I remember going to the races as a kid and there would be a bunch of these things RIPPING around on the track burning alcohol and making a shit ton of noise! Man those were good times. I love these big bore tanks. They handled like driving a log through mud but man they could move. It was all you could do to hang on. Its great to see one again! ❤
So glad you posted this it brings back great memories for me. I’m 53 and growing up in the 70s for me was haveing a garage full of sleds and bikes. My father had a 292 Blizzard in the line up. That thing was so Loud, and I’d make him start it every chance that I could. He had a 74 440 FA “Free Air” and my brother a 340 FA that was custom painted by a rattle can by yours truly ( how I survived that one I’ll never know, that he took yellow decals off and had it all white with the orange or??? Black vents on top, I’d have to research that. He also had a 640 that didn’t get much love after the newer ones came out. That sled is beautiful right there. In 78 Ski Doo went by the wayside after going to the races one weekend. A few weeks later Pops came home with a brand new 78 Yamaha SRX 440 and that sled had many a man go home teary eyed or very angry because it was the King in the the valley. Hudson Valley NY. My favorite of all sleds and I almost had a mint showroom all original one back in late 80s was the Yamaha SSR. The most beautiful sled ever created in my book. I mention this because you can see that they bit off the blizzard design a bit. Just lowered and cut it all down. Thank you for the memories my man!
The 70's would have been such a cool era as there were so many manufactures coming up with ingenuities, solutions and innovations! The sleek styling of the sleds were some of the best to date!
I watched Yvonne DuHamel win the 1972 Canadian Power Toboggan Championship in Beausejour Manitoba on one of those sleds. He hit speeds of 96 mph ! His teammate Gaston Ferland finished 2nd and Dave Shack from Beausejour finished third. They all ran these sleds out of Lucko’s Ski Doo shop right next to the track. As a kid I had never seen sleds go so fast and I will always remember that day ! Oh ya there were 25,000 people at those races !! Thanks for sharing that sled Carl ! Maybe see you out there when we get some snow. By the way, Polaris closed their factory in Beausejour later that summer.
WOW,Brings back awesome memories,My dad raced these in the 70s,a 797 and a 340,he also raced a 1971 Moto Ski 650 Bullet.There aint nothing like the sound of a triple with pipes!!
Thats like owning a brick of gold~ super rare and highly collectable if you can find one that isnt destroyed! what a find! thanks for the video, Happy New yr!
The 797;s were monsters back in the day, it would be interesting to know how many engine/manufactures built 800's in that era....my rough guess 10??? Am I even close?
It is a beast! The 797's or 800's as commonly referred to were legendary! It would be neat to know haw many manufactures built "800" in the early days!
1972 out of Alaska? I'm sure I watched that sled race at Big Lake...many times. Can't recall who was running it then (Wade Charles/Kronquist?), but since I was a 16 year old obsessed 'snowmachine' (that's what most Alaskans call sleds) nut back then, who bled black/yellow blood...I never missed a race. Thanks for the memories! 😎
Super loud super sketchy tight ski stance dart master lol I remember these sleds when I was a kid going to the Ski-Doo ranch near us watching these things rip it up while riding my Elan …
Oh yes. Mostly for racing only and small build numbers. Arctic Cat went one better and stuffed a four cylinder 800 Kawasaki with pipes and carbs into the infamous 1971 King Kat. All these sleds are heavy sketchy behemoths to drive at the limit. I don’t know about the Doos but the King Kats first appearance gave the USSA a heart attack and they were not happy about that four banger monster. They started scheming a phase out of the 800cc class as too dangerous. I think 1973 was the last year for 800s in ovals in the USA for a long time. So the companies just pushed the 650s to be as fast or faster than the early 800s. The USSA responded by saying ok, no 650 mods on ovals after about 1975. Technology advanced in engines so fast that by the end of the 1970s the USSA was pushing to drop 440s from Ice ovals. That’s why the so called Formula One 340 ifs class was created. All these rules did was create a class of expensive 340 skinny aero missiles that still ran 95 mph on the large ovals. Ski Doo Rotax was getting a rumored 85hp plus out of their final 340 F1 sled engine. That’s probably what they got out of their early 1971 650 at the decades start. The seventies was nuts. Glad this ones saved here.
Would be interesting to know how many different "engine manufacture's" built 800 triples or 4 cyl in the early 70's? Or.. how many different snowmobile companies used the same engine suppliers?
@@CarlKusterMountainPark Kawasaki made the King Cat 4 cylinder. Wisconsin, Hirth, JLO, Suzuki, Brutanza Engineering, Sachs, Kohler and Rotax. I may have missed some. Hirth still makes engines to this day. Super high tech and low tech 2 strokes for planes and crap.
Had the pleasure of driving a 440 blizzard racer.
A true lasting memory of power.
Sweeeeet!
I remember going to the races as a kid and there would be a bunch of these things RIPPING around on the track burning alcohol and making a shit ton of noise! Man those were good times. I love these big bore tanks. They handled like driving a log through mud but man they could move. It was all you could do to hang on. Its great to see one again! ❤
The races in the 70' must have been wild! The smell of Castor bean oil with alcohol is something to experience!!
@@CarlKusterMountainPark I just remember my eyes burning every time they went by. 😆
Golden Spectrum and Klotz mix had the best smelling burned fuel ever!
So glad you posted this it brings back great memories for me. I’m 53 and growing up in the 70s for me was haveing a garage full of sleds and bikes. My father had a 292 Blizzard in the line up. That thing was so Loud, and I’d make him start it every chance that I could. He had a 74 440 FA “Free Air” and my brother a 340 FA that was custom painted by a rattle can by yours truly ( how I survived that one I’ll never know, that he took yellow decals off and had it all white with the orange or??? Black vents on top, I’d have to research that. He also had a 640 that didn’t get much love after the newer ones came out. That sled is beautiful right there. In 78 Ski Doo went by the wayside after going to the races one weekend. A few weeks later Pops came home with a brand new 78 Yamaha SRX 440 and that sled had many a man go home teary eyed or very angry because it was the King in the the valley. Hudson Valley NY. My favorite of all sleds and I almost had a mint showroom all original one back in late 80s was the Yamaha SSR. The most beautiful sled ever created in my book. I mention this because you can see that they bit off the blizzard design a bit. Just lowered and cut it all down. Thank you for the memories my man!
The 70's would have been such a cool era as there were so many manufactures coming up with ingenuities, solutions and innovations! The sleek styling of the sleds were some of the best to date!
I watched Yvonne DuHamel win the 1972 Canadian Power Toboggan Championship in Beausejour Manitoba on one of those sleds. He hit speeds of 96 mph ! His teammate Gaston Ferland finished 2nd and Dave Shack from Beausejour finished third. They all ran these sleds out of Lucko’s Ski Doo shop right next to the track. As a kid I had never seen sleds go so fast and I will always remember that day ! Oh ya there were 25,000 people at those races !! Thanks for sharing that sled Carl ! Maybe see you out there when we get some snow.
By the way, Polaris closed their factory in Beausejour later that summer.
That would have been awesome, Yvonne DuHamel was my hero as a kid.
I was only 12 my dad took me to that race .
Yvonne is legendary! Thanks for the history, 25,000 people at the races now would be a welcome sight!!
Thanks for posting one of these machines being ridden. I miss the 72 Blizzard 395 that I restored and rode a few yews ago.
Glad you enjoyed it!
WOW,Brings back awesome memories,My dad raced these in the 70s,a 797 and a 340,he also raced a 1971 Moto Ski 650 Bullet.There aint nothing like the sound of a triple with pipes!!
The sound draws full attention.
Wow that would have been a great arsenal of race sleds!
Thats like owning a brick of gold~ super rare and highly collectable if you can find one that isnt destroyed! what a find! thanks for the video, Happy New yr!
Well...it handles like a brick of gold anyways HAHA
What a great old beast of a sled!
Cool to enjoy is small dose's lol. Would be brutal to spend a full day on it...Folks were just built tougher back then!
@@CarlKusterMountainParkthank you for the compliment I was one of them
That's awesome! I was 7 when that was built lol praying for snow here in Pa or in selling my sled! Facts..... 💯💯💯
That's an awesome machine! I thought the biggest that Doo went in the 70's was the 640 TNT.
Truly a "grip it and rip it" machine
The 797;s were monsters back in the day, it would be interesting to know how many engine/manufactures built 800's in that era....my rough guess 10??? Am I even close?
It is a beast! The 797's or 800's as commonly referred to were legendary! It would be neat to know haw many manufactures built "800" in the early days!
That my dream 1972
This was such a neat sled with some race history!
Those retainer clips normally were secured by small cables
1972 out of Alaska? I'm sure I watched that sled race at Big Lake...many times. Can't recall who was running it then (Wade Charles/Kronquist?), but since I was a 16 year old obsessed 'snowmachine' (that's what most Alaskans call sleds) nut back then, who bled black/yellow blood...I never missed a race. Thanks for the memories! 😎
Were the Smith bros form the AK race scene back then?
nice sled!
Beautiful sled the reason they’re so rare is they only made 300 of them and 300 6050s
Still a great sound, even if it isn’t as fast as nowadays, the sound makes up for it.
That is a true statement, the triple sound is synonymous with snowmobiling... I dearly miss it!
The 797 Blizzard was rated right around 102 hp, which was quite a mile stone at that time.
That was a big number back then.
Super loud super sketchy tight ski stance dart master lol I remember these sleds when I was a kid going to the Ski-Doo ranch near us watching these things rip it up while riding my Elan …
Accurate handling description...haha
This was after the King cats and they were by that time obsolete.
The King's came in a 3 cyl and 4 cyl versions I believe, not sure which was first? They were also a very cool /fearsome sled in their day!
Too bad we don’t have snow anymore to go riding😢
You can't take that
One on the trails
Unless you want
To pay $500 find for the loudness
I had no idea they had 800 triples back then?
Oh yes. Mostly for racing only and small build numbers. Arctic Cat went one better and stuffed a four cylinder 800 Kawasaki with pipes and carbs into the infamous 1971 King Kat. All these sleds are heavy sketchy behemoths to drive at the limit. I don’t know about the Doos but the King Kats first appearance gave the USSA a heart attack and they were not happy about that four banger monster. They started scheming a phase out of the 800cc class as too dangerous. I think 1973 was the last year for 800s in ovals in the USA for a long time. So the companies just pushed the 650s to be as fast or faster than the early 800s. The USSA responded by saying ok, no 650 mods on ovals after about 1975. Technology advanced in engines so fast that by the end of the 1970s the USSA was pushing to drop 440s from Ice ovals. That’s why the so called Formula One 340 ifs class was created. All these rules did was create a class of expensive 340 skinny aero missiles that still ran 95 mph on the large ovals. Ski Doo Rotax was getting a rumored 85hp plus out of their final 340 F1 sled engine. That’s probably what they got out of their early 1971 650 at the decades start. The seventies was nuts. Glad this ones saved here.
@@glenmallory9982Thanks!
In 72 there was a Tn't 775 that produced 52 hp but was a twin.
Would be interesting to know how many different "engine manufacture's" built 800 triples or 4 cyl in the early 70's?
Or.. how many different snowmobile companies used the same engine suppliers?
@@CarlKusterMountainPark Kawasaki made the King Cat 4 cylinder. Wisconsin, Hirth, JLO, Suzuki, Brutanza Engineering, Sachs, Kohler and Rotax. I may have missed some. Hirth still makes engines to this day. Super high tech and low tech 2 strokes for planes and crap.
Made to compete with the Rupp Magnum?
To compete with ALL the other competitive brands, The early 70's had the most manufactures in circulation.
Hey Carl is it yours?
No I wish it was. It was a display piece at CKMP for a few seasons.
Cool. I love old stuff!
I m 54 and used to watch u race up the hill! Awesome.
Plus it's illegal on any trail system or lake. It's only good for private property
It’s a dog on skies beware of the King Articat
King Kat's were super cool sleds too!
"skies"? how about skiis. Dream on!
Put some better pipes on it I'd put against a new non turbo sled
pipes are decent....the porting and carbs would also make a big difference!