Sooley’s journey into freestyle backcountry riding began with the official acquisition of his families 1989 Yamaha Enticer 340T. To say it wasn’t in the best of shape would be an understatement because the entire Sooley clan are hard on equipment. A run-in with an unmoveable object at some point in its life badly damaged the front frame. The sled had been a victim of endless "Johnny Repairs", and overall had seen better days. Now it was Sooley’s sled and he would make it the best that it could be. This became our very first Area 51 Project - The Enticer Build.

In a marathon effort, we started this daunting project in October 2003 in Maffer's backyard & shed. We completely stripped the machine right down to frame where we separated the front steel structure from the aluminum tunnel. An afternoon road trip to Horsechops dump rewarded us a free discarded Enticer frame found sitting beneath an old washing machine. We returned with our treasured part, re-skinned the belly with new steel and attached it to the tunnel. This was the crucial first step in rebuilding the new whip.

We worked day and night to clean, paint, replace worn parts, and slowly reassemble the old Enticer. Sooley added a final touch by applying a coat of Tremclad Blue paint to the hood. Like most things Sooley put his hands to, this simple project was much more involved then it should have been. Problems with the paint crinkling led to Sooley going through four cans of spray paint to finish this rather small project. This process covered of every object in Maffer's shed with a fine coat of Tremclad blue paint! (I'm sure this Area51 location is still blue to this day!) Sooley added the crowning jewel to finish  the rebuild process, a brand new perfectly clear windshield. Alas the beast was finished, reassembled and running well which was a major accomplishment for our crew.

On his maiden test flight in the Goulds, Sooley removed the blue protective plastic from his new windshield only after arriving and unloading the sled from the trailer. This early season ride was a nice first day of riding even with marginal snow conditions. We rode on the gravel roads and farmers hay fields which are free of suspension crushing rocks & stumps. Sooley picked up a lot of speed crossing the very first field while following crew member Bill Hillyard who was piloting his Vmax 700. Unfortunately that field had a drainage ditch running up the middle which Bill easily jumped but Sooley grabbed the brake and slid straight into the hole. The Enticer brought up solid but its rider did not as Sooley was thrown over the bars right through his brand new windshield cracking it in half! A few oaths may have been sworn, but they certainly weren’t heard over the laughter of the crew! Heck, that’s what buddies are for!

Later that season with no snow around town we took a trip out over the highway unloading in Port Blandford, planning to ride to Gambo and back. Like most trips it was filled with fun, mishaps, and machinery break downs, but none quite as spectacular as poor ol’ Sooley. The engine of old enticer decided to act up that afternoon when we reached Gambo. We investigated and found a crack in ignition coil which caused the machine to intermittently break down on one of its two cylinders.  Not having a spare part we decided to tape it up and head back to the trucks in Port Blandford, a couple hours away. On the return trip the sled would run great one minute, and horrible the next as one cylinder would lose fire then mysteriously come back to life.

The crew followed the trail behind an increasingly frustrated Sooley on the Enticer. The old beast would struggle to run 40 km/h but every time the 2nd cylinder cut in the beast speed right up. After an hour of this Sooley was getting pretty pissed and pinned the sled wide open with both cylinders catapulting the machine to a blistering 75 km/h. (pretty hairy on an un-groomed trail on a sled with 2" of suspension travel!) Unfortunately a large snowdrifts crossing the trail caught the sled and sent Sooley skyward holding onto the handlebars in a Superman like pose. He landed hard and rolled across the trail moaning in utter discomfort while the rest of us cried with laughter assuming (correctly) that he was alright. We fixed up a broken throttle and finished our trip at a more reasonable pace.

The Enticer logged a lot of airtime over the next couple winters during rides in the Goulds and Annual Cabin trips to the Sooley Family Cabin in Whitbourne as evidenced in the pics on the Crew Adventures page from that time (2003 to 2005ish).

In April 2004 Sooley super stoked with his purchase of a much newer sled, a 1997 Skidoo Mach1 700cc triple, a beautiful machine in great shape. Throughout the 2004 -2005 riding season the powerful new machine ran very well and was a heck of a lot of fun. A little pre season maintenance including the replacement of some bogy wheel bearings and an adjustment to the clutch alignment was about all the mechanical work required, a far cry from the work needed on the old Enticer!

Unfortunately the life of the Mach1 was abruptly cut short during an 2005 Easter weekend trip to Mount Peyton. However most important, the life of Sled Sooley was spared, it was a close call indeed. As recounted in Sledworthy Magazine (Vol 1, No.1), Sooley missed a safety meeting while in the outhouse, after which he climbed the wrong part of the hill. The area Sooley climbed had no place to stop, it was just a peak and steep descent on the other side. With brakes locked the Mach1 skidded down the far slope whilst the rider kicked himself free backwards off the machine. Sooley involuntarily slid headfirst behind the machine right to the edge of the cliff. In an incredible turn of luck a rock right at the cliff's edge arrested Sooley's descent. From this unique albeit dangerous vantage point he watched the sled tumble and fall through the air crashing onto the rocks far below. There was nothing salvageable of the sled and thus ended the Mach1. Thankfully Sooley was OK and the misadventure led to the 2nd resurrection of the ol’ Enticer and more riding shenanigans!

The 2006 snowmobile season was relatively uneventful, the steel rear rack fell off the Enticer, so a Sooley solution was enacted as he bolted a fancy blue milk crate in its place. Carburetor problems (mostly caused by Sooley’s attempt at cleaning the device) took awhile to troubleshoot but were finally resolved with a visit to a local mechanic.

The machine continued to run very well as Sooley was proud to demonstrate one evening on the vacant lots across the street from his new house in Paradise. A group of onlookers stood by and watched as Sooley rode around the empty lots, turned facing the road and gunned the throttle from very back corner of the lot. He didn’t slack off one bit as he nailed the plow roll, with a facial expression of great concern he landed 20+ feet out in the middle of the road. A pretty mean feat for a tired old sled indeed, but Sooley wasn’t finished yet! The throttle remained wide open as the Enticer picked up speed, hit the snow bank on Sooley's front lawn, shook off its rider and landed in Sooley's driveway. The Enticer finally stopped with a rather ominous THUMP as it jammed under the bumper of a buddies car, the engine still running at full throttle.

Apparently while crossing the building lot the throttle stuck wide open, the location of Sooley’s personally designed push and hold kill switch didn't work out to well. The Enticer rear-ended his buddies car damaging only the muffler tip as the small group of spectators cried with laughter at the pure spectacle of the now infamous Sled Sooley.

The 2007 riding season saw the creation of another modification that only Sooley himself could conceive. The purchase of a new 110 volt welder immediately required a project which was found in construction of custom steel running board reinforcements for the old Enticer. In short, small angle iron steel was welded together to form a ladder which then was bolted to the aluminum running boards to add extra grip and support while standing.

In February 2007 during the Annual Winter Cabin Trip Sooley picked up a beautiful new used sled, a 1994 Skidoo Mach 1 670, a much needed step up from the now very tired Enticer. He thoroughly enjoyed the new ride for the rest of the trip. Sooley later installed some new skis, performed some clutch maintenance and installed new handle bars donated from a REV chassis machine. The new Mach ran very well and even survived a week long trip to the West Coast in February 2008.

In October 2009 the Mach1 was retired and passed to a new owner as Sooley upgraded to an beautiful new state of the art machine, a one year old 2009 REV-xp Renegade 800. This sled came with a 137x1.75" deep lug track, lots of power and suspension, all things he wasn't accustomed with!