HAY DAYS LOOK BACK…TWO BEST DAYS OF FALL DIDN’T DISAPPOINT

There was once a time when the Hay Days swap was filled with treasure. Now it’s more beer and broken dreams, but we managed to still unearth some goodies amongst the aluminum cans including this package deal featuring three generations of Cat.

Be still my beating heart…oh the memories made on this corner hugging beauty. Still one of my favorite Arctic Cat snowmobiles.

Back when I worked at Supertrax under the tutelage of CJ Ramstad, I remember the snow-mo-media being critical of Arctic Cat for their less than exciting graphics. The following year these bold designs told everyone to zip it.

I was happy to see several aftermarket shops showcasing Cat buggies as part of their display. This is a harbinger of sorts, signaling that the performance shops are also expecting a surge in Arctic Cat snowmobiles into the hands of enthusiasts with the new CATALYST platform along with the proven and venerable ProCross chassis variants.

The latest shenanigan video from the Backwoods crew attracted a sizable crowd at day’s end…unfortunately they were fresh out of Betamax versions by the time I got there.

I ran into Snowmobile Hall of Fame member and owner of Country Cat – PJ Wanderscheid late Saturday afternoon. His report for traffic and interest in Cat buggies at North Country’s sprawling booth was two thumbs up.

High-Performance snowmobile Engineering Manager Ben Langaas was doing his best Owen Wilson impersonation after a long and busy day working the corporate Arctic Cat display.

I’ve been to a lot of autograph signings over the years, including those during the heyday of terrain racing in the mid to late 1990s. None-the-less, this year’s collection of Team Arctic racers was one of the largest I’ve seen…not to mention those custom jersey style shirts were on-point. Hey marketing team…lets offer these up for sale.

A couple of future Arctic Cat legends…Arctic Cat’s Direct of Product Strategy, Troy Halvorson (right) and 8-time cross country champ/5-time I-500 winner Zach Herfindahl (left) chatted it up as Troy made a trip through the autograph line.

There was little question as to which snowmobile was the star of the show at this year’s Hay Days. The CATALYST 858 was the one that everyone wanted to see, touch, ogle, and sit on. Like many of you, I can’t wait to get this sled on snow this winter.

This year’s corporate display focused almost exclusively on snowmobiles and associated accessories.

The Black Cat sleds were once again part of the display, and McClure’s all black CATALYST was completely drool worthy.

Probably one of the biggest, yet most overlooked advancements on new Arctic Cat snowmobiles has been the introduction of the ADAPT clutching. There was a nice active display within the booth at Hay Days that showcased the workings of the ADAPT CVT system. I’ve got an in depth look at updates to the ADAPT in the works that will be posted soon.

This fancy display allowed you to “feel” the difference between the different settings found on the AC5S shock. I’ve secured some charts that illustrate the difference as well and will be posted soon with an accompanying story.

Just so damn sexy… check out the oversized ATACH accessory bag that has a multi-day saddlebag ride written all over it.

You could also win some Cat swag this year at Hay Days if your arm and aim were on-point.

Just like the Country Cat booth, the Thomas SnoSports booth had lots of traffic, track kickers, and buyers. Here Dave Ambrose (who’s always looking dapper) looks to close another deal.