Quote:
Originally Posted by DownhillGoat
Throwing around the idea of buying a sled to access more ski touring areas. Mostly looking for some guide books. I have tons of ski guidebooks, and can find sled guidebooks, but nothing really for both.
Picked up the Radium Ski and Snowboarding Guide, and the Mountain Sledder guidebook. Wondering what else is out there. Also curious as to what guys are running for setups, as last time I rode a sled was in the 90s on the prairies.
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I don't know if there is much in the way of literature, so it's kind of trial and error. We have been doing it for 10-15 years now, and the equipment has changed a lot from the first time we tried it.
Here is what you need to get going:
- Take an avi course
- get a decent sled. I suggest at min 800CC. I stick with Bombardier, but that's personal preference. Upgraded rear shock is a bonus if you're going to tandem.
- learn to ride your sled first. It's a process. Be prepared to dig. A lot.
- learn to tandem ride. Again, be prepared to get stuck all the time
- now buy a ski rack. The 2 best ones are Cheetah Factory racing and Knightrider. A lot of others are junk, and will break. Even the CFR racks have issues, and they're the gold standard.
- find a good zone to do it in
Finding good areas can be a bit of an issue, especially if you're trying to avoid crowds. Yeah it's the backcountry, but it can be crowded in zones that have groomers because it's so easy to access. We stick to unknown areas and have our own runs but it's a ton of work putting in roads.
If you are looking for good zones to do this I would suggest Golden (Quartz Creek and Gorman are both groomed, and easily accessible). There's not much close to Calgary worth going to other than Castle or Fernie. Fernie has groomed runs but Golden has the elevation and better terrain.
If you have other questions let me know, I can probably point you in the right direction