The sleds are out

It's pretty much a sure thing that three or four unfortunate souls are gonna expire in snowmobile accidents this weekend.

We've been seeing heavy snow since yesterday afternoon. There's more on the ground now than we've had all year. That brings the sleds out.

Sledding is one of those recreational activities that's going the way of the passenger pigeon if Greta Thunberg has her way. You gotta admit there's not a lot to be said in its defence.

"It's a fuckin' blast" doesn't count.


And it is a blast. Trouble is, we rarely get more than six weeks of sledding weather in a year. The low end of the market for a new sled is pretty close to ten thou. For ten thousand dollars your gonna have a maximum of six weeks of rip-roaring fun.

A new sled depreciates like crazy. That ten grand sled might give you back five in three years, if you've kept it up. You paid five thou in depreciation for eighteen weeks of sledding. That's on top of your actual running costs, insurance, trail pass, and so on.

Do the math. You can rent a new sled for a couple of hundred dollars per day, all in. Do that three or four times a season, and you've got your sledding itch under control.

But no, there's guys all over this county who have high end sleds in the garage, way over that ten grand threshold. They get a good blanket of snow, and off they go.

Nevermind that the trails aren't officially open. Nevermind that they're running in the first zero-visibility blizzard of the season.


I can hear the sleds from the front porch, fast and furious...