close call this weekend

S

Sx700

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Dec 17, 2003
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Location
Glen Ellyn, IL
Just wanted to post this to warn everybody about knowing the terrain that you ride on. On saturday on are way to lake and the clouds, we went threw white pine. Well coming into town heading north theres a big field that runs off the side of the trail. So me and one of the other guys with me took off threw the field toward the gas station on the other side. So doing about 75 mph threw the field, all of a sudden I was air born, next thing I knew my head slammed into the dash board. There was a stream running threw the middle of the field with a 20 foot drop on each side. But because of the heavy snow cover and sun I didn't see a thing coming. My buddy that was behind me saw everything, He said I cleared the stream and then slammed skis first into the other side of the hill. So a broken windshield, tweaked suspension, 2 chipped teeth, a bruised up face and a cut up chin later, it was all over. Needless to say I wasn't the leader for much more of the day. :eek:
 
Damn ....I feel your pain, I had that happen several years a ago but it was on a unfamiliar trail that the ice fell out of a river crossing early in the year and now warning signs...hope your doing well.
 
That sucks man , my buddy broke his back a couple years ago in muni hit the other side of a huge ditch ...hope you get better soon ....not that you want to hear this but ....Stay on the trail !!!!!!
 
Ouch, Hope you heal fast . . .


Good rule to follow . . .

Walk down - Run Back

Make a slow speed pass before blasting any ungroomed area.

I also like to know whose property I am on if I leave the trail.
 
Good to hear you came away from the crash alive. I have to add that I have no sympathy for people who ride off the marked trail and hit something. Most areas along side the trail are private property and continued riding off the trail will close the trail or at least a section of it. Burns me to no end when a section of trail is clearly marked “Stay on Trail” and there are tracks off the trail in the posted area. I believe most snowmobilers have no idea how long it takes to get a section of trail approved to be able to use for recreational purposes. Even if it’s not posted, many open fields could still be on private land with sensitive growth under the snow, which will be damaged with continued use. Be smart if you want this sport to continue, on groomed trails, just because somebody before you made tracks does not mean an area is open for all to use. By the way if you go west across M-37 from the Baldwin staging area and follow the tracks due west rather than follow the marked trail around the tracks, and along the road, you will get a ticket if caught, warnings will not be given.
 
Dnrtheil ... do you speak from experience on the Baldwin trail? We use to ride that area all the time. I always took the short cut going straight instead of the actual trail route. Don't know how it is now, but when we use to ride it there wasn't much for trail markings, for the longest time I never knew the trail went around the tracks.

I was up that way this year, didn't go on past baldwin, but did see cops sitting trail side in the area you speak of.

I think they may have helped more if they were sitting outside the bars ... guys were pounding them down and it wasn't even 2 in the afternoon!
 
I was jumping mounds of snow across a field a couple of years ago until I hit one that looked like all the others, sent me going one direction and my sled going another with parts flying. Found out I hit a smallblock chevy engine someone had dumped. I was lucky, I just had the wind knocked out of me but my sled didn't fair as well. Hope your doing Ok, sounds like you got smacked pretty good. Reminds me of reading here a couple of years ago about Skidooboy's meeting with a culvert. He got it pretty bad. Soc
 
You're lucky you're alive. Running 75 mph across an unknown area off trail is just not real smart. There could be anything under that snow. Guess I don't have to tell you that.
 
See this is the thing, there were no signs saying no sleds.. It was county or state property. The trail comes out of the woods right into town, the trail jogs to the left and then heads toward the gas station which is about a quarter mile ahead. There were tons of tracks going threw the field, but most of them went around the ditch. I don't ever go off trail besides where I know it's legal. Has anyone gone threw white pine, and know what Im talking about??? Its on trail #1 that runs from bergland to white pine then to silver city and up to lake in the clouds.
 
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yea i never go cranking off trail anymore after hitting a ditch with my XLT when i was 14. I was only going about 45, but i went down into a little valley and started going up the other side i nailed a boulder about 3 ft in diameter. It caught the pto corner of the bulkhead and twisted the frame. My knee went through the back of the hood and got pretty cut up. I flew almost straight up in the air, and landed on the hood. My body smashed up the hood pretty good. that one hurt. Head on collision once too with some jackass on an exciter (he was 14) on the wrong side of the trail coming up OVER A HILL! :o|
 
yamahagirl said:
Dnrtheil ... do you speak from experience on the Baldwin trail? We use to ride that area all the time. I always took the short cut going straight instead of the actual trail route. Don't know how it is now, but when we use to ride it there wasn't much for trail markings, for the longest time I never knew the trail went around the tracks.

I was up that way this year, didn't go on past baldwin, but did see cops sitting trail side in the area you speak of.

I think they may have helped more if they were sitting outside the bars ... guys were pounding them down and it wasn't even 2 in the afternoon!
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I have been going to Baldwin since my dad built a cabin in 1974. Currently he is the President of the Trail Riders Snowmobile club; I myself am just a member/volunteer. I do what I can to help out, but living in Portage I do not get to help on the trails as much as I would like. My dad’s biggest effort since he and five other guys started the club about 1995 has been towards trail routes through the area, so he deals directly with all of the governing bodies’ involved with putting trails trough. It has only been the last couple of years that a town-approved route has been marked through the city. It is well marked, but there is not a sign to tell you to stay off of the tracks. It is assumed that people will follow the trail markers/arrows. We have no control over were the cops park and watch, they have been asked to watch certain areas.
 
Had a little incident myself last week but I was on the trail or so I thought. We were returning from the days ride and were 1/8 of a mile from the hotel, the Best Western in Ishpeming. They had recieved about 30" of fresh powder over a 2 day period (Monday & Tuesday) and the wind was blowing pretty hard which made the trail very tuff to find. I was the lead sled going slow just carving my way thru the powder and just started to turn back to the right and BAM, next thing I know I'm rolling down the trail minus my sled. I gathered myself up and looked back to see the guy behind me sliding sideways to miss me. Did I mention it was night time? I'm still don't have all my bearing at this point as I rang my bell pretty good. Before I could figure out what happened my buddy is flying down the trail, I was like thanks then I realized he was after my sled which was rolling at a good pace down the hill towards the road crossing...lol. He got it stopped before the road thank god. All in all nothing was broke on the sled or me.
 
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