An Adirondack Snowmobiling Round-Up
by Editorial Staff
Recent heavy snows mean that snowmobile season is underway so I thought I would take the opportunity to offer a round-up of Adirondack snowmobiling facts, figures, and resources and point newer Almanack readers to a five-part history of snowmobiling in the Adirondacks I wrote in 2007. Snowmobiling was the subject about a dozen posts in 2009; Notable was Mary Thill's Homegrown Adirondack Sled Porn.
Adirondack Snowmobile Trails
The Adirondacks are criss-crossed by hundreds of miles of snowmobile trails. A free Adirondack Snowmobile Trail Map is available here. The DEC has put more than two dozen maps of snowmobile trails in the Adirondack Forest Preserve online.
Snowmobile Conditions
Conditions throughout the region vary depending on elevation, nearness to large lakes, and latitude. NOAA offers the best assessment of Current Northeast Snow Depths.
Snowmobile Online Resources
Snowmobile forums offer sled fanatics discussions of videos, people offering sleds or parts for sale and other classifieds, snow tech, snowmobile politics, vintage snowmobiles, and any number of topics related to sledding. Some of the more popular are:
Trail Conditions.com
Snowmobile Forum
Snowmobile Fanatics
Net Sleds
Snowmobile World
Snowmobile Safety
Take a minute to think about snowmobile safety and make others aware of the potential dangers:
Take the Safe Riders Online Quiz.
Information about snowmobile safety courses is available online or by calling 518.474.0446.
1 Comments:
It should be noted that a majority of snowmobilers are using trails on private property. Local snowmobile clubs negotiate these winter right-of-ways and they also groom the trails. Grooming is important to most riders. You can't groom Forest Preserve trails. This will change as snowmobile technology makes higher speeds in deeper snow possible. Not something I'm anxious to see.
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