awesome pics of some Pisten Bullys

[9420pullpan]

i would love to get the chance to run one of these!!

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[CascadeScaper]

I have about 4 friends who are snow cat operators at local ski areas. Thought about taking this winter quarter off so I could get the chance to actually run one. I played with an older PB back home in a parking lot of my local ski area, nothing serious though. They're so fun to ride in, been up some really steep stuff in one. Seat belts are a must or you'll fall out of the seat going down a slope.

Oh yeah, that one picture with the Schaeff S2 on the back deck, what a great idea! I saw an S3 go by a few days ago on the freeway, I would love to have one for some of the terrain out here.

[Tacodriver]

I used to run snow cats at a local ski hill for a few years, they are amazing machines. The freegroomers with blade and tiller weighed in at a about 17000lbs and the winch cats weighed about 24000lbs with 275hp motors. Talk about driving a hot rod, 5-6 mph up a slope you would have trouble standing on. I worked at Norquay in Banff and if anyone has skied there they know its pretty steep. Going for big slides with trees whizzing by was pretty normal.

For the first two years the hill ran the Bombaidier(sp) Snocats they were ok. Good machines just not as smooth and refined. The last year i was there they bought a Pisten bully winch cat, 6.6liter Mercedes rated at 275hp with full fly by wire drives and throttle, just step on the throttle and go. The winch came with a 1000meter long winch cable. Something iteresting about the winch is that the winch does not actully pull the machine up the run, it helps transfer weight to give the blade more bite and keep the front of the tracks on the snow.

Lots of memories of long night shifts trying to stay awake on black diomond runs, telling the snow-making crew to stay away from the winch cable, pulling someone out of the trees:Banghead , sliding down runs a few feet away from trees and many amazing sunrises:bouncegri . If any one ever gets a chance to go for a ride take one.

[CascadeScaper]

A good friend of mine who's spent 2 years on a cat said his buddy hung up the top of the cat under the top station on a Dopplmayr high speed. He got fired. Also heard some stories of getting close under a lift and chairs on the lift have been swung by the wind and busted out windshields.

From what I'm told, the newer Bombardier's are pretty nice, it was the older BR400's that were straight hoss's. About 4 years ago when I went the newer BR 275's had just come out and they were the cat's meow. For some reason the heating system was terrible, the guy I was riding with says the climate control sucks, either it was too hot or too cold in the cab, never a happy medium. I took a ride in a PB 260D a few years back and they seemed to be much more refined back then, but I think Bombardier is catching up. My local hill is still running older Bombi ME Plus's, but I think they upgraded one cat to a 275.

[2004F550]

the slopes they can take those Winchcats up are really intense

[Steve Frazier]

C'mon pullpan, fess up!! You just want to be around when they tap that ice cold keg!!:drinkup

The one with the compact excavator attached is interesting. The frame must be pretty stout to mount that to it.

[9420pullpan]

alright Frazier ya caught me i dont know if im gonna pass up some ice cold beer

i keep finding cool pics of those machines, i hope on winter i can get a chance to spend a whole season on one. i was thinking either Alta in utah or maybe Squaw in Ca. til then ill keep dreamin

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[CascadeScaper]

The cool thing about these machines is that they LOOK slow when in actuality top speed has to be around 15-20 MPH, they haul @$$!

Makes me sad seeing that 240D sunk, 240's and 260's were a great series for PB.

[Countryboy]

What kinda price range do they run?

[CascadeScaper]

No winch, $300K. With a winch setup, I think it's another $60K or so.

[Countryboy]

Well, that also answered my next question....where to get one. No Pisten Bulley for me.:spaz

[Tacodriver]

I just remembered oneof the lift mechanics that I worked with told me about a hill in B.C. that ran a old thiokol with a 460 cobra jet motor. Stock they came with a 300ci ford industrial. He said it had enough trackspeed to float on top of the powder sort of like a snowmobile. That would have been a thrillride.:bouncegri

[CascadeScaper]

While we're on the subject, I went on a snowcat skiing trip in Cataldo, Idaho a couple years ago. This guy and his wife run the operation, and the guy was at one time a Thiokol mechanic and has tons of experience working on snowcats. He has a couple older Thiokol Sprites, a couple mid to late 80's LMC's that were designed for utility use, a super nice LMC that was maybe only a couple years old that he used to break and maintain roads, and the cat they used to transport skiers? A Thiokol undercarriage with a Chevy or Dodge crew club van body (14 passengers) all jacked up and fabbed onto the Thiokol undercarriage. The motor was a big block Ford gas motor with 6" chrome pipes coming out the back. That thing ROARED when it would take off. The guy is truly a mechanic genius, the whole rig was custom. Guy does the snowcat skiing operation as well as provide access to remote cell tower sites for phone company's service technicians during the winter. Makes pretty good coin.

My ultimate goal, and it's a farfetched one, is to start up a snowcat skiing operation back in my home town. I've done a lot of backcounty skiing and just love getting up in the hills and out civilization to ski some awesome terrain. The terrain would be perfect with good snowfall and an average elevation of 8,000 feet plus. Problem is getting the permits to do so. I can only dream of such an operation.

[Mike J]

What is that thing on the front in the second to last pic?

[Mike J]

Oh never mind. That's a neat looking snowblower. Do they use those on halfpipes or something?

[CascadeScaper]

Yeah it's PB's halfpipe cutter. A company called Pipe Dragon produced some of the first, but now PB produces the best cutter, so I'm told anyway. The blower helps get the cut snow out of the way, the original cutters didn't any any mode of removing snow away from the cut.

[334 lawn co]

i saw em run one of those cutters on the discovery channel one time. pretty cool.

[CascadeScaper]

They guys I've talked to that run them say they're crazy easy to run, even though they look somewhat complicated. Apparently, it's flip a switch and go. Before I die, I will be on a snowcat for a season or two, they're just too much fun. You have no life running the cats, sleep during the day if you're pulling grave, swing isn't so bad as you're done by midnight, but grave really sucks. 12AM to 8AM.

[bushcat]

The low groung pressure makes them ideal for tramping swamps or muskegs for building winter roads for exploration up here in the north