GREENVILLE (NEWS CENTER Maine) — A rough month of November weather has put snowmobile clubs on their heels. With more than two feet of snow landing in Greenville this month, the Moosehead Riders Snowmobile Club is working to clear trails and get them ready for the Dec. 15 start date of snowmobile season.
"The trails are hard because everything went from really dry, to really wet, to a lot of wind, a lot of trees down, and now there’s a lot of snow," said Jon Gray, VP of Moosehead Riders and owner of Moosehead Motorsports in Greenville.
The club is responsible for maintaining 120 miles of trails in the Moosehead Lakes Region. The snow came before they were able to properly clear brush and fallen trees off the trail after the ground had frozen. The club is now working as hard as possible to get their trails ready.
"This year we’ve got tons of snow and we now have to do all of that work with two feet of snow on the ground, so it’s added some complications," said John Cobb, president of Moosehead Riders.
"Typically, we would go out in personal vehicles and chainsaws," Cobb said. “Now we’re down to working with snowmobilers or one of our groomers.”
Even with the challenges presented by the trail clearing, the Moosehead Riders are optimistic and looking forward to the official start of snowmobile season on Dec. 15.
Tony Cirulli is a member of Moosehead Riders and works to clear the trails. He has already seen some snowmobilers.
"Here we are mid-November," he said, "and people are already riding their sleds or talking about, 'wow, I can’t wait to go riding.'"
Cirulli has even worked late into the night to clear trails to get them ready. According to Cobb, the trails maintained by the Moosehead Riders are expected to be clear and groomed a week before the start of snowmobile season.
Jack Hart, interim town manager in Greenville, knows how important the snowmobile season is to his town as well as many areas in Maine. The state is home to more than 14,000 miles of trails.
"As soon as snow starts, snowmobilers start coming in. Businesses look forward to that," Hart said. "It’s a big part of their business for the year."
The snowmobile season is crucial for many local businesses, who use the influx of sled traffic to support their businesses during the offseason.
“It’s huge. It consumes a lot of our time. Winter is not a short season for us," said Gray, who sells snowmobiles at his store Moosehead Motorsports. The early snow may be difficult for trails, but he has seen many riders already coming in looking to by their new sled for the winter.
Last winter, Maine had over 84,000 registered snowmobiles, many of which visited the trails in the Moosehead Lakes Region.