Took me 4 winters to realize I was overpacking my sled

For years I'd cram every nook of my Ski-Doo with gear - extra clothes, tools, emergency rations. Thought I was being prepared. Then last February up near Brainerd, I hit a drift wrong and the extra weight made the front end dig in. Spent 20 minutes digging out in waist-deep snow while my buddy with a half-empty sled zipped past. After that I started weighing my pack - I was hauling 65 pounds when 30 would've been fine. Am I the only one who learned this lesson the hard way?

2 comments

2 Comments

rose_hart3114d ago

Man, I feel you on that "20 minutes digging out" part. I did almost the exact same thing up near Hayward a couple years ago, thought I was being smart with all my extra gear but my sled was basically a tank. Turned a simple little trail ride into an hour of swapping stuff between sleds just to get unstuck. 65 pounds is a lot but honestly I bet half the people out there are hauling that much without even realizing it. Good on you for actually weighing it, that's the kind of reality check most of us avoid.

torres.drew14d ago

See I gotta disagree with this take. That extra 35 pounds you dropped probably means you're one breakdown away from a really bad time. I've been riding for 15 years and I'd rather dig out for 20 minutes than freeze overnight because I skimped on gear. Your buddy with the half-empty sled might be fast but he's not smart if he's out there without a proper survival kit. And those 4 winters you packed heavy? They went fine. One bad drift doesn't change that. Weight management is smart but I think this whole "minimalist sledding" trend is just people getting lucky with conditions. You call it overpacking, I call it being ready for the real crap that can happen up north.