Page 22 - TheOctoberSnomad2020

Challenges for the snowmobile season?

I am not going to start by going into details about this year, we all
know it has been a lousy year and I am looking forward to next year. In-
stead I would like to look at possibilities of what may happen to the up-
coming snowmobile season. Last March many riding areas were shut
down early, along with grooming in some areas. We saw hotels closing,
gas was hard to find in the mom and pop places, it was simply hard to
snowmobile in some areas of the state… What about this year?

The outlook for this coming season is looking up, but it does not mean
everything is going to be great. For this year, there will not be any Kickoff
Party, The Snow Show is on hold till 2021. Our club will not be able to sell
trail permits or sign new members. This is going to hurt many clubs in our
state including ours. In the fall, volunteers from our club have spent week-
ends helping other clubs’ clear trails, but this year we cannot get together
into a large gathering. This may fall on to the locals who usually rely on
help from other clubs.

What about our rides for this year? On a normal year, the club offers a
variety of rides throughout the state, some in the lower, and some in the
upper peninsula. Will things be open in all areas, will we have lodging,
fuel, and food available to us? For example, if we are riding in Munising,
will our favorite watering holes (Buckhorn) be open, or will they have a
limit on seating inside. This could be a big problem for many sledders like
us. What about our Canadian ride for next year, will we be able to ride in
Canada?
What about our sleds, are they ready to go, or are you going to wait? We
might think twice on that as well, shipping on goods have slowed down,
and I would hate for anyone not getting their parts in time and miss one of
Lenny’s mid-week rides. What about service needs? Are the dealers mak-
ing repairs in time, or are they have issues with parts as well?

I read an article the other day on how well ORV’s and Side by Side sales
were up this past summer.

October 2020 The Snomad Page 22