Stranded

I have snowmobiled my whole life. Snowmobiling is not something you want to do solo unless you are really confident in your own abilities as well as your sled. You have to gain a skill set so that you know what to do in many different situations that may happen.such as getting stuck, or if your sled were to die, or if you got hurt. For these reasons I ride with a backpack that is filled with a shovel, small hand saw, pull ropes, spark plugs, extra gloves, and even ether. Things like these are especially important when riding at night. In my opinion they are something that every rider should carry. So to sum this up you should ride with a friend unless you have experience and know the trails you are riding on.

I have had my fair share of snowmobile trips gone wrong but I have learned from them and don’t make mistakes like I have in the past. My friend Landon is new to snowmobiling and doesn’t have as much experience as I do, So I have had to help him many times. I could tell many stories about my experiences helping Landon but there are a few stories that stick in my mind more than the others so I will use those.

One night as I was falling asleep I got a phone call, it was late at night so I ignored it. A minute later I got called again so finally I decided to pick up my phone so I could see who was calling me so late in the night. It was Landon who called me and he said that he needed me to come help him that he crashed his snowmobile and got it stuck. At first I thought that he was joking so I said yeah right it’s 11 at night you’re definitely joking with me, Then a second time he said it again and I could tell that he was scared being alone in the middle of the woods at night with no lights. So I quickly ran downstairs started my sled and grabbed my bag while making sure I had all of my gear in it. He said he went off the trail somewhere around Watermans farm on a turn and when he told me I knew exactly what turn he was talking about because it is very sharp and there is always a lot of ice leading up to it. I made my way through the trails across Sabattus lake then leading up to Watermans farm I went past Watermans and towards the pit where I was guessing Landon had gotten stuck and as I pulled up to the turn I see a track leading off of the trail and into the fresh powder and woods, about 100 feet past that I see Landons sled crashed into a patch of trees, although I see no Landon. I look around for him and eventually I see him laying in the snow and at first I thought he might be knocked out although it turns out he was just laying down. I help him up off the ground and I see that all he has is his helmet and boots on. He was wearing no jacket or snow pants, he wasn’t even wearing gloves! So I give him my jacket and extra gloves since I was already warm. Now all we had to do was figure out how to pull his sled out.

I started by grabbing my hand saw and cutting down the small trees tangled around the skis of his sled. Then I started shoveling a path back towards the trail so that pulling his sled with mine would be easier and it would also make it so that I couldn’t get stuck as easily trying to pull him out we pulled his sled by hand a few feet backwards to dislodge it from the tree he flew into. Next I backed my sled up close enough to where my pull rope could reach. I had Landon hop onto his sled and put in reverse so that he could use reverse to help me give him momentum while I used my sled to pull him out. This process took a quite a few tries only going about 10 feet every try but eventually we gained enough momentum to keep going and we made it back onto the trail. Landon was surprised with how prepared I was with all the tools in my backpack ready for any situation that we encountered. He learned from this and now rides with a backpack of tools and extra gear of his own. Although if it he didn’t have a friend like me who had a snowmobile and came prepared his night could have gone much worse.

I haven’t always been the one helping though. One night very recently before all of the snow melted I decided to go on a night ride to grid iron to grab food for dinner. My sled had been acting weird lately but I decided to take it out anyway. the drive to grid iron takes about thirty minutes depending on how fast you ride. I was halfway back and in the middle of no name pond going about 95 when all of a sudden my sled made a loud backfire that sounded like an explosion. As soon as it did that it died and I came halting to a stop. I tried starting the sled and the engine was completely seized and wouldn’t even turn over. I was stranded in the middle of No Name pond with no way home in the dark. I called up Landon and he said that he was on his way to come get me. About 30 minutes later Landon showed up and we hooked up my sled and he pulled me home. If I didn’t for having a friend like Landon there would have been a good chance that I would have been walking home that night, luckily he was able to help me out and we both got home safely.

All of these experiences taught me that without friends a lot of situations could have gone a lot worse than they did. Landon and i could have both been stranded multiple times if we weren’t able to help each other out. A good friendship is something that I am very thankful for and something that will always be there for you when you need help.

Photo by VisitLakeland on Foter.com / CC BY-ND