Whether you’ve experienced the thrill of knifing through fresh powder, enjoyed the camaraderie of a group ride through winding wooded trails or stood swearing in your bathrobe at the renegade snowmobiler tearing through your back yard, if you live in the northwest suburbs, you’ve undoubtedly experienced snowmobiling to one degree or another.
Conceived as a pragmatic solution to traveling over snow, snowmobiling evolved into a genuine sport by the mid-1960s. Today, based on figures from the Illinois Department of Conservation, it is the third fastest-growing sport in the country.
If by chance you belong to the fist-shaking bathrobe category above, however, you might be surprised to learn this mini-boom is fueled in large part by an enthusiastic band of snowmobile clubs bent on erasing the sport’s renegade stereotype and promoting safety, property rights and good, clean family fun.
Indeed, since the 1980s, more and more snowmobilers are turning to clubs not only for access to thousands of miles of club trails but for the fellowship and camaraderie these organizations offer.
“You make friends, take trips together; (being in a club) gives you the opportunity to go snowmobiling with other people,” said Lisa Corty of Barrington, a member of the Edgewater Polar Bares based in Island Lake. “Just today we drove right out of our subdivision to a restaurant, had lunch, went to another part of Barrington, then snowmobiled home.”
“I really can’t imagine what the sport would be like without the clubs,” agreed Mark Gomoll of Elgin, president of the River Bend Benders. “If it wasn’t for them, there would be no trail system and you’d be confined to some farm field or roadside ditches. With marked trails, you snowmobile in legal and proper ways, and once you get on a nice groomed trail, there’s really no reason to leave it.”
Indeed, it was camaraderie, great trails and good food that fueled a recent all-day outing with the River Bend Benders.
The atmosphere was jovial as club members relaxed over breakfast at the River Bend Restaurant in Cary before heading out for a ride. While sleds-as they’re known in snowmobiler lingo-initially far outnumbered cars in the parking lot, by mid-morning, most of the riders had donned their helmets and eased out in groups of three or four.
Tooling along at speeds that ranged from 20 to 35 miles an hour on winding wooded trails and up to 50 or 60 miles an hour on wide open, snow-covered farm fields, the 22-mile trip utilized the trail networks of four different clubs.
While most of the groomed trails provide a smooth ride (the preferred terrain for most avid snowmobilers), independent shocks on the sleds made the bumps and dips along the way feel like rolling over waves in a motorboat.
After several stops along the way to compare maps or engage in spontaneous trailside chats with other sledders, the group pulled up at Bobby’s Barrel Inn in Volo for lunch and more conversation.
Socializing probably wasn’t part of the picture, though, when snowmobiles first started showing up. While the history of the sport itself is murky, records point to the 1950s as the starting point for serious retail snowmobile manufacturing.
“Everyone claims they were the first inventors,” said Susan Horn, co-owner of Aero-P.A., a snowmobile and motorcycle dealership in Elgin, “but basically it grew out of the agriculture industry around 35, 40 years ago.”
Horn said Polaris was one of the early snowmobile pioneers. Engineers from Polaris, which built farm machinery under the name Hetteen Hoist and Derrick, created The Screwing Lena in 1954, which was propelled by a pair of counter-rotating augers. They later graduated to a sled that was built on tracks made from an inverted grain elevator conveyor and slid along on skis made of car bumpers.
Models that followed were functional but boxy and slow. An early ad in Life magazine for a Polaris Autoboggan claimed, “A new concept in winter travel for the trapper and commercial fisherman, the Autoboggan provides greater versatility than dog team travel … and will reach speeds up to 20 miles per hour.” The machine sold for $999.50.
By 1964, snowmobiles were being marketed as recreational vehicles, and by the end of the decade, there were more than 100 companies manufacturing snowmobiles in the U.S. Today four companies, Polaris, Bombardier (which manufactures Ski-Doo snowmobiles), Arctic Cat and Yamaha dominate the industry.
Today’s high-performance sleds are computer engineered and built of tubular steel and aluminum. Sleek, aerodynamic bodies molded out of high-impact plastic and liquid-cooled, fuel injection engines enable these machines to reach speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour. Electric starters, heated hand grips and foot warmers, independent shocks and reverse gear are just some of the features $3,000 to $8,000 will get you in a new snowmobile.
And sales continue to climb. According to Catherine Ahern, executive vice president of the International Snowmobile Industry Association based in Fairfax, Va., an estimated 110 million people in North America snowmobile. Based on industry sales figures, which have risen steadily over the past 10 years, she said “there has been growth even in the midst of less than the best economic situation.”
According to Ron Hambly of Plainfield, executive director of the Illinois Association of Snowmobile Clubs (IASC) based in Marseilles, there are 88 snowmobile clubs in Illinois, and approximately one third of the estimated 53,000 snowmobilers in the state belong to one or more of these clubs.
With headquarters in small lakefront and riverside restaurants, rural clubhouses and American Legion halls, Hambly said these clubs, which started popping up in the early 1970s, form the backbone of the sport as it exists today.
Starting from the grassroots level, they communicate regionally, statewide and through the International Snowmobile Council, based in Fairfax, Va., on an international basis with Canada and Iceland. Through the state organizations, which are run by volunteers, the clubs have amassed legislative clout, established college scholarship programs and support free snowmobile safety education programs that are put on by individual clubs as well as on a countywide basis.
And by striking partnerships with farmers and other private land owners, the clubs work together to create vast trail networks that link states throughout the snowbelt.
Dick Arsenau, president of the Richmond Trailblazers and the trail coordinator for McHenry County, explained that most club trails are open to the public but finding them can be difficult because they’re on private property. Membership in a club gets you a trail sticker and a map of all the trails.
“To me it’s mind boggling that you can get that many people working together to connect all these trails,” Arsenau said. “You can get on a sled and ride from here to Canada because all of the clubs work together to connect their trails. It takes a lot of organization and it’s all volunteer.”
Indeed, it’s at the grassroots level that the clubs thrive as members share the sport they love.
Whether they’re planning a week-long group ride to Michigan, day trips to Lake Geneva or a quick zip across the county for lunch, club members say the fellowship and camaraderie that develop within the groups has elevated snowmobiling from a recreational sport to a tightly knit social network. Most clubs, whose memberships range from 30 families to over 200, are active all year with other sports, picnics, group vacations and community service work.
Hank Ambrecht of Carpentersville, who joined the Cary-based River Bend Benders five years ago, said, “I joined for the trails, so I could learn the area, but it’s a good social group … it does become like a family. “
By working with the Illinois Department of Conservation and local rescue squads, snowmobile clubs also provide a community service that is invaluable.
In McHenry County, for example, the clubs formed the McHenry County Snowmobile Patrol. Bob Predni of Crystal Lake has been administrative director and president of the patrol since 1973. Predni coordinates the efforts of 52 deputized men and women snowmobilers spread across the county who, upon order of the Sheriff’s Department, patrol roadways during blizzards, deliver food and medicine to snowed-in residents and perform search and rescue work during weather-related emergencies.
“They have been very, very valuable to the Sheriff’s Department,” said Deputy George Shirey. “They’re very much an asset during weather-related emergencies, and I’m impressed with the caliber of people that belong to the patrol. The fact that they’re willing to be called out in the middle of the night, use their own equipment and gas and not get paid, that says something right there.”
“When the snow comes, we’re here,” said Gary Zickuhr, president of the Marengo Snow Goers. “We try to be involved in the community and help people.”
Zickuhr’s club maintains a trail called the north loop, which rambles along the outskirts of Marengo. Zickuhr said club members spend hundreds of hours clearing and marking trails with stakes, arrows and stop signs each year. Too, every club has a trailmaster who patrols the trails periodically to make sure trails remain clear and safe.
Ahern said that in 1988 there were about 90,000 miles of trails in the U.S. and Canada. Today, there are more than 140,000 miles of trails, the majority of which are secured and maintained by the clubs.
Mark Yergler, the snowmobile grant administrator for the Illinois Department of Conservation, Division of Technical Services, which provides funds and equipment for trail development, said in addition to the 500-plus miles of public trials in the state, northern Illinois clubs provide more than 1,000 miles of trails for public use on private lands.
Said Greg Danielson, charter member and president of the Crystal Lake Snow Tigers, “When we first started 20 years ago, all you had was barbed wire fences along the roads and you were riding in ditches. Now it’s really a safe sport. It’s changed from a bunch of guys being renegades to more of a family sport now.” (And, all clubs discourage members from drinking while snowmobiling.) Danielson stressed that there has never been a snowmobile-related death on club trails in Illinois.
Of course, there are those who drive off the trails, particularly non-club snowmobilers who are either ignorant of snowmobile laws or don’t care, according to law enforcement officials. And that, much to the chagrin of club members, gives the sport a bad name.
Those given the task of following up on complaints against renegade snowmobilers say less snowfall in years past and pressure from the clubs have reduced the number of incidents, but they still occur.
“It happens all over,” said Jeff Diedrick, sergeant for the McHenry County Conservation District police, “just like people speeding. Is it a major problem? In my opinion, it’s not. I suppose if I were a victim, I’d say we have a real problem, but it’s an occasional problem.”
“Every snowfall you get, they tend to come out of the woodwork,” said Chuck Budde, chief of the Forest Preserve police in Kane County. “The clubs we don’t have a problem with; it’s the private citizen that comes out and wants to ride circles in the forest preserve or chase animals, and we just don’t tolerate that.”
Budde said fines for violations start at $75 and go up from there. “It’s just like any other moving violation. It’s up to the judge at that point.
“(The clubs) demand a lot of their members,” Budde added. “If they could get the renegades in with them, number one, I think they’d have more fun . . . but (the clubs) also make sure they follow the letter of the law.”
“I drive around all day with my job (as an appliance repairman) and I look at the tracks going across people’s yards and all that stuff, and it’s just very frustrating,” said club member Danielson. “I’ll never figure out how someone can spend all that money on a sled but they won’t spend the money to join a club to ride legal trails.” Danielson said club memberships average $30 a year.
“I would say that without snowmobilers being organized-and by that I mean clubs-snowmobiling now would probably be a dead sport,” he added. “I really truly believe that. I think without the trail systems, you would have so few people in it because of the danger and wives yelling at their husbands for buying (snowmobiles). … Now it’s a family thing and that’s 100 percent brought up through the clubs.”
———-
For information on snowmobile clubs, membership or classes, contact the IASC, 815-795-20219 a.m. and 1 p.m. Monday through Friday.
