Any purchase of new gear or equipment is cause for excitement, and the more money is involved, the more anticipation seems to build up. A new snowmobile is a relatively large investment, (read: the most expensive thing I’ve ever bought,) but there was a distinct wave of hesitation as my premier ride on the machine approached.

How much money did it cost? Enough.

Is this a good investment? Depends, can you invest in fun?

How much gas will it burn? A little.

How much pow are you going to get in your face? All of it.

As soon as the cord pulls the engine to life, all questions dissipate into a bright blue sky alongside a puff of smoke from the exhaust. A solid crew, consisting of a friend/IT guy and the sleds’ previous owner plus his friend, embark on a totally average December powder day at 10am on a Sunday – not exactly the crack of dawn. On the plus side, we arrived well after the 300 or so other sledders and didn’t have to battle the pole position for 5 extra minutes of fresh tracks in Chocolate Bowl. Even after people were starting to tire of the non-stop pow, there was plenty of fresh bowls and zones to explore. Pics, cause it happened.

The crack of blue is purple lions.

Next thing you know, you’re above green. Only white and blue from here on out…

Quick little blast up to the alpine on the Powder Harvester 8000.

Pat, leaning into the freshie freshes.

Downhill pow to the face and didn’t fall into the hole, so that’s a win.

Getting hard to find photos with distinguishable human anatomy. Here’s a helmet and glove.

José to the ridge.

Filip pushing snow around.

Is a Pow-Carve to Hip-Check a Pow-Check?

Jose in a state of total facial immersion.

General disgust at the state of things.

Some familiar friends bathed in fine evening light, saying goodnight.