b'VAST NewsAORRG DONATESA message from VAST Vice President Mark ReavesCHAINSAW SAFETY EQUIPMENTThe AORRG (American Outdoorability to see solutions when Risk Retention Group) donated safetypresented with setbacks is a vital glasses, gloves and chaps to clubsskill to have. who successfully completed the VASTThere is no group within our chainsaw training. snowmobiling community that displays resiliency more than our club trailmasters. Every year they are tasked with creating a trail system almost out of thin air. Dealing with changing landowners, different sets of volunteers, unexpected storm damage and new permitting rules on a regular basis has made this set of folks experts at finding solutions where none Websters dictionary definesare obvious. Trail masters have resilience in two ways:to be ready to mark out a re-route at the drop of hat, arrange 1. The capability of a strainedwork parties of volunteers with body to recover its size anddiverse sets of skills, and deal shape after deformation causedwith landowners who sometimes especially by compressivedont see eye to eye with their stress. neighbors. Being a trail master 2. An ability to recover from orrequires a long set of skills and adjust easily to misfortune orqualities, chief among them change. resiliency. They have to be able to make a plan, have a back up I dont know if I can think ofto the plan and a back up to the a more apt description ofback up in order to provide us the most important qualitywith the trails we love to ride. that VAST, our clubs and ourEvery part of the job they do volunteers must possess infor their local club and VAST order to continue to provide therequires them to be able to incredible trail network that wereact to unexpected changes have. Over the last two yearsin circumstance. In short, we have been faced with atrailmasters embody the word nearly unprecedented series ofresilient. Having just spent part floods, storms and poor weatherof my weekend working on a conditions that could havemajor, unexpected re-route, I can caused lesser organizationsattest first had at how important to whither and fall apart. Yetthe qualities Ive referenced through it all, our volunteersabove are to the survival of and VAST employees haveour clubs and organization. We picked themselves up, dustedappreciate and celebrate all of themselves off and gotten onthe volunteers that help make with the job at hand.VAST and snowmobiling work. What the last couple of years hasWhen youre out on a trail this taught us is that we need to bewinter and notice that a familiar flexible and innovative to reacttrail has taken a different turn, to situations that are often fluidbe sure to give a thought to the and can seem insurmountable.people who made it possible, the We have literally seen mountainstrailmaster.moved in order to restoreMark Reaves,important sections of trail. TheVAST Vice PresidentEarly Winter 2024 | 5'