December 3, 2010
The Snow Goer staff is putting the finishing touches on the last issue for the year. It’s amazing how quickly the time goes by. It seems like just last week we sent our season premier issue off to the printer, but here we are in early December, with snow piling up outside our Minneapolis-based office.
This time of year is especially exciting because we’re transitioning from the labor and stress of putting together informative, fun and engaging snowmobile magazines (the “work” part of our job) to gathering content for stories we’ll publish next fall (the “fun” part of publishing snowmobile magazines).
I’ve picked up some of our demo sleds, so I’m ordering and tracking down studs and carbides for those sleds, and fine-tuning my list of clothing and aftermarket products to test this winter for future Cold Tested stories.
Even though Snow Goer doesn’t own the sleds, there are things that need to be done in order to get them ready for the season. License plates need to be riveted on the tunnels, we’ll have to install cargo bags on several machines, handlebars and controls need to be adjusted, spare belts and spark plugs put in place, not to mention we need to track down and fix a horrendous front-end squeak on our Polaris 800 Rush Pro-R (how can a setup technician even think it’s acceptable for a new sled to be delivered in that condition?!).
Next week, editorial director John Prusak, associate editor Tom Kaiser and I will sit down and plan riding destinations and travel stories (we’ve got some exciting trips in mind; including a destination near the Atlantic, another one in the whereabouts of New England and yet one more not far from a desert!), determine who’s going the sneak peeks to see the 2012 models (they’re coming up next month!) and figure out who’ll attend other major snowmobiling events this winter.
What else keeps us busy to get ready for the snowmobile season? I bought two John Deere Trailfires this week; a 340 and a 440. The 340 runs only on one cylinder (fouled plug?), and the 440 doesn’t run at all (I think it’s out of gas). And with snow in the forecast for Minnesota, I hope to tear into the machines this weekend and take them out for a ride.
Prusak’s son is taking a snowmobile safety certification class this weekend, and if we’re lucky, the elder Prusakian will learn a thing or two about snowmobiling, too. Kaiser’s also getting geared up for a cold winter. He’s looking for a high-tech base layer to help keep him warm during his winter travels. Oh, and he’s in the market for a 20-something Cougar, an Arctic Cat Cougar that is. So if you have a line on one in Minnesota, let us know.
— Andy Swanson