Black River Raiders Snowmobile Club Membership
So far, this year is looking quite promising for the snowmobiling fun. Don’t be a watcher, join in on the fun. Join the club, meet new friends and pass the cold winter days with the sport of snowmobiling, club style!!!
Join a snowmobile club in your area, the benefits are enormous!
Without our clubs, there would be no snowmobiling infrastructure, and the trails that exist would be ungroomed, unfunded, and basically unridable.
Snowmobile clubs gain land access to create snowmobile trails. Without the clubs securing landowner permissions and paying insurance costs, no trails would cross private property, and that means the sport as we know it would not exist. All this takes time, effort and money.
Snowmobile clubs clear and create trails. After the land access is received, members go out and clear away the brush, cut down interfering limbs, haul out the trash, and smooth out the base of the trail. They also must build bridges over creeks, rivers and low spots, and that takes a lot of time work and money. This is all done by volunteers who truly love the sport. Without these hidden hard workers, either the trails would not get cleared, bridges would not get built, and most trails would close, or some entity (such as the state) would have to pay a team of workers to do the bulk of the work. If that were to happen, you could expect to pay several hundred dollars, or more to register your snowmobile each year to cover the costs.
In most areas, members of the snowmobile clubs groom the trails, put up stop signs, directional arrows, etc.. Again, these are more of the hidden volunteers who spend their time in a slow-moving groomer, tending to the trails and making them as smooth as they are. Remember, if you are not a club member you have no right to complain about trail conditions.
When funding is needed to pay for groomers, insurance, or trail development, do you know where that money comes from? Sure, the $25 to $45 people spend to join a club helps, but in most states the money comes from snowmobile registrations and gas tax rebates. Why does our sport get this money from the state? Because our sport is organized. If the state snowmobiling association can talk about it’s 1,000’s of members, for example, and then those members call their local lawmakers and ask for support, the bill has a much better chance of getting funded. Furthermore, it’s the snowmobile clubs and state associations that fight the battles to open public lands to snowmobilers, and there is strength in numbers. Become one of those numbers.
Belonging to a club makes for better, safer snowmobiling. That’s right, surveys and accident statistics have shown that snowmobile club members have a much lower accident rate than non-club members. Why? Because club members tend to be conscientious, they tend to stress safety and they are aware of safe-riding issues.
Belonging to a snowmobile club gives you a great social outlet for your favorite hobby. You can attend club rides, go to club meetings, take part in club fund-raisers or take trips to far away snowmobiling destinations. Belonging to a club gives you a good opportunity to ride with different people, experience different areas and hang out with people who have similar interests.
Club members are also part of the solution instead of a part of the problem. If you think the snowmobile trails should be groomed more often, that a certain trail should move to the opposite side of the road, or if you consider some corner on the trail dangerous or poorly marked, get involved. Most snowmobile clubs seek fresh opinions and want more feedback from users. You can contact us at [email protected]
We encourage everyone to join a snowmobile club in the area where you ride.
Join the Black River Raiders Snowmobile Club. Print out your application and send it in today!
