| HOME | LINKS | SHOWS | CLASSIFIEDS | STORE | MEMBERSHIP | CONTACT US |
| CALENDAR | RESTORATIONS | "IT'S "OUTBACK" | VINTAGE RIDES | RACE DAYS | ARCHIVES |
PNWVSC VINTAGE RIDES
Lets Ride!
Vintage Rides Coordinator Kevin Hancock
2007 – 2008 season
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Mount Misery Snow
Drifters Snowmobile Club held their annual Vintage Snowmobile event on
March 8. There were 30 vintage snowmobiles on display. While my wife enjoyed a
quiet day in Dayton,
I was making new friends at Rose Springs Sno-Park in the scenic Blue Mountains.
To start of the day,
everyone was given a ballot and instructed to vote for their favorite vintage
original, vintage restored, and race restored. My 1972 Alouette Eliminator
earned the best vintage restored while;
Steve Gustin’s 1972 Sno-Jet Thunder Jet took the best race restored.
After a BBQ of hamburgers
with generous amounts of splendid homemade chili, there was
a stake race. Almost everyone ran in the race, but in the end it was a tie
between two Yamahas;
one rode by Jeff Biddiscombe and the other David Rojo. They both clocked in at
28.1 seconds!
After the race, the prizes
were handed out and we spent the afternoon on a 16-mile vintage snowmobile
ride to the Clearwater Guard Station and beyond.
A special thanks to Willie
Ruchert
of the Misery Mountain
Snowmobile Club, and Roger Biddiscombe
of The Vintage Snowmobile of the Inland Northwest.
*************************************
Kevin Hancock is all smiles from riding at Elk Heights.
It was a great day. The ride started
with nine vintage sleds lined up and ready to go. After an early
breakdown, eight vintage and two modern snowmobiles made the entire course.
The group was out for
three-and-a-half hours on well groomed trails. The day started cold and
cloudy, then changed to a
light snow in the afternoon. We stopped several times to visit, enjoy the
great views and a snowy lunch.
Our next event is Sky Meadows,
followed by Wenatchee. On Saturday night, Steve Burdick, James Simpson
and I are planning to do a night ride on modern sleds after the Sky
Meadows event. We will ride Blewett Pass
while when passing through to Wenatchee. If you are interested, everyone is
invited to come along.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
What a great day! The
trail conditions were superb with a lot of fresh powdery snow along the
sides to dive in and out of. What a great time visiting and riding with other
vintage snowmobiling hobbies.
We had a good group, four black Arctic Cats, a forest green Skiroule and a
persimmon Boatel Ski-Bird.
The Ski-Bird had to stay behind, but the four Cats and Skiroule rode forty-five
miles on freshly groomed
and natural trails. There was over three feet of soft powdery snow along the
trails to dive into.
The snow was so soft, a Panther and the Skiroule stopped running after they
sucked some of the
soft fluff through air cleaners and into carburetors. It was really something.
We rode from Atkisson
Sno-park southwest towards Red Mountain, stopping at Goose Lake
for a rest and a wonderful view of the snow covered lake. From there we headed
back north
towards the Berry Fields. We stopped to watch some serious mountain sleds high
marking in the soft fluff.
We were out for four-and-a-half hours speeding along the trails at 35-40 mph
diving in and out of the
soft fluffy snow, which flew everywhere and covered us completely.
The day ended with the group meeting at a local restaurant to enjoy supper and
swap stories
before heading home along the scenic Columbia River Gorge.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
