Upgrades for Towing skier(s) / 2up riding / Camping or hut gear?

[HowlingFauna]

I ski tour and ski mountaineer a lot. New to sleds, just got a summit 850 SP 165”. Ski access is a primary goal, including both solo and tandem/group missions, day trips and overnights. What upgrades should I make for sled-skiing besides a basic ski-rack / tunnel bag. I’m in southwestern Colorado (Grand Junction). San Juans, Elks, Cimarrons, Gores, LaSals, etc. I’ll keep all my avy and personal day gear on my back And have light-ish touring gear, but hoping to Do long days and maybe winter camp off the sled some too.

Am planning on Mo-Pros “long” rack system and their heated tunnel bag unless someone here talks me out of it.

Do I need to upgrade my rear bumper for 2-up riding with two pairs of skis and a little extra gear? Mo-pros says the rack will stiffen the tunnel quite a bit. If so, bumper recommendations?

Do I need any speciality products or upgrades to tow a skier or two behind the sled on road approaches without being too hard on sled? E.g. hitch addition or just tie to bumper?

What other upgrades or considerations are there for getting rolling with a versatile sled skiing setup!?

I obviously have a lot to learn and thanks in advance for any advice or insights!

 

[tomx]

Skidoo tunnels tend to be pretty strong but you can never go wrong with a stiffener. Personally one of the reasons I switched to Skidoo from Polaris was how much stronger the tunnel is. I managed to crack my RMK Pro tunnel from weight of boards bouncing in the rack. Rolling a 2020 Summit X and I'm not worried, that tunnel is solid.

Mo-Pros is good system. I think they are starting to take the lead on CFR. CFR is pretty focused on bars and other stuff, hasn't updated their rack in years. I'm kinda bummed on my CFR LINQ rack honestly, the bar configuration makes a lot of the rack unusable with larger bags, that and I'd like to push it back further on the tunnel, for that I have to drill new LINQ locations than factory. I catch my foot hopping over on turns on my board sometimes. My last rack on my RMK I pushed it all the way back and tucked the nose of my board down by the tunnel so I didn't catch my foot hoping over.

As far as towing, that's a no go up here in the PNW, mostly due to good lines around here are usually single track billy goating to get in and wet heavy snow isn't conducive to towing. That works ok if you have road shots that are groomed pretty well, but it's pretty rough on the rider. Personally I tried it once and never wanted to do it again. Your better off riding two up. With a proficient buddy you can do really big climbs two up no problem.

Besides that, you're gonna need to get some sled skills. My first year I thought I'd just be banging out lines non stop but the learning curve on the sled kept me from the bigger lines for years. That and you need a good crew. I'd recommend a group of four sleds, that way you have to riders, two drivers, and the drivers can spot from an island of safety just in case anything goes wrong. We sometimes roll two sleds, but you're doing twice the shuttle that way for each line. Either that or hook up with some sledders that have no interest in skiing and get lift.

Have fun, be safe!

 

[HowlingFauna]

@tomx thanks so much for the thoughtful reply! Lots of great info! Hope your winter is off to a good start!