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 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 802 | 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 Winter is here and I hope by the time you are reading this you have been able to ride. What I want to talk about in this edition is safety and protocols for it. Matt wrote about this last summer and I would like to add to what he said. At the International Snowmobile Congress in June, many states and provinces were discussing using hand signals to communicate with other sleds about how many riders are in your group. Increasingly we have seen near-misses and accidents by sled operators taking their left hand off the break and handlebar to signal sleds approaching. In the past couple of weeks, I have seen groups of sleds that have no idea other groups are behind them and so the information that they are trying to convey is useless. In some cases, I think we use it as a way to say hello in our close-knit and very social community. How about we just nod our heads in future? Or, if you want to show the leader in your group and last sled consider having the green and yellow light system installed on your sled. I have to say it is a little unnerving to be in a corner with a bunch of folks with only one hand on the handle bars. We should all be riding as if someone was coming from the other direction at all times anyway. Last but not least, I would like to once again thank all of you who volunteer for your clubs or provide your property for snowmobile use. And thank you to law enforcement for keeping us all safe! Fondly, 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 Merritt Budd, Patty Companik, Bert Desrochers, David Diminico Sr., Roger Gosselin, Taylor Lamberton, Tim Mills, Mike Mutascio, Karen O’Donnell, Adam Osgood, Mike Paquette, Don Rosinski, Dave Rouleau, Bob Stewart, William Thomas Sr., Melanie Tregoning Snowmobile VERMONT VERMONT ASSOCIATION OF SNOW TRAVELERS VAST staff members Beth Godin, Cindy Locke, Shane Prisby and Matt Tetreault are ready to hit the trail again after a wonderful meal at the Coles Pond Sledders Cook Shack. By VAST Executive Director Cindy Locke