A few pictures from todays ride. Sad. Bad ice.

[kimoaj]

Hi guys!

I`m in a hurry but I`ll post a few pictures from todays ride. It all started off really nice, great weather and everything was perfect. My brother in law was really eagering to take the recently purchased mountain max for his first ride.
We were three guys in total, me, my brother in law and a friend with a Vector MTN.

This is me, ready to go riding

My brother in law filling gas.

Pitstop

Brother in law having some trouble up a hill, doesnt look that steep but it is.. .

 

[kimoaj]

Stuck, unexperienced rider

Woops

Anyway, we had a great day and climbed on the highest mountain on our island, 1006m high. (from sealevel).

On our way back we had to cross a lake that lies 330meters above sea level, we had checked the ice and were sure that it was safe. (we crossed the lake on our way up on the mountain).

My brother in law was in "last position" , at the end of the water we slowed down as we entered land. My brother in law rode in the exact same "trace" as we did, then suddenly this happened:

When it happened he put the throttle to the bar, but the rear end just went down.

I found a rope in my seat-storage room and we tried to pull him up, but the rope was to short and I didn`t have enough pulling-force anyway.

I rode home (40minutes of riding) got some more ropes and a shovel and rode back again.

We managed to put one rope in each ski, then we tried pulling it up with my friends Vector MTN and my SRX. No good luck.

Slowly she sank, and now she`s 100% under water.
Our plan is to make the ropes go through the ice and let the sled travel under the ice into land, and then we`ll try to make a huge hole in the ice to get it up. But the shovel broke so we`ll go up there tomorrow morning and try to save her.

Gees this sucks, I feel so sorry for my brother in law who has been looking forward to ride his (first) sled.

I have some more pictures, I`ll post them later.

So everyone, make sure the ice is good before you cross a lake!.
Luckily this happened 15meters from land, if it had happened in the middle of the lake the sled would be lost.

Wellwell

 

[chadg]

Holy chit. Sorry about his sled but the main thing is that he is ok. You can replace a sled but you cannot replace a life. Keep us posted.

Chad

 

[Bischof]

Wow, interesting story. Glad to hear everyones ok.

 

[Brauten]

Do you need help? where do you live.

 

[xsivhp]

How deep is the water there?

 

[maxdlx]

sounds like it wasn't running when it went in, which is good. get it out, get it to a heated shop imediately, and get back to us. it can be save if it is taken care of quickly. Maxdlx

 

[daman]

Thats too bad...his new sled too ,glad his ok and hope you get her out..

 

[mulderdad]

Cut where you want the ropes to go with a chainsaw.
Then use the saw to cut out the hole by the shore.
Chainsaw works great through ice.
DON'T STAND BEHIND THE GUY CUTTING WITH THE SAW!
YOU WILL GET A COLD SHOWER!! Don't ask me how I know this.
mul

 

[Dave_Vmax600]

Cut where you want the ropes to go with a chainsaw.
Then use the saw to cut out the hole by the shore.
Chainsaw works great through ice.
DON'T STAND BEHIND THE GUY CUTTING WITH THE SAW!
YOU WILL GET A COLD SHOWER!! Don't ask me how I know this.
mul

What he said ^......chain saw is the best way....oh yeah the rooster of water...watch out for that

 

[theblues]

Holly SH*T

Wow, hope he's alright...Don’t despair, those are tough sleds you’ll bring her back to life & he will ride again…there’s some lesson to learn from this…how’s the vmax you rebuilt…strong runner…

 

[kimoaj]

Hi guys !

Thanks for all the replies, really nice to read. I havent checked the thread since I wrote it, but we did exactly like mulderdad said, it seemed like the best way to do it.

We went to bed 02.30 last night, went out of bed 08.00 and then started to prepare the "rescue" .

Brother in law eating breakfast, tired as you can see.

Me eating breakfast, hehe. (also tired)

After eating breakfast I went out to fill up my SRX (with gas). I got the tank full and walked around the sled, suddenly I discovered this:

Do you see something wrong here?. I do.

Gees!.

In other words, a great start of the day!.

Since we couldnt use my sled I decided to call my boss who has an RS Venture TF, he had just had it at the dealer for service, and his trailer is so little that (I have to) remove his windshield in order to make it fit in the trailer.

 

[kimoaj]

I rode my SRX (carefull) to my boss and mounted the windshield/headlights.

Ready to go

We then went back to our house and gathered all the equipment, chainsaw, ropes, some timber planks, etc.

 

[kimoaj]

We then headed for the drowned sled, about 40 minutes to ride from my house.

Luckily we got there without getting stuck a single time.

Cold...

 

[kimoaj]

I guess this is what mulderdad talked about.. .

theblues, you can see the v-max I rebuilt in this pic, they came up to the lake a little later.. . Still running strong.

I even made a cross to honour the drowned Mountain Max.

 

[akrievins]

Umm, how the hell did that sled break through the ice, and all of those others sitting side by side only a few feet away from the breakthrough didn't?
Was that a hole someone cut in the ice before? I just don't get it.

 

[kimoaj]

Looking brighter

There it is !

Getting closer to the surface

 

[kimoaj]

Finally !!

Then we packed up all the equipment and started towing it home, which was to be the hardest part of the whole rescue, some of the hills were to steep so we had to find alternative places to ride. Luckily another guy with a Lynx 6900 showed up and helped us towing.

Stuck..

 

[kimoaj]

Shot a pic while riding down a loong hill.

 

[kimoaj]

Finally home!

Engine compartment.. .

When we got it home we put it into a trailer with "roof" and put the trailer inside a (non insulated ) garage, we then but a fan owen and a gas owen inside the trailer, should get it pretty warm.

Will go down and have a look at it tonight, I don`t know if we should try to get it running tonight or if I can wait to Tuesday (work tomorrow), (will try to get the water out of it tonight tho). I guess the ball bearings and the pistonrings will rust quickly?.

What should we do with the sled?.

I will be really greatful for any tips! .

Well I`m hungry gotta get something to eat.


Joakim.