TERRAIN

It's easy to fall into the mind-set that the terrain is flat in the Arctic but that's not the case. While riding a snowmachine, keep your eyes open for streams with cut-banks, for tussocks that will catch your skis, and for the polygonal troughs that cover the tundra. Running off a 10'-high cut-bank at 25 mph will certainly damage your snowmachine, but more importantly could cause serious injury to riders.

Checking your topographic maps before you start out will assist you in avoiding problems, but don’t depend on the maps for your safety.
Pipelines run cross-country here and are varying heights above tundra level. Slow WAY down when crossing under a pipeline and watch out for the Pipeline Vibration Dampeners (PVDs), hanging under the pipelines like iron footballs.