3-27-10 Snowmobiling Rabbit Ears Pass

Looking for something a little less energetic than skiing and snowshoeing we signed ourselves up for 4 hours of snowmobiling--plus lunch. Let's just say that snowmobiling is not entirely a passive sport. We had 2 snow mobiles and were in a guided group with 3 others, plus the guide-Josh, who was a professional snowboarder who switched to motorcycle racing after he nearly broke his back on the half-pipe tricks he was doing in his Olympic training. Needless to say our tour was hardly suitable for wimps. We were in the National Forest and went on some groomed trails and then he let us loose in a "meadow". What fun, zipping up and down and round in circles, racing with Tristan & Laura and getting covered in powder as we churned up the new snow. Note--fancy new snow pants, while warm, are not waterproof! Our machines did have heated handles which was nice, but not heated seats. Luckily it only snowed hard for about the last half hour.

The most fun was a long run that we did through the woods, single-tracking, where the trees are touching on both sides. It was especially fun when you popped out of the woods and were suddenly going straight down the mountain. Fritz says that I almost dumped us, but he is imagining it as we barely went up on one side.

Coming back to the lodge for lunch I was more than ready for the out house after 3 1/2 hours of bouncing along. It was like one of those extreme sports events (the outhouse experience). Here's an exercise:

Put on at least 6 layers of clothes, including long underwear and 2 pairs of gloves. Stand in a meat locker for about 15 minutes at below freezing temperatures until you're really cold and your fingers don't bend. Put a chair into a dark closet and go in and close the door so that your knees are touching the door. Be sure to have your motorcycle helmet and dark goggles on too. Then undress, including your two jackets, suspenders, long underwear and both pairs of gloves and don't put anything on the floor or drop it on the chair. Added degree of difficulty points if you do it while hopping up and down on one foot. Now you can appreciate my experience.