When I purchased “Polly the Snowmobile” everyone told me it couldn’t be done.
To start with, I had no where to park a snowmobile. Turns out, you can park a snowmobile in the back of a truck, so my mate Cole helped me buy a truck. We figured it out.
Nobody could tell me how to put Polly on the back of the truck…. with the help of Dave the Sailor, a few crashes and lots of embarrassment, we figured it out.
Towing skiers behind Polly was the whole idea of buying her. First, we tried Al’s water ski ropes which didn’t work. Then Little Spoon had a think about it. With some bicycle tubes and some simple knots…… we figure it out.
Getting Polly stuck has been a problem since day one. This is something I have failed to figured out.
This crater is where I got Polly stuck early this winter. A solid 2 hours digging her out. I really should know better….. but I haven’t figured it out.
I’m beat,,,, I wouldn’t make it home for another 10 hours….. We really screwed up this day and this was just the beginning.
Mike currently holds the title of ‘Most Asian Driver’. Was he going to park it in the back of the truck, or just on the trailer? Mike couldn’t decide….. so parked it in the middle.
And here is Mike and I getting THE MOST stuck so far this winter…..
When it comes to riding Polly, on average, the ladies seem to jump on Polly and ride her much harder than my bloke mates. I’m not kidding. The ladies seem to be much more gun-ho.
In the end, it doesn’t matter who is driving…. when it comes to getting stuck, we haven’t figured it out.
In the photo below is the lovely Kaylee after a nothing crash that we fixed in a couple of minutes. Kaylee,told me…. “The tree just appeared in front of me.” (you can see the snowmobile tracks in the photo).
Despite evidence of the tree standing still for the last 20 years…. I sympathized with Kaylee and agreed with her version of what happened. Pretty girls get away with things…. even I’ve figure that out.
Speaking of pretty girls, here is Aussie Tanya. Tanya drove mega huge mining trucks in Western Australia for 2 years….. Tanya jumped on Polly and took off like a bat out of hell. 20 seconds later.
These next photos are from one of the coolest days I’ve had on Polly. This day I enjoyed the company of a couple of chicks who have been to 4 Winter Olympics combined.
I was on my best behavior, I was scared that Polly would break, I was scared one of the girls would break, I was scared my chosen route wouldn’t work (it didn’t but some guys helps us which super saved my arse).
After the sun had set, I was skiing behind Polly (the girls were driving nut to butt…. does that doesn’t work with 2 girls? – I’ll have to think about that). I had a pair of skis on both shoulders as I was towed through Camp Hale in darkness.
Camp Hale was the base and training area for the the 10th Mountain Division which was created at the start of WW2. The 10th was created for alpine warfare. During WW2, the 10th fought against the Japanese in the Aleutian’s (Alaska), and the Nazi’s at the battle for Manicinello (which many of the Vail ski runs are named after – Riva Ridge).
997 men of the 10th lost their lives. I always get a wee chill in my spine when arriving at Camp Hale.
I was sore, exhausted and freezing (I was bloody cold but no way I’d complain about it arriving at Camp Hale), there was not another person except our crew for miles with only the light of the snowmobile.
Among the ghosts of giants, we made it home, without breaking anyone, or anything. I’m going to count that as, figuring it out.
Enough crashes and self deprecating humor (it is always the funniest).
Time for some skiing, that is why I bought Polly after all. Generally, my mates like my girlfriends, I like them all of the time, they just stop liking me – hahaha. Funny thing is, all my mates love Polly.
Jason after being towed up by Polly, about a Mile from the Chateau Grindlay.
Jason getting some more camera time. After he skied this run I am heard on video saying “I think it is time for Jason and Polly to get more familiar with each other and start towing my arse up the hill.”
Snowmobile Andy has been super patient with me over the last 4 years.
My favourite chute. All these pics are snowmobile accessed but really not far from my place.
Jason chasing me after Snowmobile Andy towed us up.
This is when I thought Jason and Polly should spend more time together…. towing me up. See how Jason’s ski tracks (over his left shoulder) disappear into that wee rock/cliff band? I have the video footage….. it is awesome.
Andy Hoyle on top of the best run of his life…. until next week.
Dan getting kinda stuck. He figured it out.
My old mate Eric was up and after some skiing at Keystone… we burned some fossil fuels. Last summer Eric and I drove some ATV’s and it was nice to return the favour. Eric and Polly are old mates.
Earlier in the winter, I had a chance to take Justin and Little T out for a spin. Justin has a beautiful boat in Aussie and it was super awesome to be able to take these guys out for a wee spin.
My Brissy Rollerblading mate Shaz was in town, and she and Polly got along just fine.
