[RollerDoo]

Ok, here it goes. I am 37. I was injured in an auto accident in 1991(I was 20). I grew up riding and thought I could never do it again. Then in 2003 I called up a friend of mine to see what he was doing and he tells me he is going snowmobiling. So, I tell him how I grew up on them and how I always wanted to try riding again. He says "get bundled up and meet me out at this buddies house". So I do(scared as hell). But once I got out there and sat on it all I could think to myself was why didnt I do this so many years ago!!! He didnt get to ride his snowmobile one time that night. I was on it for 6 straight hours. Luckily he had another spare there to ride or I would have ended up in a snowbank! Anyway I ended up buying a new one like 3 weeks later. Now I cant wait for winter to get here! I know this is going to sound crazy but it is my release. When I get out there nobody knows Im in a chair and I feel free. Theres no questions, no staring, none of the typical crap we go through on a daily basis. Until this year I never took my chair with me. A friend and myself came up with some brackets to mount my chair to the back of my snowmobile. Now I dont mind riding by myself because I have my chair. Before I was always scared of it breaking down and having no way to get back to a main road or to help. Also going to a gas station and it not having pay at the pump was a fear. Now with the chair Im FREE!!!! Heres a couple pictures from this years and last years charity ride with the guys I ride with.

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[bdmpastx]

I bet you are kicking yourself in the ass for not getting out on one for so long now aren't ya?

Hey, when summer comes, you can get you a 4 wheeler to cruise around on. It's a blast. I love the freedom on mine.

[atvaholic]

i do have one but when we finally got some leg straps for it the snow melted and we et snow for 2-4 days melts so you get the idea heres my 2004 polaris xc sp 600 on when i was up in bathurst new brunswick(snowmobiling paradise of the martimes) can't wait to go 60-100mph again. yes get your hands on a quad

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[russ1]

I had a go last year on a ski trip. Real blast and lots of fun but nowhere near as good as a monoski. I did manage to turn it over on myself though (trying to take a turn too quickly) which was a tad awkward. Fortunately I was with a group and just had to wait for someone to come pick me up. At least it shows I was trying

[RYAN68]

Do you have a pic or 2 of your rack for your chair? I was wanting to do the same thing this year. We finally had snow all winter. I used to ride them all the time back when I was younger. But we never got the snow to actually benifet from keeping a sled, so we bought a quad instead. I take it yours is electric start? I tried pull starting our quad, and I can't do it, even though it starts on the first pull, I can't pull it fast enough...

[RollerDoo]

RYAN68, on Mar 13 2008, 03:53 PM, said:

Do you have a pic or 2 of your rack for your chair? I was wanting to do the same thing this year. We finally had snow all winter. I used to ride them all the time back when I was younger. But we never got the snow to actually benifet from keeping a sled, so we bought a quad instead. I take it yours is electric start? I tried pull starting our quad, and I can't do it, even though it starts on the first pull, I can't pull it fast enough...

Yes mine is electric start. I dont have reverse which now I kick myself in the arse for not getting. It didnt have electric start when I got it but I was able to order the electric start kit from Ski Doo for about 450 bucks. With most of the newer Ski Doo's electric start and reverse is standard.

What kind of sled do you have? I will take some pictures for you and post them. It took me a long time to come up with the design and actually make them but they work great. Im sure I could come up with something for pretty much any sled/chair configuration.

[RYAN68]

We used to have ski-doo's but we haven't had a sled in probably 5-6 yrs. I was thinking about getting one last fall, and I wish I would have. We have had an awesome winter snow wise. But I couldn't really justify spending $3-5k on a sled I would only use for 2-3 months a year. If I wasn't in Iowa, and was in a more northern climate, I would definately have something.

I'm gonna work on a rack on our quad, so I can take my chair with me when I'm out riding. Should be able to start on that as soon as the snow melts.

[RollerDoo]

RYAN68, on Mar 17 2008, 12:29 PM, said:

We used to have ski-doo's but we haven't had a sled in probably 5-6 yrs. I was thinking about getting one last fall, and I wish I would have. We have had an awesome winter snow wise. But I couldn't really justify spending $3-5k on a sled I would only use for 2-3 months a year. If I wasn't in Iowa, and was in a more northern climate, I would definately have something.

I'm gonna work on a rack on our quad, so I can take my chair with me when I'm out riding. Should be able to start on that as soon as the snow melts.

The newer (05 and up) ski doo's are awsome sleds. They ride great and arent bad getting on and off. If you decide you want a sled now is the time to buy....its the end of the season and sleds go cheap. Sorry I havent got out to the trailer yet to take pictures of the brackets. The trailer is enclosed and kind of a pain to open and closed.

[RYAN68]

Oh I know what you mean. My uncle got a killer deal on a 05 Artic Cat zr 580, only had 600 miles on it. Picked it up for $3200, and he got it last december. I'm not gonna buy a sled, I'll put my money into my truck, that way I can have fun all year long. It would be my luck getting a sled then next winter we won't get any snow...lol

[RollerDoo]

I should jack this thread from my snowmobile site about "global warming". Maybe sometime but for now I'll just say this, all the scientists were wrong and they admitted it!!! This year there has been more snow than anytime in history. I will dig that story up and bring it over.

[RYAN68]

Yup, I always knew global warming was BS. Actually its going into a Global Cooling... Al Gore is a idiot. One volcano eruption puts out more harmful gases than we could in something like 500 years...haha Bring back 2-strokes!!! lol

[KennyB]

RollerDoo, on Mar 5 2008, 09:33 AM, said:

Ok, here it goes. I am 37. I was injured in an auto accident in 1991(I was 20). I grew up riding and thought I could never do it again. Then in 2003 I called up a friend of mine to see what he was doing and he tells me he is going snowmobiling. So, I tell him how I grew up on them and how I always wanted to try riding again. He says "get bundled up and meet me out at this buddies house". So I do(scared as hell). But once I got out there and sat on it all I could think to myself was why didnt I do this so many years ago!!! He didnt get to ride his snowmobile one time that night. I was on it for 6 straight hours. Luckily he had another spare there to ride or I would have ended up in a snowbank! Anyway I ended up buying a new one like 3 weeks later. Now I cant wait for winter to get here! I know this is going to sound crazy but it is my release. When I get out there nobody knows Im in a chair and I feel free. Theres no questions, no staring, none of the typical crap we go through on a daily basis. Until this year I never took my chair with me. A friend and myself came up with some brackets to mount my chair to the back of my snowmobile. Now I dont mind riding by myself because I have my chair. Before I was always scared of it breaking down and having no way to get back to a main road or to help. Also going to a gas station and it not having pay at the pump was a fear. Now with the chair Im FREE!!!! Heres a couple pictures from this years and last years charity ride with the guys I ride with.

Hey I know winter's over but I am fairly new to this site and just seen this thread. I have been sledding my whole life and from a chair since 1994. Its great and I highly recomend it. I have had a lot of different racks to hold the wheelchair on the back over the years. I have always had Polaris sled and the one I have now is the 4th one that I have modified. I would always buy one with electric start and reverse if you can. I just had to comment on you saying that now you can sled by yourself. I have went short distances by myself but I am sure to have a cell phone, but its always better to go with others fo safety. If you get stuck or fall off when by your self you are in trouble. Even thou you have a wheelchair with you it doesn't do you any good since you can't wheel thru snow that is more than a few inches, and its always deep on the trails. The chair is really there for when you stop for food or drinks and you can then use it to get inside the bar/restaurant. LTR.

[twisted_ophelia]

I'm going to go snowmobiling for the first time post-injury (only been a few times in my life and it was when I was pretty young) and I'm wondering if you guys can recommend ways to keep my legs and feet on the snowmobile so that they don't bounce or spasm off. Any tips and modification suggestions would be awesome! I am not sure what kind of snowmobile they will be giving us but the snowmobile company said they have no problem with a para riding/driving, they're just concerned about me staying on the thing!

[KennyB]

twisted_ophelia, on Feb 6 2009, 10:58 PM, said:

I'm going to go snowmobiling for the first time post-injury (only been a few times in my life and it was when I was pretty young) and I'm wondering if you guys can recommend ways to keep my legs and feet on the snowmobile so that they don't bounce or spasm off. Any tips and modification suggestions would be awesome! I am not sure what kind of snowmobile they will be giving us but the snowmobile company said they have no problem with a para riding/driving, they're just concerned about me staying on the thing!

My snowmobile has a backrest and I have a velcro type seatbelt that I use to keep me tight against the backrest. For my legs I have some clips attached to the inner side of the knee area on my snowmobile pants. I then attach a strap to the clips and this holds my knees against the gas tank. You could use any sort of strap that holds your legs together and tight to the gas tank/seat and it would work. Your feet will stay in place as long as you position them as far forward as possible in the footrest area so that they are kind of locked in place.
You could likely get away with out the seat belt or even the back rest depending on how aggressive you ride and how smooth or rough the trails are. I do ride pretty fast on some rough trails so I do what I can to keep myself on the sled. I've been snowwmobiling for a long time post and pre injury and still love it!

[twisted_ophelia]

KennyB, on Feb 14 2009, 07:32 PM, said:

My snowmobile has a backrest and I have a velcro type seatbelt that I use to keep me tight against the backrest. For my legs I have some clips attached to the inner side of the knee area on my snowmobile pants. I then attach a strap to the clips and this holds my knees against the gas tank. You could use any sort of strap that holds your legs together and tight to the gas tank/seat and it would work. Your feet will stay in place as long as you position them as far forward as possible in the footrest area so that they are kind of locked in place.
You could likely get away with out the seat belt or even the back rest depending on how aggressive you ride and how smooth or rough the trails are. I do ride pretty fast on some rough trails so I do what I can to keep myself on the sled. I've been snowwmobiling for a long time post and pre injury and still love it!

Cool, thanks for the advice! I have no idea if the snowmobile they'll give me will have a backrest or not and I doubt they'll want to permanently modify the snowmobile for a para to ride. The place told me they have only ever had one other para ride and the guy kept going off the trails, getting stuck and not being able to get up to dig himself out of the snowbanks or whatever, they had to keep going and rescuing him I ride horses and use velcro straps that I made myself to keep my feet in the stirrups and I was thinking I'd bring those along but I don't think they would really work all that great for a snowmobile because they wouldn't be long enough to really wrap around anything. They are only long enough to wrap around my feet and my saddle stirrups. I don't think my legs and feet will stay where they will supposed to on the snowmobile without something holding them there because I will no doubt want to ride fast, hard, and aggressive. Otherwise I'll be bored! We'll stay on the trails and there will be a few AB people out there with me who can always help out if needed but I don't want to be getting annoyed with my legs flying off the thing.

[Liberty]

Just want to say congrats to everyone on this site for getting there butts out there and doing the things we can still enjoy. Here's a few pics of my new ride with the only add on I put on is a backrest. Once I have my feet planted in the footwells they don't move. I have logged on about 700 miles of trouble free riding so far. If you have any questions about adapting a snowmobile for riding,pm me.

another pic......

another pic....

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[twisted_ophelia]

Liberty, on Feb 17 2009, 03:40 PM, said:

Just want to say congrats to everyone on this site for getting there butts out there and doing the things we can still enjoy. Here's a few pics of my new ride with the only add on I put on is a backrest. Once I have my feet planted in the footwells they don't move. I have logged on about 700 miles of trouble free riding so far. If you have any questions about adapting a snowmobile for riding,pm me.

another pic......

another pic....

Awesome pics! I just PMed you. I can't wait to go snowmobiling, I bet it's going to be so much fun!! I'm just hoping I don't end up face down in a snowbank

[KennyB]

Just want to say congrats to everyone on this site for getting there butts out there and doing the things we can still enjoy. Here's a few pics of my new ride with the only add on I put on is a backrest. Once I have my feet planted in the footwells they don't move. I have logged on about 700 miles of trouble free riding so far. If you have any questions about adapting a snowmobile for riding,pm me.

another pic......

another pic....

Hey I'm glad to see you have such good taste in sleds. I love mine. How do you carry a wheelchair on that. Here's a pic of mine. I carry a "Champion 2000" and it works well for me.

[Liberty]

Hey Kenny, nice sled. Is that the turbo model??? Great to see you out enjoying nature again. I don't have any pics of my sled with the wheelchair attached, but since I have the long track model, there's plenty of room behind my seat to strap my chair, All I do is fold the back down and set my chair upright on top of the tunnel with bungy cords. Works great. Keep enjoying those Canadian trails!

[AndrewB]

Yeah.. at one time the winters here in missouri were nothing but Snow.. nice snow too, fresh n powdery .. i used to want a Snow Mobile so bad. Id have no use for one now. Thankyou global warming... but if i ever get a chance to take one out somewhere i would love it im sure.

[ornumm]

Winter's coming! .... New to this wheelchair thing as of May 09 but glad to hear about the sled'n. I have a zx chas Grand touring and a 03.5 BM Rev, would the zx or rev be a better ride with a SCI?

May not do any puddle jump'n now.