|
ADVERSE SNOWY
WEATHER
Nothing like a good old SNOWY
day to ride snowmobile in!!
OK, here
is the deal, you get the snowmobile stuck, and I will get it out...you let me
worry about what the snowmobile
weights!
|
Adverse weather, 25 years of
riding in the Nisbet Forest and these are all the pictures that
I have of us riding in snowy weather.
Weather, in
Saskatchewan
we do have the
occasional storm but they have never interfered with our
snowmobiling. Even our temperatures often dip down into the
-20's C sometimes usually over night hitting the -30's for
several days at a time, but it is a dry cold, not the humid wet
air that feels super cold, chilling your core like in other
parts of Canada. This is why in
SASKATCHEWAN we have such
unusually
dry powder
that is so much fun to ride in! |
|
20-12VF
Wow a pretty neat day, just out of the Nisbet we find blizzard like
prairie conditions.
 |
|
19-02/03/04
VF
New multiple dumps of
snow hit us the day before and we have semi blizzard conditions
 again
this year on our 3 day snowmobile ride. WE are haunted by super
cold temperatures, infact as I recall a 15 degree drop
between Saskatoon's departure and our arrival at our Willoughby
staging spot. Equipped with gauntlets and with a few moments of
wonder when one machine initially did not fire...we pulled out.
Not with out incident "Shit happens!" |
|
18-03
VF
WOW saved by
the bell
they say!
New multiple
dumps of
snow hit us
the day
before and
the day of
our 3 day
Choiceland
ride for
2018! Down
to one lane
mostly at
70KM per
hour we
creep
towards our
Staging
area. We
rode long
and steady
all day
taking
minimal
stops,
 the
focus on
getting
across the
province and
the Forte a
la Corne
Forest area
"before
dark"!
Temperatures
were minus
20's C very
close to -30 for a
high during
the day.
I
was relieved
when the 4
strokes
fired up in
the morning,
especially
after, when
I heard of 2
strokes
failing to
start just a
few hours
east of us
at another
remote
location.
Our middle
day 18-04
was
spectacular
"Wanna
see some DRY
SASKATCHEWAN
POWDER?" |
|
15-06.1 V
A blizzard condition all the
way north to our remote staging
 location!
We are pounding drifts on the high way all the way and when we
arrive it is spectacularly sunny, but cold with a massive East
wind. Well it happens we are riding into that wind...this means
we had to add some duct tape to the openings on some of the
sleds....the DRY
SASKATCHEWAN
POWDER was getting in everywhere riding into this massive wind
at these "briskly low temperatures"! |
|
14-02
We were not fighting the real cold on this day
but definitely noticed the wind come up in the afternoon. Here
is a snap of
 us exiting the forest near the location of the Old
South Tower and it was starting to snow. Out in the fields we
were in a pretty cool little storm wandering from tree line to
tree line for bearings and shelter...yahoo! |
|
14-01
F
We decide to head
out later on a fairly cool day, and we ride the Nisbet across
over to St
 Louis.
By our we are on the way back it is after dark and a beautiful
snow storm erupts!!! It was pretty cool a night ride in the
heavy snow fall. Riding the Nisbet trails we couldn't go wrong!!
|
|
2013
F
This was as diverse a day for weather as what
we experienced back in 1990, except when the blizzard was in
full force we were out riding the groomed trail near Duck Lake.
In the shelter of the trees it was a beautiful even sunny day at
 times, but largely out in the open there was times where we
could only see 20 or 30 feet ahead, barely able to make out the
groomed trail. Our tracks from the ride out were completely
blown over by the time we turned around and headed for Duck
Lake. I had not experienced a day like this since 1990! It was
great! Out in the open look at the visibility out in the open on
the groomed trail!
|
2006
This leaves 2006, our plan is to take one of the longer rides,
160-180 miles [260-290Km] from Macdowall across country
to Emma Lake for lunch and back on the 4th of March.
Sunset Bay has a top restaurant in the area and it's a
pretty cool hike that we sometimes have done a few times
a year. There was storm warnings that hit
Saskatoon after we trailered to Macdowall. We had rode
through the
 Nisbet to get to Shellbrook, taking the time
to hit some new spots, that we often by pass just
because we're in a hurry. When it was time to leave the
restaurant at Emma Lake it was starting to snow. We were
leaving pretty late, it was 4:30 PM, at least a couple
hours later than usual. We left the gas station at Emma
at 4:37. When we rolled into Shellbrook it was nearly 8
o'clock and it had been dark for several hours. Many
times we had to just follow tree lines in the both the
forested areas and in the rolling forest fringe fields.
The "invisible"
rolling hills
at
a steady 50 to 60 Km/hr were at their peak for
excitement and our tracks filled in just as fast as we
could make them, running boards filled up and snow piled
up on top of the hoods covering the headlights all the
time! It was not cold but rear ending the sled in front
of you, or getting left behind was the biggest concerns.
The next leg of the journey was to get from Shellbrook
to the Nisbet, it was only a few miles but it took some
extra time, once a scrub pile came out of the
dark snow storm
into our peripheral.......we finally
recognized something familiar, from here we high
balled 'er through the forest and back to Macdowall!
|
|
2004
In 2004 we have a group of sport bike riders from the
 U.K. who
practice with our gear and in big time
minus temperatures are fog free!
|
|
2003
In 2003 we headed out in a fog of all things, which
 made
following the leader easier said than done, but interesting just the same!
It cleared
up by dinner time and we considered it to be a unique day
and
didn't mind it at all. It would be
different if our
lives were at stake and if we got socked in and had to stay
in a Hotel room for days on end.
|
|
1997
In 1997 it
snowed on us pretty good for part of the day on a couple of occasions, but
 being in the forest we just
followed along the trails and corridors which was fool proof, at
least we knew
where we were and there were no cliffs to fall
 off off! The trip up by
truck was the most treacherous, driving with right side wheels on the shoulder,
the truck and trailer crack' in finger drifts all the way! Yahoo!!! In this picture we
had just crossed the North Branch and have stopped to look back at the
fort...where is the fort??
|
|
1995
In 1995 a snow storm came up near the end of the day, and we
were outside the forest in an area unknown to us, but we were able to follow our
tracks back just
 before they were filled in! On the way back we threw our
compass down on the ground when we were in question at one point. You would have
to follow the links to persons "LOST" to learn more of that story! You could
Google the 4 LETTER "L" WORD for more of the story!
|
1990
In the spring of 1990 we arrived
at the forest on a very snowy day, but then part of the day was
sunny, then back to snowy, then it was sunny again! We rode in
the storm at for awhile just
following the contours of the Nisbet
 rolling hills and tree lines. Then we
stopped
for a breather when visibility was down to only a few feet, and we waited for one member straggling behind
trying to follow our tracks. Here we discovered the
remains of an old homestead. It looked to us like we could see a small lake on the other side of
the encompassing this old timers yard site through the storm. It was
some 10 to 15 years had passed before we were to ever come across the same site,
and discover it's location on a sunny winter day! It was a day to remember and luckily I had
started carrying a camera to record it. |
EXTREME COLD
WEATHER
TEMPERATURES
This is some of the extreme weather that we have in
Saskatchewan, and as you
can see some diverse groups from much warmer climates did just fine!
|
19-02/03/04
VF
New multiple dumps of
snow hit us the day before and we have semi blizzard conditions
again
this year on our 3 day snowmobile ride. WE are haunted by super
cold temperatures, infact as I recall a 15 degree drop
between Saskatoon's departure and our arrival at our Willoughby
staging spot. Equipped with gauntlets and with a few moments of
wonder when one machine initially did not fire...we pulled out.
Not with out incident "Shit happens!" |
|
18-03
VF
WOW saved by
the bell
they say!
New multiple
dumps of
snow hit us
the day
before and
the day of
our 3 day
Choiceland
ride for
2018! Down
to one lane
mostly at
70KM per
hour we
creep
towards our
Staging
area. We
rode long
and steady
all day
taking
minimal
stops,
the
focus on
getting
across the
province and
the Forte a
la Corne
Forest area
"before
dark"!
Temperatures
were minus
20's C very
close to -30 for a
high during
the day.
I
was relieved
when the 4
strokes
fired up in
the morning,
especially
after, when
I heard of 2
strokes
failing to
start just a
few hours
east of us
at another
remote
location.
Our middle
day 18-04
was
spectacular
"Wanna
see some DRY
SASKATCHEWAN
POWDER?" |
|
15-06.1
VF
A blizzard condition all the way north to our
remote staging
location!
We are pounding drifts on the high way all the way and when we
arrive it is spectacularly sunny, but cold with a massive East
wind. Well it happens we are riding into that wind...this means
we had to add some duct tape to the openings on some of the
sleds....the DRY
SASKATCHEWAN
POWDER was getting in everywhere riding into this massive wind
at these "briskly low temperatures"! |
|
15-05
VF
We start out on a pretty cool morning. But after we drop down
thru the trees to the North
 Branch...we
warm up pretty good!! |
|
14-11
VF
We start off at minus -31C. It is sunny but Old man winter is starting to drag
on with record cold temperatures. I modify our "Flight Plan!" from the "Ultimate
Ride" to a fantastic ride that plays its cards close to home base.
How do we stay warmed up? One word nicely sums that up stuck stuck stuck and
more stuck! Unlimited meadows of powder snow means one thing, you will be riding
your Iron Horse (aluminum and plastic!) or you will be digging it out!
How do we stay warmed up? Another word nicely sums that up Jump Jump Jump and
more Jumping!
|
|
14-03
VF
This was a day where the weather was our
friend, however Old man Winter was giving us day time
temperatures starting at -34C or so. We unloaded around noon at
-31 and backed up into the forest out of the wind. Out in some
larger meadows and on a small lake the wind could be felt, but
all dressed up no one was cold, partly the key was convincing
the Dutch to use their "body english!" (Translate that!)
But I think that by unloading and getting started with our
ride "out of the wind", was a significant factor.
|
|
11-05
-29 to -25C and we're just cooking, ride 'n the Nisbet can be a work out! Snocruise could offer pony rides apron special request.
|
|
07-10
-34C, one chap and some woman from France, we stopped late in the evening out of exhaustion! It was go go go no time to undress and eat just
 ride while the daylights burn 'n. We rode back from the depths of Nisbet for an hour
in the dark! Another
fun part of snowmobiling......if you know where you are!
This group practiced the night before with the No-Fog masks and
gear. LOOK.....no fogging! |
|
04-05
Over looking the Fenton CN rail way bridge
near the Old Adams Ferry crossing we stop
 and
let the "Wind-chill let up for a few moments!" It is going to feel good
to sit down to a hot meal when we get to Birch Hills. In the background
you can see the old rail way bridge, I always did mean to ride right up
and walk out, just haven't done that yet!! Our day started in Macdowall
and it was minus 30, I put the F-5 in the deepest softest snow I could
find on the edge of every field and tree line so I could bring up the
engines RPM and correspondingly bring up the voltage charging the heated
hand grips. I remember still to this day that it took some doing, to get
her done.
|
|
03-09
We take off from Duck Lake after we had breakfast. It was a
cold morning and unloading in the dark early in the morning was
not a must. Our plan is the 2 of us to ride over to St. Louis
for their poker derby. When we left Duck Lake it was still -32C!
When we arrived in St. Louis, signed up had some hot lunch and
ventured out on the trail, short of the tracks by locals who
marked the trail the day before... we were the first out on the
derby! |
|
03-04
Group from the U.K. The temps were -26 to -28C everyone's just steaming!
|
ONLY
in
SASKATCHEWAN !
LEARN FROM OTHERS MISTAKES!
www.snocruise.com |
Nisbet to get to Shellbrook, taking the time
to hit some new spots, that we often by pass just
because we're in a hurry. When it was time to leave the
restaurant at Emma Lake it was starting to snow. We were
leaving pretty late, it was 4:30 PM, at least a couple
hours later than usual. We left the gas station at Emma
at 4:37. When we rolled into Shellbrook it was nearly 8
o'clock and it had been dark for several hours. Many
times we had to just follow tree lines in the both the
forested areas and in the rolling forest fringe fields.
The "invisible"
rolling hills
at
a steady 50 to 60 Km/hr were at their peak for
excitement and our tracks filled in just as fast as we
could make them, running boards filled up and snow piled
up on top of the hoods covering the headlights all the
time! It was not cold but rear ending the sled in front
of you, or getting left behind was the biggest concerns.
The next leg of the journey was to get from Shellbrook
to the Nisbet, it was only a few miles but it took some
extra time, once a scrub pile came out of the
dark snow storm
into our peripheral.......we finally
recognized something familiar, from here we high
balled 'er through the forest and back to Macdowall!
rolling hills and tree lines. Then we
stopped
for a breather when visibility was down to only a few feet, and we waited for one member straggling behind
trying to follow our tracks. Here we discovered the
remains of an old homestead. It looked to us like we could see a small lake on the other side of
the encompassing this old timers yard site through the storm. It was
some 10 to 15 years had passed before we were to ever come across the same site,
and discover it's location on a sunny winter day! It was a day to remember and luckily I had
started carrying a camera to record it.
