I've always been inclined toward the middle ground between the light snowwalkers (with poorer suspensions) and the heavy snow walkers (which ride great but leave one stuck for hours, if alone, searching for creative ways to move again), hence the 136"-ish tracks without lots of amenities like the Panthers.
BTW, those Skidoo Freestyle Backcountry 550 rigs from around 15 years ago, funny looking though they were, were great little rigs for aging guys running solo. Plenty of power for utility, light enough to crawling through lots of fluff, light enough to lug about when stuck, not a great 300 mile/day rider but a better ride than most anything in its weight class. I wish a few of Saint Michael's finest chillerns hadn't decided to roast marshmallows over mine.
