The long term trial of the SledMagazine.com 2015 Polaris 800HO AXYS Switchback LE has officially begun with the first significant Quebec mileage of the season.
The bright red 60th Anniversary AXYS and friends departed from Chez Marineau Riviere-Matawin on Saturday January 10th around 9:30 at -18F. It was very cold for sure, but the excitement of new sleds on the first real ride, kept us warm. We rode fresh groomed trails all the way to Pourvoirie Lac Repos, using the M20 which was awesome. We met the groomer on its return trip from the end of the M20. Stay alert as groomers can occur at any time. Snow depths ranged from at least 1 foot in the lower elevations and 2 feet + in the upper elevations. We experienced only a few rocks turned up by the groomer here and there. 93 miles to Repos.
We decided to skip lunch at Repos to avoid the significant crowd. We headed to Pourvoirie Kanawata for a less crowded and more relaxed lunch atmosphere. The trail is currently on the park road and was groomed the whole way.
A very easy 35 miles and we were there.
Plenty of snow on the regular trail but it was not groomed yet. Conditions were very good to excellent. The trail on the park road saves 10 miles or so and was mostly fresh groomed the whole way. We gassed up and went in for a very enjoyable lunch special including soup and desert. It was perfect timing for warmth and good food. We left Kanawata with full tanks in route to Barrage Gouin.
Kanawata to the 83 was awesome and groomed very well. Approximately 1 mile of trail just outside of Casey is plowed road, but it had plenty of snow on it. Casey is still closed, but no worries if you can go 90 miles on a tank.
The 83 was is back on the park road for now, which was awesome and groomed perfectly all the way!
To our surprise the AN1 East access trail to Pourvoirie Gouin is back in use. Johnny is running a fairly big John Deer / Gilbert conversion and an A.F.M drag this season and the trail was AWESOME. At present he suggests that you to ride the road the last few KMs because the East trail has lots of small whips in it. No worry as there is plenty of snow and the whips will soon be gone. It was impressive how wide and smooth Johnny had it groomed. 85 miles of great trials from Kanawata and we were at one of our favorite destinations in all of Quebec. An easy 2-3 feet + of snow at Gouin.
We arrived well before dark and it had warmed to a balmy -14F. We had several pitchers of their famous local draft beer, a bunch of chicken wings and a hot shower. After some internet time we settled into a flavorful main dinner and desert. Throughout the evening we visted with fellow snowmobilers, shared stories, live streamed snowcross racing, recounted the days ride and called it a night.
We woke up to -12F but it was a heck of a lot better than the -30F we had here during last year’s first ride. We had our breakfast, settled our bills, said our goodbyes and headed off for our return.
Our group mixed it up a bit on the way back. After taking gas at Kanawata we crossed the lake to connect back up with the trail which was ungroomed for 15 miles. After this section we continued onto the groomed park road to Repos for gas / food, and then back to Matawan. As we got closer to Matawin the trail was a tiny bit chopped up from 2 days of sled traffic, but not bad at all.
The AXYS Switchback was a pleasure throughout all experienced trail types. Our previous long term trails of the 2013 and 2014 ProR chassis showed that better riding efforts maximized the performance of the sled. With the AXYS chassis it becomes quickly and consistently apparent that the stability and predictability of this sled maximizes you by allowing you to be a better more confident rider.
Now that AXYS trial is past it’s break-in period we look forward the full season trial to begin.
Post break-in 800 HO performance, fuel economy and oil consumption information coming soon.
After months without the thrill of snowmobiling, it’s easy to forget just how much fun it is. The anticipation can never match the actual exhilaration of our sport. And the first big ride is always something very special.
500+ miles down and a whole season of miles, memories and evaluations yet to come.
The time to ride is now, pick a destination, saddle up and hit the trails.
