‘Mountain Men’ Recap: Snowmobiles Don’t Work Well Without Snow

There’s a scene in the film Back to the Future II in which Marty McFly is trying to escape from Griff on a hoverboard, but when he goes over a pond, the board stalls and the henchmen yell, “Hoverboards don’t work on water. Unless you’ve got power!” Marty learned a valuable lesson that day, much like the lesson Marty Meierotto from Mountain Men learned when he tried to drive his snowmobile on a dirt path.

Due to a recent fire in the Buffalo Flats of Alaska, the snow along the common path mostly melted away. This posed a problem for Meierotto, who was in the middle of a 350-mile journey on his new snowmobile.

Meierotto’s snowmobile needs to ride in at least four inches of snow to keep from overheating. Since he was forced to drive on dirt, he had to frequently stop and gather handfuls of snow to pack against the vehicle’s heat exchanger.

Even though the rocks and dirt tore up his front skis, Meierotto did finally make it through the burned-out section and found some snow to continue his journey.

Mountain Men airs on Thursdays at 9 p.m. on History Channel.

Learn how to tan a beaver hide Mountain Men style:

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