The Ultimate Trailhead Approach Vehicle?

I saw this TAV during my daily morning news search. Embedding in a WildSnow.com blog post was mandatory. Backcountry skiing folks: enjoy, cry, or buy. Your choice.

More here.

22 Responses to “The Ultimate Trailhead Approach Vehicle?”

1. Rusty November 10th, 2009 9:14 am

   cry.

2. Michael Kennedy November 10th, 2009 9:25 am

   When are you going to get one to review?

3. Patrick Odenbeck November 10th, 2009 9:28 am

   I can’t wait to see a winter Pike’s Peak hill climb with some of these redonkulous vehicles.

4. Chase Harrison November 10th, 2009 9:45 am

   Aspen Mt. powder tours eat your heart out.
   Thats just sick.

5. Ray November 10th, 2009 11:17 am

   Hi Lou,

   I am looking to get my 10 year old into AT. Can you recomend a binding that would work well for her both in resort as well as backcountry.

   thanks

6. gringo November 10th, 2009 12:09 pm

   hooray for motorheads with too much money! if i had an extra 500,000 laying around i think that would be the ticket for long, glacial valley approaches in British Columbia…

   I love to day dream.

7. B November 10th, 2009 12:32 pm

   I like how he wipes out the ski tracks

8. Lou November 10th, 2009 12:32 pm

   Ray, just put ’em on some Fritschi bindings, any model.

9. andrew C November 10th, 2009 1:53 pm

   I was kinda hoping the vehicle would hit the pole at about 1:15. Is that mean?

10. Lou November 10th, 2009 1:56 pm

    andrew C, I don’t know, perhaps Andrew M has the answer? :angel:

11. Thomas B November 10th, 2009 2:28 pm

    motorized progress will eventually make allies out of skiers and sledders and that mighty lobby will force the trax sti car users….to run on veggie oil!

12. Nate November 10th, 2009 3:09 pm

    Of course it has a snowboard on top 😉

13. Lou November 10th, 2009 3:23 pm

    And, I thought the ethic in the Wasatch was that you don’t cross any tracks? My faith has been shattered!

14. john Gloor November 10th, 2009 9:33 pm

    That thing is Awesome! What a fun toy if you have too much money. As a moto gearhead I can appreciate it. Seriously though, It can only go on relatively flat ground, you cannot sidehill it, and I doubt it has any deep powder ability. Can you imagine a 3000+ lb stuck snowmobile will hundreds of hole digging power? It is a fun toy for flatlanders, but you will not see it where you go touring, unless you like plodding snow covered roads.

15. Lou November 10th, 2009 9:38 pm

    I’ve seen a snowcat with a 457 big block and the lowest gearing imaginable get stuck in deep powder, so yeah, the tracked Subie is more a novelty than anything else. More, I’ll bet it eats axle shafts for breakfast if it’s taken anywhere gnar…

    But what a laugh that video is! The part where he wipes out the ski track is just over the top. Like, now I understand the anger… :cheerful:

16. Lou November 10th, 2009 9:39 pm

    Come to think of it, that might just be a Subie body dropped onto a tracked ATV…

17. Mark November 11th, 2009 12:14 pm

    Regardless of what the thing can’t do, as enumerated by the above, the video shows a bit of what it can do. Aside from picking apart the thing, the video is nothing more than an adrenaline-pumping sledneck-porn piece.

18. Western Slope November 11th, 2009 1:36 pm

    If ya cain’t drive arounnd then it ain’t worth doin’. AMerca’s drivin more then ever. Lame enviros. That thing is rad!

19. john Gloor November 11th, 2009 8:31 pm

    Mark, I want to make it clear, I think the car is great and would love to drive/own it. I was not knocking it, more letting people know that they do not have to fear seeing it where they tour. Plus I bet it is super expensive. The tracks alone cost about $15,000 to put on a 4×4 truck.

20. Lou November 12th, 2009 7:42 am

    Yeah, that thing is a novelty and just meant as something amusing to watch.

    On the other hand, I would agree with my radical environmentalist friends that due to the innovative and questing human spirit all OHV technology can only improve and allow OHVs to access more land (proved by what we’ve seen with ATVs and snowmobiles over past decades). Thus, alll of us who value recreation on public land should all be working together to figure out how to keep it all appropriate and properly regulated so the “antis” don’t take control and just ban everything.

21. Xenon HID November 27th, 2009 10:06 pm

    Nice blog.I think the car is great and would love to drive/own it.

22. Jayne March 16th, 2015 6:46 pm

    Enjoy!