One of my snowmobiling friends conveniently happens to be a certified sled mechanic who is in semi retirement, meaning instead of working for a dealer he has converted his garage into the dream snowmobile workshop and fixes sleds and ATV’s on the side for extra income. In late August he called me up and asked me to bring in one of my sleds that was having some horsepower issues that I just couldn’t put my finger on. As I was unloading my sled in the alley a kid came by on his bike and said “Don’t you guys realize its eighty degrees out and there isn’t any snow?” I admit it felt a little odd unloading a sled when I should be at the beach but it got me to thinking about all of the things in the snowmobile world that go on behind the scenes in the summer to make it possible for you to enjoy your winter.

All across the state there are snowmobile club members knocking on doors in the middle of July securing easements for new trails and reroutes, event organizers visiting businesses and writing letters for sponsorships for the fall and winter snowmobile events that take place across the state, racers working out the bugs in their sleds getting them ready for opening race weekend at Spirit Mountain, manufacturers cranking out sleds on the assembly line and loading them into crates to get to your local dealer, and finally snowmobiletrail.com bloggers that are sitting at their desks writing mid summer snowmobiling blogs.

Before you know it the leaves will be changing, there will be frost on the ground and hints of snow in the air and when that first big storm hits, the trails will be ready for you thanks to the efforts of all the people behind the scenes that make snowmobiling truly a year round affair.