A little perspective on snowmobiling

[xsledder]

I have been snowmobiling since the late '70's and the first snowmobile I drove was my uncle's 1970 Mercury 250E. My family bought our first snowmobile in 1980 after Chicago's winter of 1979. Since that winter I have been paying attention to them and I never remember cold and snowy as the norm. In fact, I remember most winters in Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin the other way around (I remember a few years in the late '80's were Minnesota got a lot of snow). We traveled to many different spots chasing snow, especially at Christmas. Like I am doing this year.

I find it funny that most people say the winters are not like they use to be and snow was all over the place in 4 to 5 foot piles. I remember a few years that had lots of snow and the rest of them was marginal. I came across this newspaper article about Arctic Cats bankruptcy in 1981. It talks about the winters of 1980 and 1981 as warm and lean snow years and its effect on the entire industry. Here is a link to the article http://www.vintagesnowmobiles.50megs.com/PP15013.html . Between 1981 and 1984 we lost four snowmobile manufactures; Arctic Cat, Scorpion, Kawasaki, and John Deere.

I guess what I am saying is this winter is closer to what I remember is the norm and the real cold and snowy winters are not the norm. We are letting the climate change alarmist control our reality. If you really think about it, you remember the heavy snow years more than you remember the normal/bad snow years and make that into your reality. I remember 2002 was a really bad snow year until March, when I was up in Mercer every weekend in March snowmobiling. Closed the trails that year.

 

[ezra]

this is true. I can remember a lot of yrs in my life with rain the day after x mass. it is just like how the 2 ft roller days are clouded over by the 3ft fresh over the hood far less frequent days .

 

[bigvin]

Good points!

Though,.. I my area (close to the bay,...approximately 40 miles North of Green Bay) More times than not,
You still had enough for the "local" trails to be open "more than they have been" anyways,....
But I guess as I get older,.. I just like to beotch about more,...'cuz winter is my most favorite season.


Because it is totally out of anyone's control but Mother Nature,... Like like wishing on a Star.

I do remember winters where the snowbanks were so high locally that you had to have little orange
Styrofoam balls on the antenna's of cars to see them over some of the banks.
That was real. Just don't snow like that anymore (here). Most people are thankful for that,...
But I don't mind snowblowing and shoveling.

Winters here in 80 and 81 were not too bad,... I bought a Polaris Galaxy and put lots of local miles on
those years,... (and could only ride the weekends),.... but then again,...things were hazy then LOL!!!!

But you are most probably right,... We all remember the FUN times that we had in those past years so much,...
I probably blurs all the crap in between!

Skrew the norm,.... Let 'er snow!

(back to my corner now,...)

 

[gary_in_neenah]

With each passing day the season gets a bit shorter.

I keep a journal during the winter months and looking back to 2012 we had a snowless winter, generally speaking, until a storm dumped a foot of snow across northern Wisconsin in early March. The next year in 2013 we had 3 Winter thaws but the regular snowfalls kept pace and it was considered a good year by many. Two years ago in 2014 a banner year for cold and snow, the trails were pretty much open throughout Wisconsin from Christmas until late March. Many of us felt "it was a winter like I remember as a kid". 50 below Wind Chills and massive piles of snow were common in early 2014 for Wisconsin. Last year not so much and this year even less.

The reason I mention this is that I think the passage of time tends to skew our memories a bit. We remember the good years of snowmobiling much more than the bad ones and we come to expect every year to be a snowy one which is not the norm in most areas of the upper Midwest. I guess we need to remind ourselves that it can change in a hurry, one good storm and we're back in business as long as we're ready to travel a bit.


As always, Think Snow!

 

[chunk06]

I think it's the expense that has people complaining, and using the snowless winters to justify thinking about giving it up. I was born in 80, but still know that besides a few recession years people had way more spendable income in the 70's, 80's, and 90's. Most good wages in blue collar jobs are gone.

 

[G]

Have been doing a week or ten days in Cable Wisc area since late 80's. All through the 90's there was never an issue with no snow. We would always go the last week of Jan. Sometimes there was more snow and sometimes there was less but there was always enough to ride. Starting in the 2000's it got to be hit and miss. We have had to cancel 4 times since then because of no ridable snow. Also in the 90's there were simply more sleds on the trails. There were about 15 bars on Lake Namakegan open 7 nights a week. Nowadays there are about 5 and they are not always open on weeknights. A lot of businesses in the area are either for sale or closed. The whole experience is not what it used to be. $15000 sleds have a lot to do with this. The only ones left are we hard cores. Our group of 15 has dwindled to 2. We used to hook up with a group from Iowa that had about 10 guys. None of them have made the trip for years. It is a different trip but I still enjoy it. Hopefully I can keep doing it. It is funny now but back when we were younger and would see a bunch of 60 year old guys out on the trails we would wonder how they could be having any fun. Now we are there. It is a different kind of fun. Also I don't need 15 bars as much as I used to.

 

[sweeperguy]

Have been doing a week or ten days in Cable Wisc area since late 80's. All through the 90's there was never an issue with no snow. We would always go the last week of Jan. Sometimes there was more snow and sometimes there was less but there was always enough to ride. Starting in the 2000's it got to be hit and miss. We have had to cancel 4 times since then because of no ridable snow. Also in the 90's there were simply more sleds on the trails. There were about 15 bars on Lake Namakegan open 7 nights a week. Nowadays there are about 5 and they are not always open on weeknights. A lot of businesses in the area are either for sale or closed. The whole experience is not what it used to be. $15000 sleds have a lot to do with this. The only ones left are we hard cores. Our group of 15 has dwindled to 2. We used to hook up with a group from Iowa that had about 10 guys. None of them have made the trip for years. It is a different trip but I still enjoy it. Hopefully I can keep doing it. It is funny now but back when we were younger and would see a bunch of 60 year old guys out on the trails we would wonder how they could be having any fun. Now we are there. It is a different kind of fun. Also I don't need 15 bars as much as I used to.

If your trip to Cable happens to get put off till 2 week or so of Feb for some reason. Give me a hollar, I'm daytrip to there quite frequently would ride with for a day or maybe 2. Riding partner has trailer we overnight in.

 

[timo]

I think the average family has been priced out of the sport in the last 20 years.

When I grew up in the 70's my folks both worked blue collar jobs did not make a ton of money. They made enough money to afford a nice 1700sq. foot ranch home with a pool. Bought two new cars every 10 years or so and bought two new sleds every 5-8 years. We were a family of four. We rode with neighbor friends that had the same income and about the same number of family members.
Today a family of four with the parents working blue collar jobs can not afford this sport anymore. By the time they pay the mortgage, cars and health insurance and everything else associated with raising a family there is nothing left for a sport as fickle as snowmobiling.

 

[HardwaterHoosier]

I'm guessing I average 12 pallets of salt per season, and plow roughly 15-20 times. This season to date we're under 12", one my first pallet od salt, and have only plowed a small handful of times.
I agree that low snow falls are the norm. Usually see melt downs between storms and start from scratch for riding the fence rows and fields. I'd say this is a drought winter, but we've had plenty of rain.
Looking at the extended forecasts, nothing in the 16 day that will amount to squat as far as snow/just a few more days above freezing with rain...

 

[Modman440]

I remember when I first started riding snow was everywhere I remember when I was 13 years old 3 years after I first started to ride to wayne got hammered and I remember seeing sleds all over the place main roads you name it. It was amazing but growing up we chased snow where ever it was I still do most years we go we hard and we ride hard. It's just the simple truth most years here there's barely enough to ride but we really only remember the years like when I was 13 those amazing snow storms that just shut everything down. And don't worry hardwater I have not even hooked my plow up this year 3 inches just ain't worth it.. this year in Indiana is junk but it in general is a pretty good year so far and I think it'll finish real strong in march....... THINK SNOW

MOD

 

[ezra]

I think the average family has been priced out of the sport in the last 20 years.

When I grew up in the 70's my folks both worked blue collar jobs did not make a ton of money. They made enough money to afford a nice 1700sq. foot ranch home with a pool. Bought two new cars every 10 years or so and bought two new sleds every 5-8 years. We were a family of four. We rode with neighbor friends that had the same income and about the same number of family members.
Today a family of four with the parents working blue collar jobs can not afford this sport anymore. By the time they pay the mortgage, cars and health insurance and everything else associated with raising a family there is nothing left for a sport as fickle as snowmobiling.

like internet satellite tv cell phones and data plan for the I pad . do the math on just those . min 225 a mo of bills my mom or grand parents did not have.

 

[bearrassler]

A lot of good points have been made in the previous posts. I do think that we tend to remember the good snow years and the bad ones we don't forget completely but they are not as vivid in our memories. When we were kids the snow always seemed deep but we were a lot shorter. A foot of snow doesn't seem like much when you are 6 feet tall but is a lot when you are only 4 feet. Also the sleds that I drove in the 60's had about 3 inches of ground clearance and would get stuck in 8 inches of snow. There were times when we almost had to much snow for the old sleds. The technology has changed so much that you can't have to much snow anymore.

 

[timo]

like internet satellite tv cell phones and data plan for the I pad . do the math on just those . min 225 a mo of bills my mom or grand parents did not have.

point taken.
but in today's world them are almost "necessities" now a days. They also don't rely on cold and snow to justify the $$

 

[polarisrider1]

I asked my dad why the snow was so much deeper in the 60's when I was a very young boy, his answer was, "you were much shorter then".

 

[xsledder]

Another part to Arctic Cat's bankruptcy the article pointed out was Arctic Cat made too many sleds for the poor snow conditions in 1980 and 1981. They had all their money wrapped up in product and because the product wasn’t moving fast enough the creditors pulled the plug.

In some respects, today I think must of the manufacturers (Arctic Cat, Polaris, and Ski-Doo) are pushing products on their dealers, and now the dealers are left holding the bag. I hear more about dealers closing shop than new ones opening. Apparently, the manufacturers learned to protect themselves but throw the dealers under the bus. Is this intentional? Parts of me thinks so but doesn’t know why.

Part of liking a brand is based on liking your dealer. You give your dealer the first shot at a new sled purchase, but when the manufactures are giving a better floorplan to another dealer and he can undercut everyone else by $1,000, it is hard to pass up that kind of money. I am guilty of this this year, but my dealer was already gone.

Also, I spent some time on vintage website looking at old brochures from the late ‘70’s, the ‘80’s and the ‘90’s. There was one thing I noticed in every brochure, there where separate and distinct snowmobiles for the adolescent and the low-end market. We could buy an Apollo, Gemini, Lynx, Jag, Bravo, Enticer, Citation, Elan, etc. People could afford them for their kids or themselves and enjoy the sport. Now the adolescent and low-end market are old chassis with a 570 fan or a 600 l/c carb. Really manufacturers?

Quit taking old, tired, big snowmobile chassis and throw in an under-powered engine and sell it for $7,000. Do what Bombardier do with the Sea-Doo Spark; make an honest, quality, low-end machine that adolescents would love to ride and most anyone can afford. My local Sea-Doo dealer tells me he can’t keep them in stock. People would rather buy two, three or four Sparks before putting the money down on one big PWC.

I guess what I am saying here is that the manufacturers are contributors to the dwindling participation in snowmobiling. First, the dealer network is dwindling faster than the participation rate. There are probably 6 snowmobile dealers in the Chicagoland region. A few more if you stretch the area west to Rockford and south to Joliet. We had twice that many about 10 years ago. Also, the same chassis with five different engines and five different shock combinations is not a selection. It is a head-ache and a pain in the tukhus. Quit excluding two market segments.

 

[scoot]

I won't blame the manufacturers for not building smaller entry level sleds. They'll only build what they can sell to make a profit. The sport itself has all but left the family behind. I grew up riding in the '70s, my kids grew up riding in the '90s. And after recently telling me their horror stories of getting run off the trails from so called adults on larger sleds, (further back in the group where I couldn't see) they have no intentions of ever getting our grandchildren involved in the sport. After three generations of family riding, it ends here. The only riding our grandkids will ever see, is riding our vintage small sleds and the Kitty Kat on our property and as far away as possible from the public trails. IMO, snowmobiling has become an exaggerated cartoon caricature of it's former self.

 

[G]

The last 7 posts are spot on. Another factor knocking out the younger generation is high school sports. Back when I was in high school hockey lasted 3 months. Football and basketball about the same. Nowadays they are year round. It is never ending with the summer camps and the jambories and everything else. Also the coaches don't want their athletes to go near a snowmobile or a dirt bike or just about any motorized vehicle so they don't injure themselves. This is kind of ironic because I know a lot more folks screwed up from high school sports than from motorized toys. In addition to that we have become a nation of light weights. It was 15 below here last weekend. There were no sleds out. Back when I was young a little cold didn't stop us. There would be 100 sleds on a poker run when it was 25 below. That was back when we had crap for suits and equipment. We have never had better stuff than we have now. I remember turning off the hot grips on my old Pols when the sun went down to gain a little candlepower for the headlight. Nowadays if the handwarmers don't work its a no-go for a lot of riders. The whole mindset has changed.

 

[dawolf]

The last 7 posts are spot on. Another factor knocking out the younger generation is high school sports. Back when I was in high school hockey lasted 3 months. Football and basketball about the same. Nowadays they are year round. It is never ending with the summer camps and the jambories and everything else. Also the coaches don't want their athletes to go near a snowmobile or a dirt bike or just about any motorized vehicle so they don't injure themselves. This is kind of ironic because I know a lot more folks screwed up from high school sports than from motorized toys. In addition to that we have become a nation of light weights. It was 15 below here last weekend. There were no sleds out. Back when I was young a little cold didn't stop us. There would be 100 sleds on a poker run when it was 25 below. That was back when we had crap for suits and equipment. We have never had better stuff than we have now. I remember turning off the hot grips on my old Pols when the sun went down to gain a little candlepower for the headlight. Nowadays if the handwarmers don't work its a no-go for a lot of riders. The whole mindset has changed.

X2 '77 Exciter didn't have heated grips and I had an open face helmet and a one piece nylon suit...sports seasons NEVER end, but you're a communist crybaby if you suggest a little balance.