I'm thankful for heated grips, passenger grab handles and the eye-catching charm of those twin headlights.

I'm thankful for that awkward moment when the company PR hack asks the talent to "Ride this thing together down the beach, flashing us your big smiles."

And I'm thankful it's Friday, April 29, 2016.

After penning a thoughtful editorial about the new 2017 Arctic Cat 9000-Series turbos here last week, Jim Dimmerman was given a chance to ride the new 180-hp rocket on Lake of the Woods this past Tuesday.

In addition, he compared it with a 2017 9000 turbo with the Suzuki engine, including a series of drag races against his longtime friend and former Team Arctic teammate, Larry Coltom.

Click to read Dimmerman candidly discuss the new 9000 turbo, the "old" 9000 turbo and whether or not the Thundercat has earned its namesake title.

Jim Dimmerman is the one rider who's name is synonymous with the original Arctic Cat Thundercat of the 1990s. The former Team Arctic legend and World Champ was the first and highest-profile pilot to pilot the iconic T-Cat to a series of NSSR World Speed Records beginning in 1993.

Dimmerman raced, sold (via his former Cat dealership) and otherwise exalted the mighty Thundercats until Arctic Cat discontinued the model after 2002. He patiently waited for its return ever since.

Now that it has returned, Dimmerman checks in with some interesting background and opinions about the new, 180-hp boosted rocket. What he has to say might surprise you.

Click to read Dimmerman dissect the newest T-Cat.

I'm thankful there's a way to extend the snowmobile season into spring (and even summer).

I'm thankful for this whole, new snow bike craze that has everyone fired up.

I'm thankful that if you have to ask, you wouldn't understand anyway.

And I'm thankful it's Friday, April 8, 2016.

What can sometimes get lost in our insatiable desire for all-new stuff, is the top-level performance and calibration that occurs on machines that have been around the block once or twice.

To wit, from the editors at OSM Magazine:

"In fact, after our second go around with the sleds during the annual spring Snow Shoot evaluations and photography session in West Yellowstone, Montana, it was Arctic Cat who delivered the most consistent ride quality and handling characteristics over any other brand when viewed from top to bottom. No matter the sled grouping or category, our riders pointed to Arctic Cat as the one sled to consistently perform with predictability and comfort…a bold statement and no small feat given today’s broad swath of models."

CLICK HERE for their full story about the 2017 Arctic Cat snowmobiles.

Six years of April Fool's prank attempts here have finally cast a light on who the real fool is: Me!

Well...no more Fool's pranks!

Click to read some background, and my plan to bank some credibility for myself and this site.

Just announced: the limited production 2017 NxTLvL 860 in the GameChanger 2.0 chassis!

As anticipated, this all-new machine delivers the next level of riding performance.

Click to read all the juicy details.

It wasn't looking good for my family's planned spring break snowmobile trip to Lutsen, Minn., last week. Warm temps and a lack of recent snow suggested that we were going to go sightseeing rather than snowmobiling.

And then Ma Nature dumped 18 inches of snow, and we were treated to some of the most stunning winter visuals (in my) recent memory.

It was so beautiful that my wife even stopped wishing she was in some warm weather beach location.

Click for some pretty pictures of what snowmobile sometimes looks like.

Recently Swedish Luleås Arctic Cat dealer Navis (Ronny Rönnberg) and SMP Performance shop (Patrik Löfdahl) put together a party at the local Måttsund ski hill that included 2017 model Arctic Cat sleds, Wildcats, hill-drag races (under the lights!) and more.

Erik Jönsson attended and sent the following pix. He reports that it was a fantastic event, with great people and excellent racing.

Click to see a few pix.

Recently I was fortunate to spend a couple days at Arctic Cat in Thief River Falls (and the surrounding area), where I checked in on some of the people who make our snowmobiles, ATVs and side-by-sides.

There was the usual buzz of production, engineers testing snowmobiles, interesting creativity and Team Arctic snocrossers pounding out laps in nearby Fertile, MN.

Click to see some of the action.

Last week eight friends and I gathered for day of snowmobiling on the CJ Ramstad North Shore Trail.

There were World Champs, I-500 champs and one media guy who has no credibility. In other words, we were a bunch of chumps.

As per usual, shenanigans ensued, hamburgers were consumed, animals were harmed in the making of the show and we somehow managed to log 120 miles without catastrophic failure (I think).

Click to read about our Ride with the Chumps.

Seriously impressive job by this guy who turned his Smart car into an enclosed sit-in snowmobile.

Guy walks into a store with an axe. Clerc asks, "Why the FXR gear?"

Click for more newsbits.

For the better part of 50 years, snowmobile one-upmanship has been predicated on who's fastest across the lake.

I asking you now: Does it matter?

Click to read and answer the question.

There's no way to fully honor a man who has so singlehandedly shaped both Arctic Cat and the snowmobile industry.

But there IS this stunning, cool and commemorative Roger Skime-Edition 2017 Arctic Cat ZR 6000!

It's (very) limited, it's in the new body plastic and it's just the kind of lightweight, premium-performance snowmobile that the legend himself has pursued for 55 years.

Click for the info.

At last, Arctic Cat has launched their 2017 line of snowmobiles!

It will be a year that throws more than one surprise, both for what machines it is offering (new Thundercat!) and for what it isn't (read the story).

There's a lot more to say about the 2017 Cats, and I'll have full-feature stories in the coming days and weeks.

For now, here are the 16 things you must know about the Arctic Cat for 2017.

I'm thankful the roving band of thugs who had been terrorizing innocent neighborhoods have been displaced by men on snow machines.

I'm thankful the streets are (finally) safe.

I'm thankful I'm NOT the guy sitting backwards on the Diablo Rouge that's leading this hit parade.

And I'm thankful it's Friday, Feb. 26, 2016.

Last week I had the great pleasure of watching 240-plus kids get to ride passenger on snowmobiles near Baxter, Minn., many for the first time in their life.

The kids, aged 7 through 20, were born with cognitive or developmental disabilities, and they were PUMPED about the day!

The event is called the Region 5 Special Olympics Winter Carnival and organized by Confidence Learning Center in Baxter.

Click to read about it.

I'm thankful for the close relationship between big engines and big, er, stuff.

I'm thankful for fast sleds and fast women.

I'm thankful that, for as long as men have dreamed up ridiculous photo set-ups for ther machines, there are always one or two women who agree to participate.

And I'm thankful it's Friday, Feb. 19, 2016.

You gotta LOVE it when high school students ride their snowmobiles to school! And it's even better when they do so with one of their instructors.

That's what happened yesterday when teacher Dave Guenther (second from left) and four students at Pequot Lakes (MN) High School rode to class.

In addition to being the school's art instructor, Guenther has taught snowmobile safety in the Brainerd Lakes area and is the President of the International Snowmobile Hall of Fame in Eagle River, Wis. Oh...and he's a HUGE fan/collector of Arctic Cat snowmobiles. And he's an awesome guy!

Guenther reports that he will retire from teaching this year (his 36th) so he can concentrate on doing more snowmobile-related stuff.

Thanks for being a great teacher and role model, Dave. I'm looking forward to hearing about all your upcoming adventures.