Mountain Cat in the Den

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The new sled in the trailer, a 2008 M8 162" Arctic Cat. It's a long story, but I'll keep it short.

I sold the 2008 700 RMK 155", it had about 400 miles. I kept the 2008 700 RMK Dragon 155". Ended the day with a 2008 800 Mountain Cat 162" track, the sled is in excellent condition with about 500 miles.

The Cat is going to be an awesome sled for sledboarding. With a 162" track it's going to hook up and climb anything I dare. The Cat is supposed to be the top deep powder boondocking sled in the mountains. The Polaris Dragon kicks out 140 horsepower, the Cat is putting out about 146 horsepower. For sure the 800 will have more grunt up the steep mountains pulling a snowboarder. This is going to be an excellent opportunity to ride two of the top ranked mountain sleds. The Polaris Dragon 700 and the M8 Arctic Cat. I didn't plan this scenario it just fell into place.

I have the Dragon set up completely for us. I raised the handle bars up to 5.25", put a left hand throttle, snowboard rack, ice scratchers, gas can rack, removed the windshield and mounted a set of hand guards. This sled rocks. The Cat will be my project over the next 4 weeks. To set up for my riding style, I'll need to put a riser block for the bars (90% of the riding in the mountains is standing up), hand guards, ice scratchers, and a new taller, shorter seat. Then mount a snowboard rack.

I rode the Dragon on two of the 4 trips last year. The second trip with the wild bunch, we rode in epic conditions, 4 feet of fresh powder over 3 days. The first day in the backcountry it was about -12 degrees, with 35-40 MPH winds, it was super light powder. it was great on the ridge tops with the snow blowing across. The Dragon performed great in theses conditions. I will be looking for these conditions to run the Cat in and add more snowboarding to the adventures.

Two different sleds, it will be great to ride both different set-ups, first hand comparing. Two trips in December, coming up fast. The planning and gearing up for the adventures is a huge part of the whole experience. Both the gear and the body have to be in shape for the, GOOD TIMES!!

Many paddles to move the powder and climb the mountain.