking lot to the skiing location?

Reason I ask is that I have a lot of friends that would want to come up and go BC boarding but since they live in warm weather places they will not dish out the $$$ for a sled so I was hoping to be able to take them out. Maybe I should just force them to rent something local.

 

[kidwoo]

Yes, everyone with their own sled is by far the best setup. You can ride two up on mountain sleds (which all the sleds you mentioned are) but there's no point in prolonging the agony. That's just not what they're made for. Not to mention, at least two sleds is just safer when you're miles from a parking lot. A common mistake a lot of skiers/boarders make is that they think they can treat their nimble mountain sleds like a sedan. They're not passenger vehicles with limitless storage and seating. Far from it. Picture going mountain biking with someone sitting on your handlebars. It works for going to the 7-11 but it's not something you want to do for miles in the woods.

That said, it kind of just depends on what you want to do. If you just want to shuttle roads somewhere like vail pass, then yeah just get a two up trail sled or a utility sled.

I've taken two people out on my sled but it's never very far from the truck and I make sure it's either flat, or downhill back to it. Usually if it's just a ridge straight out of where we're staging, that's not a big deal.

These always looked kinda neat.

 

[Vegas_Sirk]

Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. Based on what you said and my reading I think (2) sleds are going to have to be the way to go. Maybe get a dual board rack on mine that way a friend could rent and I could carry his gear as well.

I'm in Boise ID so I would be trying to ride in the McCall and Sawtooth areas and from what I have seen it seems like the Mountain sleds seem to be the most popular for that terrain. Now I just need to meet some people locally to go ride with.

 

[kidwoo]

Yeah, you're pretty set in your area for being able to do rentals if you've got friends in town. There's some fun stuff out of McCall.

But yes, a rack that holds two boards/pairs of skis would accomplish what you're after. You go up on your sled, ride, and then retrieve with the rental. I'm sure you've already looked but tiny mo-pros and cheetah make about the best off the shelf setups IMO. They're expensive though. Here's a cheaper option that gets overlooked a lot: http://ez-rak.com/wp/

I just make my own because there some things I want to be able to do that the premade ones don't. Plus money.

The biggest hurdle is going to be learning to ride the things, both for you and your visiting friends especially. You won't have a hard time finding people to ride sleds with in your area though. Just get some sled skills down before you try to start punching in tandem routes. It'll save you a lot of headaches.

 

[rhalloran]

When I started the sled-ski madness, I bought one sled, rode it up a FS road in October, figured out that two were a REALLY good idea.

Like mentioned above, two is pretty much mandatory, unless maybe you're just using a sled to get to the bottom of stuff, then skin up. Two on one sled = one skiing alone = potentially bad, especially if the skier is out of sight of the partner.

I have two sleds, we do 4-on-2 pretty regularly. I have a summit xm and a Skandic SWT.

(I think modern Skidoo utilities are THE ANSWER for sled skiing, at least in colorado, but that's another topic)

The Skandic is great for two people on access/transit stuff. We still stand/Canadian on actual ascents, unless we're at one of the few places that have groomers from bottom to top.

The XM - Skidoo makes a two-up seat that is just longer and wider than the stock seat. It is not _great_, but it works fine, especially if the person in front takes their pack off.

Again, that's just for transit - actually skiing, we're standing.

Or, two sitting on the Skandic, two standing. Rad. Utilities are the way.

 

[kidwoo]

I've totally been part of a 6 person pile up on an old widetrack utility sled.

Not because we should. Just because we could.



Not my pic, but the general idea: again, roads only

 

[rhalloran]

Yeah, we only put 4 on the Skandic on straightforward "ups," and not for long distances - it kinda sucks.

But for the typical commute distance, it is not bad at all, then 3 or all 4 ski, if 4, two go back and get it, repeat.

With just two, the Skandic will go up anything the Summit will in terms of commuting - if there's a path in place, it'll get there. The Skandic won't poke a hole up the same stuff the Summit will, but it blows the Summit out of the water in terms of deep snow pickup-road building. That said, though, I've only NEEDED the summit once to break trail; big snow at Steamboat, wind drifted mess at the top of a fairly steep road, hard to move back and forth fast enough on the Skandic. So, poked the first hole with the summit up and back, problem solved.

I like it. I'm selling the Summit as soon as I finish resurrecting the crashed XU WT I have in my garage.

 

[tomx]

We've done some double up to bring buddies out to the zone. Personally I'm not a big fan, to much weight on one sled for to long. Back when I had a Yamaha Nytro, no problem, we'd roll up three strong, one in the middle bar facing it, two more, one either side standing. That sled was a beast and didn't' grunt under the weight. But my Rmk Pro I'm a little more fond of, and a little more protective of. I'll only bring this little 5"2' dude else you need your own sled to get into the zone. Four sleds is the perfect number if you ask me, two riders, two shuttling and spotting, lots of powder goodness.

Either way, whatever sled you get, you'll want to reinforce the tunnel to deal with weight of your shred gear and extra buddy. That Burton Skidoo is pretty nice since it comes setup, but you can easily put a few aftermarket parts to reinforce your tunnel, nice rack, then your totally set while saving dough and not having those lame Burton graphics on your sled.

 

[rhalloran]

http://store.ski-doo.com/product/1032432/860201314/_/2-up_Seat

That's what I've got. Stupid expensive, but if you need to move two long distances, it is pretty good.

They make one with a backrest, even MORE expensive, and imho, would get in the way a lot. This one does not REALLY get in the way, if you got used to putting your boot behind the short seat as opposed to over it, you'll kick this one a few times at first. Other than that, no problem. I can't remember if it has a little storage compartment like the stock seat. Hmm. Dunno. Whatever. It works.

 

[KGN]

When I started the sled-ski madness, I bought one sled, rode it up a FS road in October, figured out that two were a REALLY good idea.

Like mentioned above, two is pretty much mandatory, unless maybe you're just using a sled to get to the bottom of stuff, then skin up. Two on one sled = one skiing alone = potentially bad, especially if the skier is out of sight of the partner.

I have two sleds, we do 4-on-2 pretty regularly. I have a summit xm and a Skandic SWT.

(I think modern Skidoo utilities are THE ANSWER for sled skiing, at least in colorado, but that's another topic)

The Skandic is great for two people on access/transit stuff. We still stand/Canadian on actual ascents, unless we're at one of the few places that have groomers from bottom to top.

The XM - Skidoo makes a two-up seat that is just longer and wider than the stock seat. It is not _great_, but it works fine, especially if the person in front takes their pack off.

Again, that's just for transit - actually skiing, we're standing.

Or, two sitting on the Skandic, two standing. Rad. Utilities are the way.

Just curious, I started another post about a sled for sled skiing. Just curious what your thoughts are on capabilities of a utility sled vs the summit you had/have?Been looking at a 2013 Skidoo expedition sport 600 for mainly touring access(not hill climbs ect)on forest service roads. Will these sleds handle some trail breaking or do you think its better to just get a mountain sled?
My other post is here
http://www.snowest.com/forum/showthread.php?p=4016397#post4016397

 

[tomx]

I wouldn't even consider a utility sled for the PacNW. Not sure where you are riding, but the lines off forest roads around here are pretty tame and short. If you want to get to any tangible real lines, mountain sled is mandatory. We are always breaking trail and doing big climbs to get to the big lines.