Wow, we have had some amazing rides in the last few weeks!! We started at YAMAFEST in Revelstoke, BC a few weeks back. Yamafest is a Factory Yamaha sponsored event where you can come and ride all the new sled models and watch some of the best and craziest chute-climbers in the world bash it out and ride hard in an all-out make-it-or-break-it carnage-fest! Great times! We then rode for 3 more sunny days in Canada, visiting 2 new areas and hitting one of our favorite riding areas with some helicopter footage being one of the highlights! Shawn Hastings, Dan Bush, Cam and Tyler Hicks, Randy Swenson, Mark Mesenbrink, Brett Coupal and I had a riot up there! Special thanks to ROB ALFORD for doing some guiding for us and thanks to Kathy from Revy for taking pictures from the chopper for me!!!
We then rode some new areas in the states and had a crazy day with Doug Anderson, Wes Little and Travis Hyde. The first bowl we come to Wes tries a chute on his Propane-powered Apex. Well the fresh snow was so deep he got stuck right at the top of the one-sled wide chute! Yikes! He started digging. While stuck, Doug then tries a chute off to the right and his motor seizes right at the top and he doesn’t make it! A tremendous crash ensues (Doug was fine!) and Travis and I spend the next half hour supporting Doug’s cause. Doug finally out of the tree he was in, Travis takes my sled for a test ride and we climb a few chutes on it and lo and behold, my air comes out of my Fox Float shock in the rear suspension and all of a sudden I have a low rider! Travis then hikes into Wes’ predicament to help him out and finally Wes rodeo-rides back down the chute to us sitting at the bottom. On his way back down, Travis breaks his trottle cable and BOOM, 3 hours on the mountain and 3 sleds BROKEN!!! We limped out to the parking lot by 2:00pm and took off for home, leaving another day or 2 of riding behind!
Then Trennis Baer and I met with the Discovery Channel crews in Lincoln, Montana for some avalanche education interviews and filming. Fun stuff and watch for it on the Discovery Channel!
This weekend Brad Story, Trennis Baer, Wes Little, Doug Anderson, Julio Eiguren, Julie Marquart and I (along with plenty of support people) hit the biggest, newest stuff we could find in Wyoming. The first day we explored a new area and lo and behold, Julio shells his Apex motor in a no-tow zone! Yikes! We leave his sled on the mountain to call the chopper. With the nearest chopper with a lift permit out of Salt Lake City and hours away, we have no choice but to try to get it out ourselves. Not being able to get it out of the small hole its in, Julio and his friend John set out to find a way down an impenetrable drainage. While they look, Doug, Scott (Julie’s hubby), and Julie hit some cool stuff. Then, Trennis and Brad and Doug go HUGE on some of the biggest chutes in the Wyoming Rockies! Unbelievable! Finally, Julio and John find a way out and for the next several hours we work our buns off to get Julio’s sled off the mountain. It works. YES! Our third sunny day, Sunday, started out with Trennis hitting a monster chute! Then Julie pulls a crazy line and trying to get down from the top, she rolls her turbo Apex out of the chute! Not hurt (sled slightly hurt), we kept riding. Wes and Trennis then waited ’til early afternoon and they both went off!! What an amazing display of riding skill and savvy! Trennis and Wes and I departed ways and all involved came home with huge smiles on their faces!!!
Next ride??? With Doc NESBO! Yay!
I would also like to thank one of our 2009 sponsors, Neal Bouma from Bouma truck sales in Choteau and Great Falls, MT. They are such a diverse company, you MUST visit their website for more info! Here a some info to start:
Neal Bouma grew up on the family farm east of Conrad, Montana. He has seven siblings. He was involved in custom grain hauling whenever the farm work was done. He then started hauling grain to Lewiston, Idaho in 1978. Neal moved to Choteau in 1978 and built a new shop to repair his own trucks. By 1980, he was running 5 trucks. By 1982 he decided to sell all of his trucks and trailers as there seemed to be a demand for the farmers and ranchers to start running large trucks of their own.
In August, 1982, Bouma Wholesale was founded and started buying and selling mechanic work and repairs, along with used trucks and trailers.
A new office was built in 1989 and added onto in 1995. The parts building was added in 1986. The main repair shop and parts building burned down in December 1992, and by October of the next year, a new and much larger shop and parts facility was built.
In 1997, Neal changed their company name from Bouma Wholesale to Bouma Truck Sales. By the year 2000, they were employing almost 25 people including salesmen, bookkeepers, welders, mechanics, partsmen, bodymen, wash and detail persons.
Bouma Truck Sales opened their second location in Great Falls, MT, in 2004. This location sells and services mostly “Yellow Iron” (construction equipment) and some trucks and trailers.
Bouma Truck Sales now covers 35 acres in 2 locations and sells about 500 pieces of equipment per year to places as far away as Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Colombia and Saudi Arabia.
Neal and his wife Patty have also been in the horse business since 1985. They breed and sell American Paint and Quarter Horses to buyers all over the world. They specialize in Cutting, Reining and Working Cow Horse bloodlines and have strived to improve their bloodlines every year. Their clients come from as far away as Brazil, Italy, Venezuela, Poland, France, Norway, Austria, Germany and Australia.
– April 20, 2009