There are plenty of people out there who will look at this question and flat out say no just go and get stuck and you will figure it out. Snowmobiling can be the most frustrating and most exciting sport you ever get yourself into. Taking a lesson or two will make a big difference in your riding and will make you want to get back out there for days on the sled. As well, taking lessons and renting a snowmobile first will help you decide if the sport is for you before you go out and spend the big bucks on your own snowmobile.
Many people will spend the first, quite a while, getting stuck and swearing at their snowmobile after getting stuck for the fifth time in ten minutes. It’s exhausting digging out again and again. At least here in British Columbia Canada the snowmobile of choice is the Ski-doo Summit 850. These are amazing snowmobiles and can get you anywhere you want to go. These snowmobiles are very powerful and can be quite scary for a new snowmobiler to try to learn on. If you take a lesson, Ski-doo offers the Summit 600 which is a bit more gentle of a ride for the new snowmobiler. These snowmobiles are fantastic sleds to learn on. They are more gentle than the Skidoo 850’s when getting used to the feel of the thumb throttle and they are more than powerful enough to climb mountains and carve in deep snow!
Many of our new clients will spend a few sessions on the Skidoo 600’s to work on their technique before moving to the more powerful Skidoo 850’s. By doing this the learning curve is not as steep as if you are learning technique while trying to control the power of the Skidoo 850. If you are considering buying a snowmobile it’s worth it to come out take a couple of lessons on the Skidoo 600’s before heading to the shop and buying your first sled.