Let’s play another game of “find the difference.”

Here’s the Vermont state snowmobile law governing age restrictions for ATV’s and sledding. See if you can see how it differs from Massachusetts.

Incidentally, the Vermont laws are considered leaders for sledding and ATV’s by leading snowmobile organizations in Massachusetts, including the Snowmobile Association of Massachusetts (SAM), so you have to wonder why Mass feels it necessary to go further than their mentors…

Vermont Snowmobile & ATV Restrictions

(7) By a child under eight years of age unless he or she is on land owned by his or her parents, family, or legal guardian.

(8) By a person born after July 1, 1983, on private or public land and water without first obtaining a certificate of snowmobile education, unless he or she is operating on land owned, leased or farmed by his or her parents, family or guardian or the operator is the land owner.

(A) A person who is required to have a certificate of snowmobile education shall:

(i) possess the certificate when operating a snowmobile on public or private lands and waters of the state; and

(ii) show the certificate on demand of an enforcement officer wearing an insignia identifying him or her as a law enforcement officer. However, no person charged with violating this subdivision shall be convicted if the person produces in court, to the officer, or to a state’s attorney, a certificate which was valid at the time the violation occurred.

(B) The following persons are exempt from the requirements of this subdivision:

(i) a person is operating on land owned by his or her parents, family, or guardian or the operator is the landowner;

(ii) any other person exempted by rules of the department of public safety;

(iii) any person who is under the direct supervision of a certified snowmobile safety instructor;

(iv) a child not yet 12 years of age, but not younger than eight when under the direct supervision of a parent or legal guardian who shall be liable for the actions of the child.

Vermont Snowmobile Law Resources

You can read the full text of the law here:

Vermont Snowmobile Laws

You can also read the State’s Snowmobile Operator’s manual, which summarizes and then details the law, here:

Vermont Snowmobile Operator’s Manual

Do you see the major difference yet?

Every state [with snow] has its own set of regulations governing who can and cannot ride snowmobiles. Some states are quite liberal–mostly those states that embrace the support as a family recreation and rely on its health and well-being as an income source– and others are quite restrictive (we won’t mention names, Massachusetts, but I’m sure there are others). For the record, do note that I have told you time and again that we ride in Maine even though we are Mass residents, so I won’t tell you that my young children ride in Massachsetts.

Why won’t I tell you that? Because that would be illegal. Thank you, great state, for taking away one of my rights as a parent–the right to let my children ride recreational vehicles as I see fit. Understand, too, that this doesn’t just apply to snowmobiles. This applies to all types of recreational vehicles, including ATV’s, and all sizes, including snowmobiles and ATV’s designed specifically for children–even those that govern down to 5 or 8 miles per hour. It doesn’t, however, apply to the battery-operated “toy” types that are less well built and go just as fast.

What I Think About Kids Riding Snowmobiles And ATV’s

I won’t bore you by rattling off all the laws of all the states; I’ll leave you to your own devices to find out what laws might apply to you (you might be surprised). Or maybe I’ll do that another day. For today I just want to talk about this in general. But I can tell you that the Massachusetts law is so restrictive that no child under 12 can ride legally in the state–even on your own property! Not even in sanctioned and approved racing events, either. Even at age 12 the law is restricting, and the ages for real riding increase to more like 14 to 16.

In case you haven’t guessed what I think about this yet, I think it is crap. I think that for a few reasons. The first of which is my parental rights being decided by another. Aside from beating my children and other reasonable leglities, I don’t like that. I don’t like it when other peple tell me how my kids should be raised. Especially people that know little to nothing about my lifestyle.

However, I’ve got better reasons, too. I believe that when you start kids young and teach them well they learn well. They learn how to enjoy a sport like snowmobiling and they learn from a responsible adult how to do it safely. At age five my child will listen to me. At age 16 that same child, placed with a high-horsepower sled under his thumb for the first time, will nod impatiently and gun the throttle. Lessons be damned.

Kids learn better at an early age. They have more respect for teachers and parents at an early age. And they have more fear of getting hurt. This is somehting you can capitalize on when kids start riding and respecting the ride from a young age. But it’s a window of opportunity that is missed by the time they are teenagers.

In my own humble opinion I think the states do a great disservice to children when they limit their snowmobiling opportunities when they are young. They mistakenly take away an important window of opportunity that could be used for far more good.

What do you think? Agree or disagree, but tell me why. Comments are open below.

Is it right to make this illegal?

When he heard I was looking for interesting snowmobile pictures, Ron from gothotrocks.com just knew we’d want to see these.

 These photos cross the nation from the state of Washington, where Ron says, “we manage to run our sleds year round, even in summer.”

In regards to the event in the photos, Ron says,

“This event happens the end of July at Ione, Washington. There are 50+ sleds involved each year.  It is about 1/3 mile across the river and 70+ feet deep. Sleds start with skis almost touching the water, no running start.  Anyone is invited to compete, and Yes, some sleds do sink.”

 

 

Sled vs Jet Ski–Sled Wins!

It looks like tons of fun, and Ron assures me your first ride is the most thrilling, so if you’re already longing for white trails again, consider a trip to Ione, Washington in Eastern Washington state in July; or one sooner–last we spoke, Ron said there was still 4 to 6 feet of snow in the mountains where he sleds, with some locations reporting 10 feet!  One year, they were snowmobiling on June 1st!

Ron has a video of last year’s event up on his site.  You can see it here: WaterCross Snowmobile Video

Looks like good times riding in Washington!  And by the way for all of you watercrossers out there, I did find watercross snowmobile shirts at SledderWear the other day (the woman has everything…)

Thanks for the pics and links, Ron!  If you’ve got something worth looking at, send them along to sledderchick@gmail.com.

In closing, I’ll leave you with Ron’s words of wisdom, which I’m taking to heart to get me through the warm months ahead…

“…After all, water is just warm snow.”

As snowmobilers, we are in a class by ourselves when it comes to relying on others for our fun & recreation.  Snowmobilers are a hearty lot, and we don’t call upon others to pave our way. Proof positive?

North America’s vast snowmobile trail systems.  Who builds them?  Who maintains them?  We do!   We see a need, we go after it.  We get permission to use the land.  We clear the trails and keep them clear (which is no small task).  We raise our own funds through registrations and club memberships to pay for the grooming and upkeep of those trails.  

How does this benefit anyone? 

Obviously, those of us riding the trails benefit greatly because we keep our sport alive.  But we also keep miles and miles of trails open for other sportsmen and women, such as ATV enthusiasts (who, admittedly, do a share themselves and/or are often snowmobilers as well), hikers, cross-country skiers and many more. 

Our minor interference into the untamed wilderness goes far to maintain open spaces, too; that land we put to good use is not being built up into parking lots, houses, and high-rises.  We’re proving there’s more to life.   

Few other sports can brag about the level of involvement its participants have which directly impacts their sport.  There aren’t a lot of swimmers building pools and dumping in chemicals on a daily basis (homeowners excepted, but you know what I mean); there aren’t a lot of skiers cutting slopes in hillsides and grooming their own snow.  But snowmobilers are committed to their sport.  And in one form or another, every one of us who are riding the trails legally or pitching in to maintain our favored trails is adding in some small way to the endurance of our sport and many others.

The ISMA can be thanked for bringing this point to light—bragging rights for something we should all be proud of, but don’t think of very often.  Visit their site for more.

Respecting snowmobile trail owners’ property is something that was briefly touched upon in our discussion of trail etiquette, but it’s really an issue worth a discussion all its own.  Why?  Because the generosity of private landowners is what makes our sport possible.  When we treat landowners and their lands disrespectfully, we put a black eye on snowmobiling, and hurt our sport a little more every time we do. 

How can you show your respect for the property of private snowmobile trail owners? 

• Stay on marked trails, unless an emergency warrants otherwise—like I said in the last post, trails are designated where they are for a reason; riding wherever you please may cause damage to other lands, put children, family, and animals at risk, and become a noise nuisance to the residents of the property.  Hardly things you want to do if you want to stay on the good side of a landowner.
• Carry out everything you carry in.  Don’t litter on other people’s property!!!
• Keep your speed and noise down when riding near buildings and homes.
• Leave any gates and fences just how you found them.
• Ride responsibly and stay in control.
• Minimize the impact of your snowmobile on the trail and the surrounding area—don’t tear the place up!!  Something to watch for especially when the weather starts to warm, causing sporadic ground & mud to show.

 

It’s not unusual to find that a snowmobile trail owner is willing to share their property for the winter, but not so much for the spring, summer, and fall.  There are many different reasons for this and whether you know them or not, you must respect the decision of the landowner.  So if you are a quad rider too, don’t assume you can use all the same trails for four-wheeling, and don’t take denied access as an insult to your warm-weather sport. 

The fact is that snowmobiles enjoy that buffer of white stuff beneath the sled and the ground.  That means they just don’t do as much damage to the ground as four-wheelers and ATV’s.  But a landowner’s decision not to allow ATV’s on their snowmobile trails may be for more practical reasons, too.  Often trails pass through farm lands that crops and animals use during the snowmobile off-season; a landowner may have to shut off those trails in order to maintain their livelihood (or working hobby). 

When it comes right down to it, it doesn’t matter what the landowner’s reason is.  Their decision should be respected, and as a responsible rider, you need to always treat the land you borrow well, so that those lands will remain open to our sport, and we can keep enjoying the ride!!

We’ve just gotten back from ‘Summerfest’ at Uncle’s in Maine. It’s kind of interesting to travel back to our winter playground during the summer, because almost all of our vacation time in

Maine is taken during the winter months when we can snowmobile (of course!).  This is despite the fact that we both have family in

Maine—nearly all of my husband’s mother’s very large side of the family. 

It’s kind of neat to return to your winter playground when the sled trails are green.  It gives you a little more perspective in regards to the real life of snowmobile trails, direction, trail width, and so on.  At least it should.  I’m convinced that maybe guys get a little more out of the experience than the average woman snowmobiler.  Inevitably when we drive down roads in Maine we pass a number of the trials we spent the better part of out riding time on.  The funny thing is, my husband recognizes and points out all of them, asking me, ‘remember riding there?  Recognize that trail? Remember coming out there?’  With the exception of the one trail up the road we used to access the local system, and a few others with unmistakable landmarks, I almost never do. The funny thing is my 4 year old son seems to have inherited this innate, hormonal sense of trail direction; within 30 seconds of riding on the four-wheeler in Uncle’s field my young navigator said to me ‘this is where we ride snowmobiles, don’t we?’ Yup.  Nothing like a preschool-age male to put your sense of direction exactly in its place.

Just a quick post today to remind everyone, including myself, to enjoy your freedom and independence!  

After all, snowmobiling really is all about being free and independent, isn’t it? 

Being free and having the right to ride whenever, (almost) wherever there is snow is not something sledders should take lightly.  And we all need to remeber the men and women who continue to fight to keep it that way!

None of what we have would be possible if we didn’t live in this great country, despite its imperfections.  That does mean freedom, but it also means the freedom to work and earn to support our sled habits, and have available to us all the resources we need — all just for our own fun, based on nothing but our own ambition!

 So Happy Fourth to al lthe SledChix and guys, too.  And in case you need more inspiration, just think…January snow is only 5 short months away!!

I knew there was a reason I liked Polaris.  It’s not just because they make the best sleds, either J.  Here’s a little snippet I came across today that might be of interest to all the Sled Chicks and their male counterparts out there. 

PowerSports Business reported on June 29^th that Polaris is stepping up to the plate to support military personnel and, more specifically, their families.  During June and July, Polaris is donating a portion of the proceeds from all Polaris ATV sales to the “Armed Forces Foundation”.  The AFF provides aid to military families.  There’s not much more than that to the article, but what there is can be viewed here. 

Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to include snowmobiles, so if you are planning on ordering yours now for the upcoming winter, I don’t think you can plan on your cash making it to military spouses and children, but supporting a company with their heads and hearts in the right place is never a bad thing, either. Regardless of what you think about any ongoing conflicts or the war in

Iraq, the troops that are protecting our freedom, even as trivial as our right to ride, deserve our support.  And when a company steps up to help that cause, you should take that into consideration.

For a true-blue Sled Chick, there’s really nothing that replaces her snowmobile.  Not for this Sled Chick, anyway.  I’ve tried a few things, but snowmobiling is just about all there is for me in the power sports venue.  A couple of years ago my husband had a motorcycle.  A Harley even.  Maybe that sounds impressive to you, but it did nothing for me.  Part of the problem was that motorcycles are supposed to represent freedom, and for me most of the time, they only represented being left behind while hubby disappeared for a few hours.  I thought about learning to ride myself (as if he’d have let me take his Harley!!!), but I really had no interest.  For one thing, bikes are just too tippy.  For another, you’re still battling traffic regardless, and who needs more of that?  Even when we did have a chance to go together, I hated it.  I don’t like not being in control.  I feel the same way about my sled.  I’d never be a passenger.  I guess I just like knowing my mistakes are my own.  And I can crawl along at 25 if I want to. Eventually we both tired of the overpriced garage ornament and the bike was traded for a Polaris (OF COURSE!) ATV.  Just a few weeks ago we took the ATV up to Maine and I went, for just a few minutes, out on a trail ride, hoping there really was life in the summertime.  Unfortunately, it turns out I was right.  It’s just not sleddin’. It was a little fun, but mostly it felt too similar to driving for me to really get into it on a regular basis.  The other problem I had is that I couldn’t see it being any fun with a group.  Riding with a bunch of friends is a blast on sleds, but on a four-wheeler, it’s just eating dirt. So there you have it, my two cents.  Sorry to those of you who think a four-wheeler is a more practical past-time.  I disagree.  Guess Bill can keep it for hauling cordwood.