DSG Clinic: Learning to Snowmobile the Right Way

When you've been snowmobiling for years, you can get set in your ways. After all, you've spent hours on the mountain doing what you love. But what if:

1. What you thought you knew, you did not?
2. Your foundation for what you thought you knew was flawed?
3. You needed to start over and relearn what you thought you already knew?

The three above questions were the ANSWERS to what I learned at my latest DSG Ladies Backcountry Clinic by Stephanie Schwartz in Sicamous, BC, in February.

Let me back up a bit. I've been happily learning this silly sport for about seven years now, and I thought I was an intermediate rider and had a few skills and tricks down pretty well. I mean, I can get myself loaded on the mountain, and in and out of a few stuck situations with the best of them. I spend a majority of my time riding with my husband and a close group of friends riding in and around McCall, Idaho. Once a year I pack up and travel to a clinic to learn and practice my skills with other women. My first big adventure was the Upper Peninsula of Michigan two years ago, followed by Togwotee, WY, last year. 

This year, I decided to get that passport and venture across the border to Canada. I was, of course, singled out at the border and they needed my social security number to allow passage, which is much like the airport search I needed to go through when traveling to Michigan two years ago. I decided to round up two friends to come on the adventure with me this year, as well as their husbands and a few straggler guys that thought Canada would be a great riding adventure.

I get a majority of my training from my husband and the guys. When I screw up, I learn that I did not in fact use the throttle correctly and I should try it again with more commitment. I need to "make the sled" go the way I want and try to look like I am in control. I understand the words spoken and the visual clues that come with the hand gestures given during these "coaching" sessions, but I lack the ability to translate this into a more acceptable attempt. These coaching sessions led me to seek other forms of coaching and riding with women who clearly understand this better than I do.

The best way I've found to find women to coach me is to attend clinics, which brings me to the "What If?" section of this post.

What if what you thought you knew, you did not? Well, I thought I knew how to carve on a snowmobile and counter steer my sled pretty well. Turns out that I was just getting by and had some pretty major form issues. You see, the way you hold your arms is just as important as the sled responding to what you are doing. I could make my sled carve and counter steer with my wings tucked up tight against my sides, but when I hit a snow ghost or other obstruction, I was in a bad place and locked in tight. I couldn't respond correctly because my arms were in the wrong spot. Stephanie identified my arm placement issues immediately and said it is common and a "safe" position that a lot of women have to learn to overcome.

The second form issue I encountered was pointed out by Corrisa Schurek, who was coaching and taking photos at the clinic. Corrisa noticed I was doing lake carves and donuts with a body position that was not ideal. I didn't stand up tall and straight, and therefore didn't have the leverage over the sled that proper position would give me. Last year, Dave Chadderdon worked tirelessly to get my body position correct in relation to the bars to have the most power.

The third issue I had was also pointed out by Corrisa as I struggled to learn to side hill my weak right side on a slope. Corissa pulled me aside and asked, "Why do you not use wrong foot forward technique when you are on edge? You have the opposite foot up front, and it positions you to drop back down the hill rather than wrong foot allowing you to be opened up to the upside of the hill." She asked me if I could "give it a go, yeah?" I was quick to spin around and "give it a go" and tangled up my feet trying to get comfortable and in the right position. I then fell off my edge, then off my sled, and right down the hill in front of a giggling Stephanie who was surprised I held on that long. Stephanie pointed out that it's much easier to pull a sled up off the mountain than getting the edge back up if I allow it to fall. I was instructed to pull it over too far and work from that position, rather than keep dumping the sled down the hill in frustration. Simple snippets of information like this are "Ah-Ha" moments that are huge for me to comprehend the process. The next pass was successful and even allowed me to control my sled on edge, through trees on the side I've never been able to manage.

What if you needed to start over and relearn what you thought you already knew? Well, I felt like day one on my sled with new information and a focus on where my feet and arms are supposed to be, where my sled is headed and if my body position is correct. I have looked back on a lot of my "good" pictures from the past and I see some of these glaring errors that if corrected in the beginning, I would probably be a lot farther along in my skills bucket. It is important to know that one tip doesn't work for everyone and having a vast number of people willing to help you progress will be the most helpful.

I really wanted to learn "shit hooks" or uphill turns on the slope at this clinic, but after learning that I really had some work to do on what I already thought I knew, I decided to keep working on my foundations and get strong with proper form, so when I'm in more control and in the proper position, learning "tricks" will be easier to grasp.

There are a lot of clinics offered all across the country, and I encourage women riders of all skill levels to look into one that might be right for them. Learning new skills is almost secondary to the network of other women involved in the sport and who will become life long friends.

Sign up now for a DSG Outerwear 2018 Ladies Backcountry Clinic.