Dells snowmobile trail to extend into Juneau County

A new snowmobile trail connects Wisconsin Dells to Juneau County by way of the town of Dellona.

Winfield Wildcats Snowmobile Club Secretary Tammy Sobojinski said putting the new trail in place took about a year to arrange. The club takes care of the trail, having obtained easements to private properties and posting signs marking the trail.

The trail was part of a project to connect Wisconsin Dells, Reedsburg, Baraboo and Sauk City to Juneau County, Sobojinski said in a phone interview Thursday.

Any snowmobilers can use the trail, including children as young as 12 if they’ve taken a snowmobile safety course, she said.

But she said the club ultimately hopes more snowmobilers will join the club to help in trail maintenance.

Sobojinski said the club is made up of 70 members who pay dues to the Association of Wisconsin Snowmobile Association, and they are all passionate about the activity.

“I’ve snowmobiled since I was a kid,” Sobojinski said. “As a kid my mom and dad were part of a club, and they would go on rides and we would go along as kids. And now my husband and I, we both snowmobile and our kid snowmobiles with us.”

The season usually runs from December to February, she said. Club members start preparing the trails in November or when farmers’ crops are out of the fields. Use of the trails ends by March 1 and signs marking them have to be removed by the end of March, she said.

The Winfield Wildcats Snowmobile Club began in the 1970s, fell apart in the ‘90s and just got reorganized last year, Sobojinski said.

The club members volunteer to maintain the trail, but because they pay dues to AWSC they get a magazine and life insurance policy for each year they are a member, she said.

The trails they make are away from homes and that cuts down on the noise from the snowmobiles people might hear, she said.

“You do hear some snowmobiles every once in a while, but it’s such a short season, and it’s really not a big deal for most of the land owners,” she said.

The club is busy raising money for future projects and thinking about trail expansions.

“Ideally what we would like to have accomplished in the state of Wisconsin is every snowmobiler be a member of a club so they can somehow, even in the remotely tiniest ability, understand the work that goes into putting in trails,” she said. “That’s the goal, is to get more people aware of and more people involved in the building, the construction and the maintenance of the trails, not just riding them all the time,” Sobojinski said.

A county-level organization snowmobile club helps groom the trails in some instances, she said.

More information can be found at the AWSC web site, www.awsc.org, and in Sauk County at www.saukcountysnowmobiling.org.

Article source: http://www.wiscnews.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_b7c309d6-60b1-11e1-b904-0019bb2963f4.html

Dellona club readies new snowmobile trail

A new snowmobile trail connects Wisconsin Dells to Juneau County
by way of the town of Dellona.

Winfield Wildcats Snowmobile Club Secretary Tammy Sobojinski said
putting the new trail in place took about a year to arrange. The
club takes care of the trail, having obtained easements to private
properties and posting signs marking the trail.

The trail was part of a project to connect Wisconsin Dells,
Reedsburg, Baraboo and Sauk City to Juneau County, Sobojinski said
in a phone interview Thursday.

Any snowmobilers can use the trail, including children as young as
12 if they’ve taken a snowmobile safety course, she said.

But she said the club ultimately hopes more snowmobilers will join
the club to help in trail maintenance.

Sobojinski said the club is made up of 70 members who pay dues to
the Association of Wisconsin Snowmobile Association, and they are
all passionate about the activity.

“I’ve snowmobiled since I was a kid,” Sobojinski said. “As a kid my
mom and dad were part of a club, and they would go on rides and we
would go along as kids. And now my husband and I, we both
snowmobile and our kid snowmobiles with us.”

The season usually runs from December to February, she said. Club
members start preparing the trails in November or when farmers’
crops are out of the fields. Use of the trails ends by March 1 and
signs marking them have to be removed by the end of March, she
said.

The Winfield Wildcats Snowmobile Club began in the 1970s, fell
apart in the ‘90s and just got reorganized last year, Sobojinski
said.

The club members volunteer to maintain the trail, but because they
pay dues to AWSC they get a magazine and life insurance policy for
each year they are a member, she said.

The trails they make are away from homes and that cuts down on the
noise from the snowmobiles people might hear, she said.

“You do hear some snowmobiles every once in a while, but it’s such
a short season, and it’s really not a big deal for most of the land
owners,” she said.

The club is busy raising money for future projects and thinking
about trail expansions.

“Ideally what we would like to have accomplished in the state of
Wisconsin is every snowmobiler be a member of a club so they can
somehow, even in the remotely tiniest ability, understand the work
that goes into putting in trails,” she said. “That’s the goal, is
to get more people aware of and more people involved in the
building, the construction and the maintenance of the trails, not
just riding them all the time,” Sobojinski said.

A county-level organization snowmobile club helps groom the trails
in some instances, she said.

More information can be found at the AWSC web site, www.awsc.org,
and in Sauk County at www.saukcountysnowmobiling.org.

Article source: http://www.wiscnews.com/wisconsindellsevents/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_74116e6a-5cda-11e1-8290-001871e3ce6c.html

Why snowmobile clubs are a good idea

Should you join a snowmobile club?

I think the number one reason anyone should join a snowmobile club is simply the love of snowmobiling. If you really love the sport and riding the groomed trails, being part of a club helps to keep the sport alive.

Without all the clubs creating and clearing the trails, there would be nowhere to ride. But first clubs are responsible for gaining land access and securing insurance so snowmobilers can cross private property. Without clubs doing this, the sport would not exist.

After gaining land access, clubs clear the trails, smooth the base of the trails, build bridges when needed, clean up garbage, put up all the signs to mark the trails and after the snow gets here, they groom the trails so they are usable. This takes time, money and people to do it.

Speaking of money, where does it come from? Some if it comes from club dues and some from  events that clubs hold, to help pay for the groomers they own and the fuel to run them.

Article source: http://postbulletin.com/news/stories/display.php?id=1481580