Thunderstruck Adventures — Attraction in Steamboat Springs

The Ultimate Trail Explorer Tour was a terrible experience on Dec 26, 2024 for all 9 family members for the 1 PM tour. None of the 4 adult passengers, including my mother, signed a waiver in person nor scanned a QR code for checkin. TSA has zero records for the passengers even though we paid for adult driver with adult passengers. My mother fractured her ankle during a sled rollover while riding dirt uphill; there was hardly any snow on the ground where we started riding. The guides were aware of the injury and ignored my mother at the end of the tour, giving her zero attention once off the snowmobile.

I made the reservation online while speaking to a representative by phone. We were expecting a private tour with 5 sleds, 9 people, and a guide. We were grouped up with another family plus others totaling 9 sled sleds plus 2 guides and their sleds. At the main office there was 1 person trying to assist about 20 people with riding gear; it was chaos.

The tour began on CR80 by Smith Ranch. One guide gave a brief description of snowmobile operation, and the only tip for riding was lean into the turn and that's it. He was speaking to two different groups with about 18 total snowmobiles with passengers all wearing helmets, barely hearing anything. We were given zero visual instruction on riding. I was the only experienced rider, and I believe there should have been much more instruction for the other inexperienced drivers.

Most all of the road riding was very thin snow, dirt, mud, and brown slush. We stopped frequently and also noticed other large groups stopped on side of road.

We only made it about 2-3 miles off CR80 onto the private land for the 3 hour tour yet we were supposed to do a 35 mile loop! Absolutely nothing was groomed on the road or trail. Once on the loop trail, we were riding fresh powder with zero base, and many riders were getting stuck while also winding up off the trail in a ditch. There was a lot of stopped time waiting to get sleds unstuck by struggling guides.

We eventually converged with another large group of about 10 snowmobiles plus guides that were stuck ahead of our entire group. We had to wait for the guides to help them turn around. Our entire group also had to turn around since nothing was groomed. About half of all the riders from 2 groups were getting stuck while turning around in a deep snow drift. That turnaround spot was the end of the tour. We spent 2K for about 5 of 35 miles of private land trail. This was not family-friendly nor fun; it was a nightmare. Guides even started complaining about being exhausted, wanting to go home.

Both groups had to turn around and head back to stagging area. A screenshot shows where we got stuck, circled white, compared to the large outer pink loop we were supposed to ride. We never made it to any powder meadows, no lookouts, and scenic riding was primarily public roads ridable to anyone on a snowmobile.

On the way back, our group drove past the stagging area all the way to the main warehouse. This was also a long, boring, bumpy road ride. Certain spots of road were pure mud. I expect all sled plastic skis and carbide/wearbars were damaged in addition to the track.

I wish we were given the option for refund due to little to no snow conditions. We got ripped off badly.

In conclusion, I am 100% certain this post is going to get blasted by a TSA rep with rude, dishonest, unprofessional comments. They aren't able to tolerate any negative reviews and their website only allows positive reviews. This company is ripping off many people during the early weeks of December with no snow accumulation. AVOID early season trail rides!

As for the response I'm expecting, it will be copy/pasted into a large Facebook group we with 6500 members so I kindly ask you refrain from accusing me of drugs & alcohol like the comment on the previous person's negative...

Full honest, paying customer review. Longer review, but so much to share!

This was our first time in the big mountains, riding sleds. My son (17) and myself (48) have ridden for years up in MN/WI area. We are experienced trail riders with intermediate off trail experience. We booked a two-day, Pro Ride Adventure trip. I called several places; all the others were on public lands. Thunderstruck has their own private land. We decided on the private land so that it wouldn't be all chewed up and they can control the volume of riders. On our flight to CO we sat next to a pro rider on the airplane and he said we made a great decision and spoke very highly of Clay, the owner. That made us feel very good about it. Martin was the main contact person. He had amazing communication throughout the entire experience. He asked if we could get there a little early to catch an earlier shuttle and get a little more time on the mountain. Day 1 we had just my son and myself with 2 guides, Jaxin and Robb, as well as their professional photographer, Kevin, they send out to capture the moments for you. There isn't enough room on here to share how amazing the experience was with these 3! From finding completely untouched deep powder, to all the tips and tricks to enjoy the experience as much as possible. They were right there when you get stuck to either get you out or help you understand how better to get unstuck and better yet, tips to not get stuck again. It was honestly like a professional course on mountain riding! No exaggeration. They were amazing. We had a bush bonfire on the mountain and cooked hotdogs and brats on the mountain in the woods. My son said riding with these three was like riding with buddies.

We had GoPros and a drone. We had the drone crash and lost it on the mountain in the snow. Very sad moment to have to leave it behid with the sdcard full of memories. About an hour after we landed back in Minnesota, the next day I get a text message from Kevin and Jaxin with the attached photo. Jaxin and Kevin actually went back up there hunted around and found it for us. My response to the text photo…”Are you f-ing kidding me!!” These guys are amazing! Kevin is shipping it back to us now! No way can you get that type of service anywhere else.

Jaxin, Robb, and Kevin were so aware of where we were and our needs yet as invisible as we wanted them to be allowing me to just feel like I was out riding with my son. They would ask what type of terrain we wanted and boom, there we were. From expert technical riding, to the most beginner level riding. As the day went on and we got more comfortable they would increase the challenge. The owner, Clay, was there to say hi and ask about our experience. Crazy nice and friendly guy! Even the shuttle driver was awesome! I don't recall his name, but longer hair, Mike maybe?

We brought our own gear, but they literally had everything for you. If you wanted to grab a last-minute flight, all you'd need to bring is gloves, a face mask, and some clean clothes and you'd be all set!

I try to do as much as I can do in order to enjoy every experience with my son. There is no better feeling than having your 17 year old son give you a hug after the first day and say, "Oh my God dad, this is so amazing, it's totally my dream trip!"

To sum it all up, we left sad to leave, wanting more, and with a whole new set of friends in the sledding community!

Great job Jaxin, Robb, Kevin, Martin, Clay and even the shuttle driver! Thanks for the experience of a lifetime! Roger...

I apologize for the length but wanted to communicate my experience. If you are planning on this being your first time riding a snowmobile, this review is more for you. If this isn't your first time or you have a high risk tolerance, I would highly recommend the experience. In either situation, make sure to eat something small before you arrive, because lunch was light.

Overall I had a great time and after my experience, I feel confident on a snowmobile and am excited to do it again in the future. My friend and I signed up for the Pro Ride Adventure, which the website says includes terrain that is suitable for first time riders. On our submission form, we communicated that we had no experience, and were told that that would not be a problem. They are not misleading you when they say it is a "true backcountry snowmobiling experience" where you will not be "held back". We were given our snowmobiles and about 10 minutes of how to start, ride, and brake, before we went into the mountains. Inherently, snowmobiling can be a difficult and potentially dangerous activity and perhaps I could have been more firm with my guide, but from that point on we were challenged to push ourselves and do things on a snowmobile that I never would have considered doing as a first time rider, including going off trail in forested areas and learning how to balance your body on one side of the snowmobile while in motion so that you can stay on tight trail turns with sheer drops. Our guide thought highly of our group, and we were pushed to challenge ourselves; I was grateful for that, but there were times where I felt too challenged as a beginner.

Overall, it was a five star experience, and the guides, staff, and machines were all excellent. But if your goal is to learn how to operate a snowmobile for the first time (as mine was), the Pro Ride Adventure might not be for you. Accidents happen, and, as it was emphasized throughout the day, damages, falling, etc. "is all part of the experience", but to not have much control over what you're doing as a first timer and then be put in difficult conditions to operate your machine at times was overwhelming. If you are a true novice, I would recommend you really explicitly communicate that to your guide (and the guide overall was excellent, very friendly and knowledgeable) if you choose to do the Pro Ride, despite what the website/forms might say about having zero experience. I think that might have helped me enjoy the experience more instead of worrying from the get-go that I will be unable to complete some of the exercises and or be penalized for not operating the machine flawlessly.

Hopefully this is...