Alaska Mining And Diving Attends Ski Doo VIC 2003
On January 23rd through 26th Alaska Mining and Diving Supply sent its Ski Doo sales leader along with three of its Very Important Customers to Priest Lake Idaho to have the very first look at the all new Ski Doo Summit Rev! Nick Olzenak along with Brant Grifka (Treasurer of ASSA), Steve Wilhelmi (Editor of Alaskan Snow Rider), and Robert McVitty (Veteran Ski Doo Rider) flew to Spokane, WA then drove on to Priest Lake, ID for the first ever Western Region Ski Doo VIC ride. This event is designed to create an environment in which the average customer can interact with factory experts on the design and making of an all-new snowmobile, in this case the Summit Rev.
First Impressions
My name is Nick Olzenak, I am the snowmobile sales team leader at Alaska Mining and Diving (AMDS). My type of riding is very much different from that of the majority of our customer base at AMDS. My riding consists of almost all backcountry freestyle riding with the occasional ramp exhibition. Freestyle Snowmobiling is a very aggressive variation of an otherwise contemporary sport, and is growing very fast within our industry. My current sled is a 2003 MXZ Rev race chassis with a mostly stock Rotax 800 with DPM. For me this has been the most incredible performing sled I have ever ridden, strength, weight, agility, and versatility are all top notch. With the 121” track I have been able to hammer the bumps hard and at the same time ride the steep and deep better than my Summit 700 could ever do. My Impression of the MXZ Rev is that it will do most anything you can throw at it, from big bumps, big jumps, to deep fresh pow! The only time you could ask for anything longer is when you’re trying to get the highest mark or ride the deepest of the deep. For everything I have done with my Rev the 121” track has been phenomenal, then I rode the Summit Rev.
Ski-Doo Summit-REV
The 2003 VIC event was the hardest weekend of work I have ever had (not really). Arriving on the shores of Priest Lake at the Hills Resort was amazing. Ski Doo VIC banners, huge Ski Doo semis; Ski Doo’s everywhere, what a sight. The weather was about the same as we have seen here in Alaska all season, warm and wet. With 18” of fresh white stuff our hopes were high of a great test ride on the new Summit Rev. Our ride started where the highway maintenance ended at about 3000’. We rode in on that same groomed highway about 30 miles to where we branched off into smaller groups to experience different terrain on the Summit Rev. First things first, when you punch the throttle for the first time you had better be holding on tight. The 800 HO combined with a sled weighing 35 pounds less than the ZX chassis pulls hard, very hard! With 10 tooth drivers the first thing you notice is that your speeds are topping off at just over 90mph. Those speeds with a gear ratio of 19/23 are fast in my book without losing any bottom end grunt at all. The terrain in northern Idaho is very much different than that of ours here in Alaska mostly due to the fact that you’re almost always in the trees. With that said I found myself traversing down through the trees off the main trail. I made what I would like to call a wrong turn into a thick patch of trees on a 30-40 degree slope. I thought that for sure I would have to wait for some help to pull the sled around and up the hill. With no help in sight I decided to give it a try and bring the sled around under its own power. No problem, even in the wet dense snow I was able to lay the Summit Rev on its side and whip it around in a very tight spot and power right back uphill weaving through stumps and trees. I knew right then that this was a sled I had to have. Enough from a salesman, here is what our Very Important Customers had to say...
Brant Grifka;
Nick: How many years have you been riding snowmobiles? Brant: 7
Nick: What sled do you currently ride? Brant: 2002 Summit X 800 w/144” track.
Nick: What type of riding are you accustomed too? Brant: Mountain Riding, deep powder, and hill climbing.
Nick: At first glance what are your thoughts on a Summit Rev with a 16” wide track? Brant: Impressive, you really do not even notice any negative effects of the 16” track.
Brant: I love this snowmobile! Very nice package has everything I want and nothing I don’t.
Robert McVitty
Nick: What sled(s) are you currently riding? Bob: 2001 Summit 700 151, 2000 Summit 700 151, 1997 Summit 500
Nick: How many years would you say you have been riding snowmobiles? Bob: 20 plus years
Nick: What type of riding are you most used too? Bob: Off trail, mountain, and boondocking
Bob: “Power and track, awesome”, “Trail handling super”, “Getting back on my sled after one day on the Rev, the front of mine feels like a boat!”