Tyler R.
Yelp
First and foremost, big shoutout to Axl and Sam for leading our group on one of the most enjoyable motorized vehicle tours I've ever been on. I love a good quad, and can't pass up a jet ski, but snowmobiling is a completely different category of fun, especially in the mountains of Colorado.
TL7 is tucked away off anything resembling a main road, and offers a huge fleet of snowmobiles as well as a variety of tour options. They aren't the cheapest tour in the area, but you definitely get what you pay for. Seeing snow covered Maroon Bells with voiceover from knowledgeable and funny tour guides (second shoutout to Axl and Sam) all the while topping out at 44mph on fresh powder in order to get there was worth every penny.
Two hours went by in a flash; we got our helmets and the warmest boots I've ever put on, and after a quick run up and down some narrow trails we made our way to the wider stretches of snow covered road that allowed us to (safely) hit our top speeds.
Each stop offered a different view, and there were plenty of pictures to take. Not only did they offer to take picture of us, this was the first time ANYONE has even thought to switch over to portrait mode.
Most of the time asking someone "can you take a photo of us" results in a tri-chinned monstrosity taken from an angle you didn't even know was possible, or no photo whatsoever because they hit the wrong button. We ended up with some amazing, framable, and most definitely instagrammable shots of the two of us. They did this at every stop too!
Once we got to the Maroon Bells we hung out for a while, yelled a lot to try and make some snow move (didn't happen), and had some hot drinks before heading back.
The only potential issue with the tour is the other people that you go with. We were lucky enough to be paired with a family that decided there was a 12mph speed limit (I was able to pass them) and one person from that crackerjack group managed to drive off the road during the initial "practice" ride, so we had to wait for that too. Your group is out of your control and a roll of the dice, but the same can be said about any group tour.
The views were incredible, the machines were fast, and our guides were awesome. Next year I think we'll opt for the longer tour with lunch; there's a lot of Colorado snow covered wilderness I haven't explored yet, and it is best done on snowmobile.
Oh, and remember that family from the other paragraph? Yeah, while we were pulling in - yes, the day was done and we were parking - one of them crashed into someone else. Even at 4mph, they are 100% paying for bodywork that just doubled the price of their tour.