infidel wrote: 1- Up pressure. (Works, but makes groom kinda crappy)
2- Bump the blade up and down to set the grousers deeper in snow. Also curl blade forward to move more weight to the front of the cat.
3- Try to not have one track moving any faster than the other to keep things planted.
4- Bounce up and down in seat whilst shouting obscenities and cursing whatever diety you see fit. (my personal favorite)
1. Up pressure? May as well just pick up your tiller
2. The blade doesn't weight any more the more curl you give it. Bumping the blade may work, but I have a better solution (later)
3. Finally, a real answer. Yes, don't spin the tracks
4. My personal favorite as well
As for my recommendations,
[These are only recommendations, not to be successful in every situation or useful on every mountain, only tricks that I have learned from asking questions, listening, watching and trying. Use whatever works for you. And when all else fails, call patrol in the morning to side slip it for you. They like to feel important.]
Your snow cat is a three part system, blade, tracks, tiller, when used correctly and with some finesse, you should be able to climb most areas
1. Use your blade. Put your blade in the snow. Pack the snow in front of your cat, so that when your tracks are climbing, they are climbing on a firmer surface. No need to carry a huge blade of snow uphill, just enough to compact whats in front
2. Don't spin the tracks!! Slow down. You are not a paddle boat on the Mississippi! The tracks are meant for you float on top of the snow, hence all the surface area. Spinning the tracks only throws more loose snow into the tiller, causing a build up between the track and tiller. (not good if you are driving with the tiller down)
3. Finally we get to the tiller,
A. As mentioned in an earlier post, Lateral float or tiller trail (as I call it) will keep you from fighting the tiller on your up passes. When used with the last recommendation it will immensely help with your climbing
B. Wait for it...... Down pressure! I know, I know, "but you must be an idiot to think that climbing in down pressure will help you climb." Just wait, give me a second to explain. Yes, down pressure does push the tiller further into the snow, but if you have used the the earlier techniques, it will be a firm surface. Now here is the kicker, down pressure will push the front of your cat down, moving the center of gravity forward, allowing your front grousers to dig deeper and get better traction. Up pressure moves the center of gravity towards the rear, turning you into a boat, with the bow up in the air and the forward tracks only grabbing air.
Hope this helped,
Don't get discouraged by failure, you've just discovered another way to not do things!