Used Burton Custom

I've got a used Burton Custom snow board from a colleague of mine so I can test ride it to see if I want to buy it. It does have marks of usage on it but it doesn't look too bad. I'm looking forward to give it a try. Maybe next weekend in Iso-Syöte.

Snowmobiling season started

So I went snowmobiling with couple of friends on Saturday more than a week ago. We took the sledges to Puolanka (~130 km from Oulu) on a trailer. The load on the trailer was way too much on the front, which made driving interesting. But there was no way to load these three snowmobiles any differently on that trailer. And in the end my CR-V managed the task quite ok.

We drove the sledges from Puolanka to Paljakka ski resort and back. It wasn't too long trip for the seasons first one, 95 km all together, but the trail was in quite bad shape. Especially when the trail after 15 km leaves the pretty straight power line and you turn towards Paljakka.
I was totally beaten after the trip. My back muscles and thighs were absolutely finished. It took until Wednesday before I was fully re-covered from the trip (what comes to muscle pains). I also got influenza after the trip. I don't know if the disease kicking in is partly the reason I got so sore or whether the exhausting trip made way for the disease to get hold of me.

I must say that I haven't seen anyone treat touring snowmobile as my friend did with his Yamaha RS Venture TF. It's a very heavy touring sledge with 4-stroke engine and he drove it like it was a light sports model. I must say I didn't think that snowmobile can take that kind of beating.

Some comments about the new snowmobile gear I bought before the trip. The cloves felt very good in the beginning. Very tight grip and good feel with the break and throttle. But after 30 km jumping up and down on the worn out bumpy track
my left hand palm started to feel bad. By the time we got back from driving, I had 5 huge blisters in my left hand and one on the right hand. So these cloves were a bit of disappointment.
The boots on the other hand were very good. They are relatively light and support the ankle very well while also giving good cover for heel and toes against shocks.

New boots and claws

I bought myself a new pair of snow mobile boots and claws yesterday. Now all that's missing is enough snow for driving :(

The boots I bought are Dragon by MP-asu. They feel very firm and support ankle very well. The whole feet is pretty well protected and their not too heavy either. Looking forward to put them to real test.

The claws are Track Neopren from the same brand. I've never had neoprene claws before but everyone has been telling me how good they are for sporty driving. They do feel very good in your hand and the grip is very good. With these I shouldn't have that big problems with blisters and hands shouldn't get tired as soon because I don't need to hold on so tight to stay on the saddle :)

I'll write a short review after I've used the boots and claws.