Yamafest 2011

Well it was that time of year again. Time to make the road trip to Revelstoke, BC to take part in a Yamaha tradition. For the last ten years Yamaha Canada has been putting on this event to to showcase their next seasons products for the snowmobile industry.

HillCrest Hotel Coast Resort  was Yamaha`s headquarters this year.

 But it is so much more than that.Usually on the Saturday up on Boulder Mtn near the "Sugar Bowl" they set up shop with all the next years models for you to test drive. The biggest attraction was getting to try Chris Brown`s Nytro with MCX 240 turbo installed.

Yamafest demo rides Sugar Bowl , Boulder Mtn

Here is the list of what they were demoing.
2012 Nytro MTX with all new Camo "Ascent" 2.25 track. New Drivers, Skis and Seat.
Chris Browns Nytro with MCX 240 kit
Apex EPS with MCX 290 kit
Apex XTX EPS 144
Nytro 153 SE
Venture GT
Grizzly with Tric Track kit(photo by PowderPuff)

Chris Brown`s 2012 Nytro with MCX 240 kit

 This year was a little different in that Yamaha and their partners were teamed up and offered up a mini passport porker run kinda thing. When you signed up to take part in the test rides you were given a passport. So starting in the parking lot and on the trail up there were check points for you to stop and check out what the partners have to offer. At each stop you get your pass punched.

Passport Partners were:
509  ( First stop)
BCA (Second stop)
Canadian Avalanche Center  (Second stop)
GYPA, Klim, FXR,  (Third Stop)
Yamalube, (Final Stop)
SRS and Revelstoke Snowmobile club supported as well

Randy Swenson assisting a demo rider

Due to some circumstances
on my end I got on the hill late but was still surprised to see how many people were still hanging around. As you can see the weather was not ideal for such an event but then again we are snowmobiler`s so poor weather is just part of our sport.

 One of the stops was at the snowmobile clubs new cabin. Wow it is nice but it  had a little damage from the groomer hitting it(photo by DaveB). Yup had to throw that in there. This was a passport stop to check out some of the new clothing featuring  Kilm and FXR .

New cabin on Boulder Mtn

 
Now usually once the demo ride starts to slow down in the afternoon that is when some of the chute pulling begins. This time around though due to poor weather and people just wanting to get at it the climbing started earlier than normal. Unfortunately because of this I did not get to see a lot of it, not that you could anyway because of weather. Stuff did get pounded though down in the airport, upper and lower bullpen and I did get to see the tail end of some action in the the monsterbowl. Snow was deep for this time of year in all area. Some were lucky , no scratch that, some were good enough to make it over. For more info and possible photos on that your best scouring  forums like Snowest, Sledjunkie, Totallyamaha and Snow and Mud.

The day does not end there though. Later that evening this is where Yamaha gives back . Up at the Hillcrest Resort they put on a huge buffet free to all who participated during the day. But there is more, after the buffet we get to meet and hear what Yamaha has in store for the following year. We get to hear from some of the corporate types from back east who get to come out to see what this crazy western mtn riding thing is all about. One thing  they all agree on is that what they see on video does no justice when your actually get to stand at the top of one the chutes. They pretty much think we are all crazy.

Crowd after Buffet

Crowd after buffet

There was a special guest in the house also. All the way from Japan was Mr. Ace Aoyoma. He is the assistant to Yamaha`s president. He looked like he was enjoying himself.

Lloyd Sonnenberg. DSM for Southern Alberta(left) Mr.Ace Aoyoma(right)

After the speeches are given by the Yamaha reps and local clubs and supporters the swag gets handed out. This is where the passports come in. Randy collected them all up and they were used to draw names for the prizes.

Randy Swenson Western Yamaha Canada Rep speaking after buffet

Some of the stuff that was handed out by Yamaha and their partners was insane. From hats, socks, Klim clothing, gear bags it was crazy. There must have been 10 pairs of 509 goggles and a 509 helmet. They also gave away two trackers. It was some serious high end swag.

 So that is about it. If your a Yamaha guy or somebody thinking about getting into Yamaha then I encourage you to try and get out to one of these events. It is a great time.
You can find more photos over in the gallery section.

Anything to add? Have info or links to photos you took though out the day? Please feel free to post the link below.

Thanks.

Here is a video from Adrenalineaddiction on youtube showing some of the climbs made through out the day while Yamafest was happening. Foul language so younger viewers be warned.