Local snowmobile clubs in need of new members

By Matthew Johnson

Reporter

The best that local snowmobilers can hope for is enough snow early on at the start of the winter season for a good base to be groomed on the local trails.

That first round of grooming has basically come and gone with that coveted early start here in December, a gift for many just in time for the Christmas holiday, promising well groomed trails for snowmobilers to enjoy going into the new year. This is also a busy season, but Tyson Aho, president of the Wolf Pack Snowmobile Club (WPSC), has taken time to share relevant information about local snowmobile trails and the grooming process. The WPSC owns one groomer. Groomers can be valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars, and Aho shared how the grooming process has gone so far before the more recent cold spell.

“We have one guy that pretty much does our grooming for us and he got some of it rolled before this warm spell, so I’m sure it’s been stopped until we get some more snow,” said Aho on Thursday, Dec. 18.

The WPSC has four trails that it grooms for about 54 total miles. Aho said the club has a current trail map on all of its trailhead signs (see accompanying trail map) and on the clubhouse in Wolf Lake, which includes other trails in the area, as well.

“We have around 30 members now but numbers keep going down,” said Aho.

The WPSC was founded around 1975, according to Aho, and plans include discussing whether the club wants to plan any kind of 50th anniversary event at its next meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 7. The club meets regularly at 7 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the month September through May. Aho said a few of the founding members included Dale Anderson, Doc Anderson and Gerald Breitenfeldt and the club had around 25 to 30 members back then. Prior to that, they were part of the Red Eye Riders, but there was a split with some going the Perham way and founding members started the WPSC.

Early last week Aho posted the following on the WPSC Facebook page:

“With the opening of the trails and the snow we got I want to remind everyone to please use caution when riding, stay to the right and always stay on the trails. We are hoping to have everything rolled by this weekend (weather permitting) stay safe and have fun and please if you or if you know someone that wants to be part of a great organization please have them reach out to their local clubs and join we all need more helpful members.”

By Saturday, Dec. 20, he was in the process of reaching out to the member who grooms the club’s four trails to see if he had finished rolling all four of them. 

Anyone interested in finding out more about the WPSC can visit the Facebook page or contact Aho at (218) 640-0216.

Wadena County Trailbreakers Inc., which grooms around 204 miles of local snowmobile trails, celebrated its 50th anniversary Jan. 13, 2018, according to its trailbreakers.org website. Originally the Sebeka Trailbreakers Snowmobile Club, it began Sept. 17, 1967, at the Huntersville Forest Campsite. 

The following was posted on the Trailbreakers Facebook page earlier this month:

“Now that snow is on the ground and trails are open, we have a few reminders…

Do NOT ride on sidewalks.

Stay ON the trails

Be respectful of landowners.

Not following these simple, respectful rules gives all riders a bad reputation. We could lose our trails and funding. Our team puts in a lot of time and effort into our trail system. Please help us keep it!”

For more information on the Trailbreakers check out the aforementioned website, which includes a trail map.

A look back at 

grooming the trails

The following is an excerpt from a March 6, 2019, article published in the Review Messenger when a Trailbreaker member Dave Schumaker of Menahga was grooming the trails:

“On this particular Thursday, Feb. 28, Dave welcomed a journalist to ride shotgun in the Sno Cat for a 14-mile round trip from Menahga up to four miles south of Park Rapids and back; about a 2.5-hour trip at an average grooming speed of 6 mph. Top speed is around 12 mph. 

This was at least the third journalist so far he’d given a ride to during his 50 years of grooming. The ride began just west of the Cottage House Cafe with instructions on the easiest way to get up into the cab; to climb up the rubber on the outside of the large, triangular-shaped tire and then grab hold of the user-friendly handles on the side of the cab. 

‘Mission accomplished! Whew! Thanks, Dave!’

Next stop was for fuel to top off the 100-gallon tank with off-road diesel. That took nearly 40 gallons. The trip burned up about 25 of those.

It was dusk when the Cat eased its way onto the snowmobile trail leading to the outskirts of town where the setting sun glimmered off the snow. Later the Cat meandered through the scenic wooded areas. Dave said some of the most scenic trails are in the Huntersville State Forest. Numerous times Dave used the large blade in front to move snow in preparation for the drag that groomed the trail behind. He indicated how approaches can be a real pain because snow typically gets piled there making it more of a challenge for the Cat to get through.

‘We’ve been stuck just about every other week (since the weekly grooming began back in December)!’ says Dave with a chuckle.”