4 | Snowmobile VERMONT A message from VAST President Tim Mills Woot! Woot! The stars appear to be lining up and we are off to a really good start. The temperatures have been dropping across the state, allowing the ground to freeze up. The snow has been falling in decent amounts so far, with some significant snowfall in the upper elevations. With any luck, it could be one of those years where the snow gods shine down on us all season. Unfortunately, this isn’t the only piece of the puzzle for building a successful snowmobile season in Vermont. There are several other things that have to happen first. It begins with a volunteer club member reaching out and visiting each and every landowner that the snowmobile trail travels across to obtain permission. This is followed by either trail maintenance if it is an existing trail or a complete construction project through this piece of property if it is a new trail due to a reroute. Reroutes are one of the biggest problems that a club and its volunteers can have to deal with. They can occur for many reasons. However, most trail reroutes happen from the landowner being dissatisfied with how the trail or trails across their land are being treated. The main reason is off-trail riding. Off-trail riding has been, and continues to be, one of the biggest wastes of resources VAST and its membership can have. A great deal of time goes into following up on complaints for off-trail riding from either other snowmobile members or the landowners who own the land where the off- trail riding occurred. If no resolution is met with the current land owner to keep the present trail, then time goes into finding a reroute and then working with the landowners where the potential reroute may occur. If even just one landowner doesn’t allow us to cross their land then, we have spent countless hours working through this reroute and now even more time will have to go into finding another suitable reroute. Even if you can find a workable reroute, then you have the now added expense of construction for this reroute. These construction costs can range anywhere from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. This is not a good use of our resources, nor is it fiscally responsible, and for what? Because someone wanted to ride off trail? Riding your snowmobile on our trail system isn’t a right that comes with the TMA, it is a privilege. When a landowner allows us to have a trail system across their land, it truly is a privilege and it is something they are sharing with all of us. The views, the vistas and just being in the great outdoors during the winter time is something we wouldn’t have without the landowner allowing us access. We have an excellent trail system here, and we aim to keep it. Remember, without the landowner, we couldn’t ride in Vermont. Please ride responsibly and within the conditions of the trail. We all have a lot riding on it! Ride safely and smooth trails, – Tim Mills, VAST President VAST News CORRECTION The Enfield Motor Sports dealership founder was incorrectly named in a caption in last issue’s “Dealer of the Year” article. The corrected caption is below. Enfield Motor Sports celebrated its 25th anniversary during its annual open house event in 1996. Bruce Miller, the dealership founder, proudly stands (fourth from the left) with his family and employees. FIND THE HELMET Josh Maxham of the Bridgewater Sno-Zippers was the randomly chosen winner of all the correct answers. He asks “Can I get one in a smaller size?” He found the helmet on page 26 in the last issue on the helmet rack in the Enfield Motor Sports photo. As always, we will share some of the funny comments we get with these entries: “How much for the XXXXXXXSM helmet for sale at Enfield?” – Chris Bressette “I hope no one buys it. What will we hide next issue?” – Rich Conte “I see Enfield Motor Sports is selling extra tiny helmets this season!” – Chris Brun Find the helmet in this issue and you could win a Snowmobile Vermont hat and a 50th anniversary t-shirt. We had only 32 entries last time, so take a chance and send in your answer to editor@vtvast.org! The odds are great!