Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 682 | Snowmobile VERMONT VAST STAFF Executive Director Cindy Locke cindy@vtvast.org | Ext. 11 Trails Administrator Matt Tetreault matt@vtvast.org | Ext. 12 Media Manager Beth Godin beth@vtvast.org | Ext. 16 Finance and HR Manager Sheila Fenoff-Willett sheila@vtvast.org | Ext. 14 Trails Manager Shane Prisby shane@vtvast.org | Ext. 18 Office and Programs Manager Cyndy Carrier Jones cyndy@vtvast.org | Ext. 10 VAST OFFICERS President Tim Mills 802-234-5000 timmills1@myfairpoint.net Vice President Jeff Fay 802-238-2037 jfayvast@comcast.net Treasurer Tom Baltrus 802-464-8211 twbaltrus@gmail.com Secretary Jim Hill 802-343-4478 jh_builders@hotmail.com Now that I am coming up on my third anniversary at VAST, I have been able to experience a great winter, a terrible winter and a so-so one. I recently spent some time looking back at old documentation and reports from my predecessors at VAST regarding historic winters. I have found that having a bad snow winter is nothing new here in Vermont. I have also lived here since the 1970s and have experienced it myself too. Vermont did have some snow this year, but not what we hoped for. While I was able to ride every weekend beginning on Dec. 17, like others, I traveled to get to it. It was not a lame year by any means if you were willing to travel and had the means to do so. I was able to ride more than the past two years, with over 2,000 miles traveled this season. That being said, it was another year where, when the riding did exist, it was in the same locations and higher elevations for the most part. Snowmobile Vermont Magazine 26 Vast Lane, Barre, Vermont 05641 T 802- 229-0005 F 802- 223-4316 info@vtvast.org | vtvast.org Snowmobile VT Magazine (ISSN 2374-5630 is published five times: Fall (October), Early Winter (December), Winter (January), Late Winter (March) and Summer (August) by The Vermont Association of Snow Travelers, Inc, 26 Vast Lane, Barre VT 05641. Periodicals postage paid at Barre, VT and additional mailing offices POSTMASTER: Send ad- dress changes to: VAST, 26 Vast Lane, Barre VT 05641-4477 VAST Direction MAGAZINE CONTRIBUTORS Kelly Ainsworth, Stacey Bleile, Patty Companik, Ernie Dematties, David Diminico, Keith Gallant, David Harrison, Sonia Koehler, Dave Ladd, Carmin Lemery, Jim Marshia, Mike Mutascio, Nancy Piette, Pat Poulin, Gloria Rodrigue, Donna Schumchyk, Tom Schumchyk, William Thomas Sr. Snowmobile VERMONT VERMONT ASSOCIATION OF SNOW TRAVELERS By VAST Executive Director Cindy Locke I have been thinking a lot about the future of VAST and what that could, or should, look like. We have a lot to think about regarding VAST and snowmobiling in Vermont. I, along with the VAST staff and board of directors, will spend time this summer researching and talking about it at a VAST Board Summer Summit. We hope to drill down how our association survives low snow winters, how we attract others to the sport, how we support our current trail system, members and clubs and overall how VAST is run. What is important is to be able to make it through the tough years and make sure to save money and resources in the fruitful ones. We need to make sure we can survive. We started that process during my first year by setting up some reserve accounts. We know we have the best signed trails in New England. We know we have strong and dedicated volunteers and a membership that is willing to pay a little more for the Vermont experience. I ride in other states too, and we are so lucky that we have such a unique and top-notch trail system. This is what keeps folks coming back year after year. And the work is done by so few of you that volunteer for your clubs. Thank you again and again! There will always be some folks that don’t really understand what it takes to run the largest association in Vermont and manage a snowmobile system that most other states use state agencies to run. One of the best parts of the way VAST is run is that our members are the ones that ultimately decide what is best for snowmobiling in Vermont. Thank you for your dedication to VAST. If you don’t volunteer, please reach out to your club to see how you can. We have volunteers from as far as New Jersey that come up to help their clubs on the weekends. We hope you would consider it too if you have not. Be safe and healthy,