Northern Minnesota got hammered with another storm last night, with upwards of 24 inches falling along the North Shore.

This shot was sent to me today from Mike Swinehart, who took it while riding in the Emily, Minn., area.

Click to see another shot from Mike.

Decals are like fine art. They need to be displayed somewhere for you to enjoy them.

For many of us, that display surface is a refrigerator or tool box.

Click to read.

Many of us in the upper Midwest are enjoying a doozy of a snow storm today, April 11.

The talking heads on television and radio are apologizing for the weather.

Friends and relatives are complaining.

What's not to love about an endless winter?

A Before/After of the sweet custom 1987 Arctic Cat el tigre 6000 built by Doug "The Cat Kid" Hanson

Click for some cool pix as well as some background on Hanson himself.

Nearly as shocking as the news of Arctic Cat/Yamaha partnership was that it happened without the industry catching wind of it.

In a sport that feeds on rumor and innuendo, there were no real hints or clues about it from either company prior to the official announcement.

Or was there?

Recently I perused a stack of old sled magazines and brochures to see if there were indeed hints that foretold of this historic event.

I was blown away by what I found!

I can think of no better way to spend the last Wednesday of March than on a 235-mile snowmobile ride with friends.

Bonus: We rode to Brainerd, Minn., to demo the new 2014 ZR6000 and ZR7000!

Click to read about a fantastic end-of-the-season ride.

Snowmobiling, engineers, hockey...

... Check out some of the sights (and even sounds) of what was happening at Arctic Cat this past Friday.

Who says this was a forgettable winter?

Yep, January sucked for winter lovers in most areas this year. But February and March have been outstanding!

And I'm betting on WEEKS of riding remaining in many areas.

Click to read.

What do the new 6000- and 7000-Series engines ride like in the new 2014 Arctic Cat ZR packages?

How do they compare with each other?

Click to read my answer to those questions.

The new Arctic Cat 600 C-TEC2 with Dual-Stage Injection found on the 2014 ZR 600 el tigre is a gem of an engine that features new technology in the snowmobile industry.

Here's a breakdown of those highlights.

Click to make the jump.

See all the new 2014 Arctic Cat snowmobiles, along with their Yamaha, Ski-Doo and Polaris counterparts, at a Sneak Peek stop near you.

The shows start this weekend and run through much of April.

Click to see the schedule and locations.

There are a few locations in the Midwest and West where you can test ride some of the 2014 Arctic Cat snowmobiles beginning this weekend.

Click for the current schedule.

New (old) names... new engines... new tracks... it's a lot to keep straight.

If you want a Cliff's Notes version of what's new for Arctic Cat snowmobiles in 2014, here's my version of what's-new-in-a-nutshell.

Click to read.

Thief River Falls is the epicenter for Arctic Cat snowmobiles, of course.

But Island Park is the company’s annex for mountain the testing and calibration and calibration of its mountain sleds.

Click to see what's inside (and outside) of the company's R&D Test Facility.

If you've had a moment to digest the news that Arctic Cat and Yamaha are expanding their snowmobile business relationships, then check out my analysis of what we know and what can be speculated.

Click for more.

This past weekend marked the 2013 Snowmobile Hall of Fame weekend in St. Germain, Wis.

There were rides, friends, laughter, a few tears and the induction of four great men.

Click to read some of what happened.

Read about his wicked crash, how he hits ditch approaches so fast, his career and how he won the 2013 USXC I-500 cross-country in this interview with Ryan Simons of Team Arctic/Christian Brothers Racing.

Click for the jump.

Want to know how Ryan Simons won the 2013 I-500?

Check out this photo sequence of him hitting the very FIRST ditch approach on day-one of this year's race.

Unreal!

Here's a very interesting and informative video comparing the weights of 2013 Arctic Cat, Polaris and Ski-Doo mountain sleds both in the snow and out of it.

Freerider Rob Kincaid sums it up nicely: "Who cares what it weighs when it leaves the shop?!"

Click to see pix and results.

I admit to having mixed feelings about my 11-year-old son racing snowmobiles.

Despite the nagging mental gymnastics, we raced the USXC cross-country in Oslo, Minn., last weekend. It was awesome!

Click to read about the experience.