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Many recreational enthusiasts are opting for 8 months of this….
uring the past thirty-five plus years I’ve been involved with organized snowmobiling, I have met, and in many cases, retained friendships with fellow snowmobilers from all around the globe… hundreds, maybe thousands in number. The majority, of course, is located in the lower forty-eight United States, but there are also several friends across our northern border in just about every province of Canada as well as across the big pond in the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden, and Finland, and although I haven’t been in contact with them for quite some time now, I did meet and remem-
After Snowmobiling… Then What? BY JIM DUKE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Versus only 3 to 4 month of this…
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MAY • 2022 • MICHIGAN SNOWMOBILER + ORV
ber a group of enthusiasts from Russia a few years ago at the International Snowmobile Congress. The question is, where have many of these acquaintances gone and why did they, if they in fact did, quit snowmobiling? The follow up question then would be, what are they doing now to fill the void, or time, once taken up by snowmobiling activities? Curiosity getting the best of me, I began researching this dilemma and most of the answers I received from inquiries were as expected, while some of the others were somewhat surprising. Let me begin by saying that in every case, those I contacted with my unofficial survey said they totally enjoyed the years they spent snowmobiling, and cher-
ished the many friendships fostered through their mutual interest in that choice of winter recreation. While a few of them said it was advancing age and diminishing physical abilities that prevented them from continuing, there were about as many that said the rising cost to remain engaged in snowmobiling was just no longer in their budget. The largest response, however, said other outside activities with new interests was the primary cause. What I found most surprising and quite honestly the most disturbing, were the few who said they had given up snowmobiling not because they no longer enjoyed it, but that they were driven out due to the conduct, attitudes, and discrimination of (false) friends. While I can readily identify with that first category, not so much due to the advancing age because I have several snowmobiling compatriots that are well beyond the legitimate age of retirement, and I myself became an octogenarian almost a half-decade ago, but as for the diminished physical abilities, I find it increasingly difficult to get myself unstuck from a snowbank, or to pick up the backend of a sled and move it around as I once could. Because of this I no longer venture off-trail and adhere more frequently to the requirement to “never ride alone”, but as yet I have not even once considered giving up this favorite wintertime activity. I can even see where the rising cost to remain active in snowmobiling might be a deciding factor for some, especially those with a family to support and a demanding job to contend with. When I first became
