A childhood friend reached out to me on Facebook to share an old photo of us on our sleds that his older brother had taken. I'm on the Doo thinking that I am looking cool .

I'm guessing it's around 1985.

What ya got to share?

Back when I used to ride off trail a lot.   Well , I didn't actually ride off trail on purpose but I was off trail a lot

great thread . let me dig up a couple

1987 and 1988

 

1978 or 79…I was in Middle School.

Late 80s on 85 panther, 96 xlt at a local cabin. 

41 minutes ago, ckf said:

A childhood friend reached out to me on Facebook to share an old photo of us on our sleds that his older brother had taken. I'm on the Doo thinking that I am looking cool .

I'm guessing it's around 1985.

What ya got to share?

your buddy has the matching gloves , and what looks like some thick ass glasses. i need some coke bottles myself if not for multifocal contacts . now i need distance , midrange and close up. wtf!

 

1975 Cog Railway base road. Mt. Washington in the background. Me on my 74 FA

My sister and I burning gas after school. I'm thinking around '78 or 79. The 2 sleds came from friends of my parents who got out of the sport.

Here’s one 1974

 

Learning to “off trail” on my 74 TC 250

Great pictures.  
Sledding in the 70, 80’s was a blast.  Lot of good memories.  Sleds were like lawn mowers, every house on the street had one.  I remember going house to house , with every one pitching in to get sleds started and running to go riding.  

5 minutes ago, Cold War said:

Great pictures.  
Sledding in the 70, 80’s was a blast.  Lot of good memories.  Sleds were like lawn mowers, every house on the street had one.  I remember going house to house , with every one pitching in to get sleds started and running to go riding.  

Very true. Very few marked trails if any. Riding on one knee was the all day norm.

Just now, Mainecat said:

Very true. Very few marked trails if any. Riding on one knee was the all day norm.

Yup,  your body was the suspension.  No such thing as a groomed trail.  Tearing brush and small trees down by hand.  Carrying heavy ass sleds over downed trees. Rebuilding carbs,  getting tracks back on out in the woods. Lots of snow!!!  We rode from November to April.  

11 minutes ago, Cold War said:

Yup,  your body was the suspension.  No such thing as a groomed trail.  Tearing brush and small trees down by hand.  Carrying heavy ass sleds over downed trees. Rebuilding carbs,  getting tracks back on out in the woods. Lots of snow!!!  We rode from November to April.  

We use to put 2 sleds in the bed of a pickup truck........... 

I had a 71 Ford Econoline that held 2 sleds and was our engine rebuild garage when we were on the road….lol

11 hours ago, Mainecat said:

1975 Cog Railway base road. Mt. Washington in the background. Me on my 74 FA

My parents used to have a similar picture from the base road with 3 burnt orange Moto Skis. I think Grand Prix?? My dad's was a 634 and his buddies were 440s. It was either November of 69 or 70.....

How to prepare yourself for the 1979 - 1980 Snowmobile Season . . . .

1. Go to your local snowmobile shop, smile and give the first guy you see $100. This will get you used to spending money there on a regular basis.

2. Fill a 50-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 buds 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. Drink four ounces of cod liver oil mixed with a strong laxative. Dress with long underwear, wool pants, snowmobile bibs, insulated boots and heavy coat. Walk far into the woods without any paper products and wait for a personal emergency. This get you prepare for the beer shits that come out of nowhere, and at the wrong time.

5. 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.

7. Dress up in your new snowmobile bibs. Pour oil down the right leg, gasoline down the other and Peppermint Schnapps and Beer all over the front. Fill your boots with ice cubes and ask your wife or girlfriend to dance. This will prepare her for the stops at the local bar after a ride.

8. 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 farmers' field.

9. Find a place where you can pay $1.00 a gallon for regular gas; $10.00 for a gallon of oil; $8 for a hamburger and frozen French fries; $1 for a coke and $40 to sleep in a cold cabin on a bed with springs sticking through the mattress. Stay for two nights, minimum. This will prepare you for the high cost of your future winter trips.

10. Practice explaining to your banker why you need another loan for a $12,000 truck to pull the four $1,000 a piece snowmobiles in your $1,400 trailer that you still owe on.

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


Be safe and lets hope for a good snowmobile season this year......

Edited February 21, 20232 yr by Jerry 976

1 hour ago, ckf said:

My parents used to have a similar picture from the base road with 3 burnt orange Moto Skis. I think Grand Prix?? My dad's was a 634 and his buddies were 440s. It was either November of 69 or 70.....

Back then the road was closed to traffic from Fabian’s to the cog base.

I remember cars stopping and waving you across the road.  Somewhere in the 2000s’ snow fencing started popping up everywhere to keep people from riding on the edge of their property.  
 

Don’t have any old pictures, but I like this one.  😁

20 minutes ago, Mainecat said:

Back then the road was closed to traffic from Fabian’s to the cog base.

We used to ride the road as well. I think it was unplowed until the late 90s tor early 2000s. We almost always rode Base Road and Jefferson Notch every year in November or early December to break in the new sleds. Lot's of fun.

6 minutes ago, ckf said:

We used to ride the road as well. I think it was unplowed until the late 90s tor early 2000s. We almost always rode Base Road and Jefferson Notch every year in November or early December to break in the new sleds. Lot's of fun.

Yup Thanksgiving weekend every year. All the new sleds would show up most were free airs until the Kawasakis showed up….lol

How about something from the mid 60's?

I'm driving and my sister "skibogening"

Old Scorpion with serial number 2

1975 Marc Trail Twister 440 had twin pipes and an arctic cat secondary thing ripped pretty good.  

I bet I put 20 miles on this thing Sunday pulling the grandkids back up the hill.