Monthly Archives: November 2011

SND provides small grant to help cover costs of new warming house

All November 24, 2011 1 Comment

Work progresses on the new warming house for the Rural Cass Snowmobile Club.  Electricity has been trenched to the building and the soffits and fascia are in place. Some of the latest pictures are included below.

At the annual Snowmobile North Dakota convention in October, the club was awarded a $356 grant to help pay for some of the costs of the warming house. If you are interested in making a donation, you can mail it to RCSC, PO Box 58, Casselton, ND 58012.

How to prepare for Snowmobiling

All November 23, 2011 Leave a comment

We’re not quite ready for sledding yet, what with no snow, but this training plan will get you in shape for snowmobiling this winter:

  1. Go to your local snowmobile dealer, smile and give the first guy you see $200. This will get you used to spending money there on a regular basis.
  2. Fill a 45-gallon barrel with sand. Lower it into a hole. Now lift it out. If you can, add water to the sand and try it again. Do this 5 times per day. This will get your back in shape for lifting your sled out of the deep snow.
  3. Tie a rope to a heavy-duty spring. Pull the rope repeatedly with each arm until the pain in your shoulders meets somewhere in middle your back. This will get you in shape for starting your buddy’s sled, which he conveniently forgot was out of gas. It’s best to do this exercise while someone is spraying starting fluid into your nose and eyes also.
  4. Place your hands in a bucket of ice water for 20 minutes. Put the carburetor from your lawn mower in the bottom of your deep freeze. Now climb in the deep freeze,  shut the lid and overhaul it while holding a pen light in your mouth. This gets you prepared to work on your sled in the freezing cold and black of night. Advanced riders do this with a Leatherman tool.
  5. Put on a Balaclava and a full-face helmet. Attempt to drink hot chocolate through the opening. Advanced riders attempt this while riding a lawn tractor over in the nearest farmer’s plowed field.
  6. Find a place where you can pay $6.50 a gallon for regular gas; $19.99 per gallon of oil; $16 for a Hamburger and frozen French Fries; $3 for a coke and $160 to sleep in a cold cabin on a bed with springs sticking through the mattress. Stay for two nights, minimum. This will prepare you on the high cost of your future winter trips.
  7. Practice explaining to your banker why you need another loan for a $70,000 truck to pull the four $20,000 sleds, on your $15,000 trailer that you still owe $50,000 on.

Now, you are 50% ready, and somewhat conditioned to head for the trails and ride your sled.

The history of the snowmobile….

All, Sleds November 22, 2011 Leave a comment

The first attempts at building a vehicle that would move over snow on runners happened  over 70 years ago. Many dreamed of building a power-driven sled, especially where heavy snowfalls often meant the difference between life and death when attempting to transport an ill person to emergency care.

In 1935, a snowmobile was built with skis in front and a sprocket wheel and tracked system in back. It carried 12 people, and family doctors, veterinarians, ambulance and taxi drivers were first in line to purchase one. A modified version found a market in the logging industry.

It was the late 1950s, with the development of smaller gasoline engines, before the one- or
two-passenger lightweight chassis snowmobile was marketed – and with it, a new recreational activity was born.

Ten years later, there were dozens of manufacturers producing snowmobiles that sold for a few hundred dollars a piece.

Today, with more than 4 million riders, snowmobiling is a major winter recreational activity and a significant factor in increased winter tourism in much of Canada and the snowbelt of the United States.
(Info courtesy of http://www.snowmobile.org)

 

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