As some of you know I am in California for a few days escaping the cold of Montana. Driving around the L.A. area has been quite an experience for me, especially trying to figure out the different freeways etc. Good things are coming soon that I can’t quite talk about yet, but there are three new sponsors I will be working with. Between video, clothing and optics I will be styling going into Winter X.

Practice has been going really well, and thankfully I have nailed down some new variations on some solid tricks. I am looking forward to getting home and riding in some deep snow, not on the dirt! As the holiday season approaches I would like to bring up a sad subject, but one that everyone should pay attention to, avalanche safety.

Everyone has a snowmobile with plenty of power to get into and out of scary situations, and most riders wear beacons along with shovels and probes. Everyone should carry this equipment when heading out riding anywhere to be safe. Yesterday a good family friend of mine passed away in a avalanche while riding. Joel Barrie was 24, and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family, he will be missed. Please take a look at sites like Avalanche.org and take some safety classes.

Needless to say, my trip has been cut short and I am heading home. I would like to thank all my friends and family in this stressful time, as well as my sponsors like Red Bull for standing behind me. Have a safe weekend.

Heath

Yesterday was the long drive home from Winnipeg and I wanted to show off my new trailer. After all these trips around Canada for the New Rock Live Tour, I needed to pull it together and by a enclosed trailer to work and travel out of. It is insulated, fits all six sleds, and will soon be heated. Not to mention it is secure and locks! This will be mobile command during the X Games and other events this winter. I also threw down and bought a new truck a month or two ago since I will be traveling so much this year. 402hp makes towing a lot more fun!

Later

Friz

Through the past years I have really enjoyed competing in Aspen in the Winter X Games. While looking around the internet I stumbled upon the teaser video for this winter’s event in Tignes, France. I personally love the French, think pomme frites are amazing, and would gladly crate my sled and ship it to France. My schedule is fairly open this winter, and if you could squeeze me into the schedule I would appreciate it a ton.

Best Regards,

Heath Frisby

I received an email from a marketing person at the Winter X-Games office yesterday, and to my surprise I am now on a poster! They will be doing a short parody film, similar to something like the Airplane movies, to help get the word out about Winter X. Be on the look out for the ad, I couldn’t be more excited for winter now!

Later

Friz

So those nice guys at SCS Vinyl Works, who do my sled wraps thought of a nice little bonus for those who order new wraps. The first twenty orders come with a autographed poster by yours truly. So give that boyfriend, husband, wife, son, daughter, or redneck neighbor a new sled wrap for Xmas, and keep the poster for yourself!

Later

Friz

Canada has been my new home for the last few weeks. As I’m sure you have all seen, that pretty little Astro van we bought has been serving us well. Simply to keep the miles off our own trucks, we bought that gem to abuse for our travels across the great white north. For anyone who hasn’t been to Canada I highly recommend you watch the movie Strange Brew. It accurately portrays what life in Canada is actually like.

Just kidding, we have been having a ton of fun setting up and breaking down the shows, driving all over the middle of no where, and listening to tons of music. I also got a little tattoo work done in Edmonton by Chris at Tattoo Showdown. I will keep you posted on what goes down at the events as the tour winds down. For now keep checking New Rock Live for all the contest results.

Friz

Interview

If you’re reading this, the odds are you’re probably like me and can’t wait for the white stuff to be falling from the sky. While winter will be here in no time, you have probably spent some time sitting in your garage with your sled, staring, cleaning, and staring some more, just waiting to grab some throttle. So while you’re waiting for the cold to arrive here is a little sled history for you.

The first “modern” tracks were designed by Adolphe Kegresse for Tsar Nicholas the second, somewhere between 1906 and 1916. The crazy Russian slapped the tracks on a few cars including a Rolls-Royce and a Packard truck. These were the first to use rubber instead of metal links (can you imagine if we still had metal tracks haha).  The first snowmobiles in the US were actually Ford Model T’s with tracks in 1916. And were popular for rural mail delivery.

In steps Joseph Bombardier from Quebec. Bombardier set out to make a snow machine that would kill it in both wet and dry snow. In 1937 he came out of the B-7, a seven-passenger snowmobile with a Ford V-8! They were used for Canadian Post trucks, winter school buses and even for the army in WW2.  But Bombardier’s dream had always been to build a small version.

Small snowmobiles like we think of today, were tough early on because engines were so heavy. No super light Rotax, cranking out tons of hp back then. Ed and Allen Hetten and David Johnson (who eventually started Polaris) built the first smaller snow machine in 1955 but it wasn’t until 1959 when Bombardier would step back in and built what we think of the modern open cockpit sled called, you got it, the ski doo. The rest is history. Bombardier grew BRP, who now makes sleds, jet skis, quads, shifter carts and all kinds of big kid toys.

So there is a little history lesson for everyone. Pray for snow.