I’m sure we’ve all been there; some guy is handing out stickers, your inner childhood thoughts of “I need that!” or “it would look awesome on my helmet” take over and you’re begging some brand rep for stickers. Sounds familiar. Well that’s exactly how I ran into Paul from SCS Unlimited as he was surrounded by sticker hungry kids at this years Winter XGames.
The official Wildsnow.com Sled Wrap
Well to be honest it wasn’t Paul who was surrounded but one of his sponsored athletes, Heath Frisby, who just threw the first front flip on a snowmobile in history. This one was planned, unlike my attempts at gunning the throttle into soft snow only to be ejected and therefore tomahawking through the air countless times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF-cPl093Dk
I wasn’t in line or baring my chest for an autograph, I was there to check out the machine that just catapulted a human being hundreds of feet through the air.
Heath Frisby's's XGames sled
Knowing that I would never truly know what the guts were inside, I simply went on what I saw from the outside: a seat with a hole through each side for a superman grab, handlebar wrist stoppers to perform inverted tricks, snowmobile foot straps to aid in-air control, and a sweet paint job. The last part was deceiving.
This was no paint job but a DPF 8000 3.8 mil satin white, high-tensile, polyvinyl chloride film combined with a Convex Gloss laminate that is 8 mil thick placed on top of the 3 mil base layer providing 11.8 mil of protection. 14.8 mil of protection that is guaranteed to last for 7 years. I was assured this was tougher than any paint job.
Mounting and remounting skis by day and night to form the Ultimate Quiver has had me make a few glances over my shoulder at the M8 dressed in black.
The naked Arctic Cat
Something needed to be done to the trusty steed while Lou was over in Europe, telling tales of chest deep powder from yesteryear and then proceeding to ski just that for almost a month straight while eating Bavarian treats. Jealous I was.
After carefully selecting from one of the many wraps on his site we settled on “Playground” (See all the options here ) as our theme. Armed with one of Paul’s SCS Unlimited sled wraps the transformation began.
Shipped neatly in a tube, the wrap arrived and visions of backflips began. Not really but close. After flattening the adhesive on the bench I attempted to figure out just where each piece went on the sled. I caved in and turned to the online-directions for some help.
SCS Wraps online tutorial. The last sentence is especially true!
After giving the M8 a proper wash in some denatured alcohol I went about placing the precut stickers on the corresponding panels. Aided with a heat gun, Exacto knife, and a few pieces of flexible plastic (expired credit cards to be exact) I slowly, very slowly, placed the graphics in the desired place.
This is not a process that you can do in a few minutes. (See the last sentence in the instructions) Best to cue up a Grateful Dead show and prepare for the long haul from sound check to encore. Additionally, having a shop minion is highly advised for the larger sections such as the hood cowl. I was solo.
The results were nothing less than spectacular.
Naked Arctic Cat no more!
With a few alterations and re-tries the sled was ready for 2013’s X games. The real question is what is Lou going to throw over those jumps?
Finished SCS Wrap job. A tad bit longer then one complete Dead show but well worth the bling factor.
Many thanks to Paul and his team at SCS Unlimited for their help in transforming the Wildsnow petrol sherpa .
Joseph Risi was raised on pasta and meatballs in the “backwoods” of Long Island before seeking higher education in the mountains of Vermont. Always looking for adventure, building treehouses, working too many odd jobs around the world he now lives in the Aspen area of Colorado.
