Do you care passionately about snowmobiling? Grab your equipment you just purchased from Rocky Mountain Snowmobile and join a snowmobile club. Modern snowmobile clubs are essentially businesses. These clubs spend countless hours applying for funding, planning, and building trails. They also sell maps and ads, keep track of memberships, maintain groomer drags and tractors, and recruit groomer drivers.
Snowmobiling clubs are dedicated to educating the rider and what it takes to bring you great trail systems. Snowmobile clubs discuss the latest in snowmobiling equipment like snowmobile helmet lights, Simmons flex skis, and treat you to the best snowmobiling experiences. Most snowmobiling clubs are made up of a group of volunteers dedicated to bringing the best-groomed trails in your area. If you enjoyed a well-groomed trail recently, thank your local snowmobiling club. According to the American Council of Snowmobile Associations, you get the best trail service from a snowmobile club.
Maintenance doesn’t end when the snow melts. Karl Davenport, JVTC vice president, and trail master says, “Grooming never stops. In the summer, we are usually filing for grants for maintenance of the machinery, developing a rapport with private landowners, mowing, checking out the trails, reviewing the trail signs and more.” During the snow season, the JVTC has 45 volunteers that put in thousands of hours to maintain the trails. The reason they put in so many hours? Grooming machines don’t move very quickly—averaging 8 mph—and it can be challenging to groom while snowmobilers are enjoying the trails!
Trail maintenance doesn’t end when the snow is gone. Maintenance crews at snowmobile clubs say that grooming never stops. Summer times is the time for filing grants for maintenance of machinery and talking to private landowners to see if trails can be extended out into their property. It is also a great time to check out the trails, see what changes need to be made and keep the existing trails available for snowmobilers.
Club volunteers also check out the trails and review the trail signs to make sure they are readable during the snow season. Clubs enlist members to volunteers who put in thousands of hours to maintain the trails.
In South Dakota, Officer Raynor of the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks oversees the $312,000 South Dakota Snowmobile Grant and Aid program. Officer Raynor also oversees 15 snowmobile clubs who groom the trails, check on signs and ensure the South Dakota 1,200-mile trail system is safe for snowmobilers.
California has beaches, but it also has the mountains. Contact Lake Almanor Snowmobile Club that is open to all who love snowmobiling. Lake Almanor Snowmobile Club is dedicated to promoting the sport and protecting a snowmobiler’s rights to ride. The club encourages safety and courtesy, plus organizes events and rides to keep the fellowship among snowmobilers intact.
In Utah, the Utah Snowmobile Association is established to “promote, protect and defend safe and responsible snowmobile use now and for future generations.” This association is dedicated to at least five snowmobile clubs (actually many more), and they meet with lawmakers, legislature, Forest Service staff and others who educate on land use and management.
Utah is one of the best snowmobiling places in the country. The state has amazing backcountry riding, groomed snowmobile trails and the “greatest snow on Earth.”
Utah’s neighbor to the east, Colorado, also has a state snowmobile association – Colorado Snowmobile Association. This state organization provides information to snowmobiling clubs on avalanche, scholarships, safety, and the best place to purchased snowmobile gear – like Rocky Mountain Snowmobiling.
The Mile Hi Snowmobile Club has the perfect comeback to why you should join a snowmobiling club. The club is based in Denver at 5,280 feet. The club is available to all snowmobiles and currently has 100 members enrolled. Riders of all ages and abilities from steep and deep backcountry riding to family trail rides belong to this club. The Mile Hi Snowmobile Club takes riders with differences in ages and skills and brings them together in a common goal to keep the backcountry and trails open to snowmobilers. “We are stronger as a group than by ourselves.”
Let the word out in your snowmobiling clubs, if you are looking for the best in snowmobiling supplies and gear, contact Rocky Mountain Snowmobile. Cool snowmobile helmet lights, Simmons flex skis for your snowmobile, the most awesome gear from Klim and TOBE, and helmets from Klim are available on Rocky Mountain’s website. You can order equipment even if you are in Colorado, California, Utah, or from the snowmobiling clubs in the East. A great perk offered by Rocky Mountain Snowmobile? They offer free shipping on orders over $150.
Let Rocky Mountain Snowmobile know you are a member of a snowmobilers’ club. They will have advice on snowmobiling gear and supplies for you and your club.
