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.