Should Cross Country Skiing and Showshoeing be illegal on snowmobile trails? (school, dangerous)

[Snow Cat]

Snowmoblile Trails are high speed Highways much like the interstate system with speeds about the same, but they dont let people Rollor Skate or Bike down the interstate and you would be looked at as a nut to even suggest that you should be able too. So why should it be legal to snowshoe or ski on a snowmobile trail when its basically the same thing accept its even more dangerous since the trails are narrower then a road?

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by Snow Cat

Snowmoblile Trails are high speed Highways much like the interstate system with speeds about the same, but they dont let people Rollor Skate or Bike down the interstate and you would be looked at as a nut to even suggest that you should be able too. So why should it be legal to snowshoe or ski on a snowmobile trail when its basically the same thing accept its even more dangerous since the trails are narrower then a road?

Snowmobile trails don't need to be high speed "Highways" for the Yahoos who find it necessary to run their machines at 100 MPH everywhere they go. 40 is fast enough in the woods and 50 should be the high end max IMHO. If you're on a lake go 120, who cares?, but in the woods speeds should be lowered and limits enforced. The trails we have in this area ,while not quite as wide as ITS trails, are close in size and width and well groomed. We share those trails with snowshoers and x-country skiers all the time. We GO SLOW ENOUGH so they can hear us coming and get off the trail before we reach them. When we see people WE SLOW DOWN EVEN MORE to give them time to exit the trail. Idiots who find it necessary to drive at high speed (often combined with too many drinks) are the reason NINE people were killed in Maine last year on snow machines. If nine people were killed in any other sport in Maine they would ban it outright but because snow machines are big money makers in Maine this fact is ignored. The ones that drive like they're in a race all the time are the ones who will eventually ruin the sport for everyone else involved. If you want to go 100 save it for the lakes or race track. When you get killed doing it at least you have a better chance of not taking someone else out with you. The groomed trails are no place to ride that fast. Grow Up or Stay Home!

[kellysmith]

I see this as an editorial more than a question, but I'll bite! I've done my share of sledding, and also some snowshoeing and actually running on sled trails. My advice is get of the high horse. It's not a sled trail, any more than it's a snowshoeing trail or a running trail. Problem is some sledders think it's their private playground. The person on snow shoes hears you coming from at least several hundred feet away. Any uncomfortable encounter is caused by the guy on the sled that thinks it's an interstate for sleds and how does any other soul dare take away from my 70 mph experience! I could go on, but why bother. Short answer is if it's not your land, get over it!

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Maine landowners allow skiers, snowshoeing, hiking, hunting, ATVs and just hikers on their trails. You see, it's the landowner's trail, not the snowmobile club's trail. Landowners work to maintain the trails. I had a snowmobiler ride up to me on my land and complain that there was a branch hanging out onto the trail. I told him to feel free to ride back and trim that branch right off with his jackknife.

While grooming a snowmobile trail at night I had a snowmobiler ride right up onto the drag. I took out a bottle of Moxie and took a swig. The snowmobiler said, "Well what are you going to do?"

I said I was going to have a sandwich and a bottle of Moxie and what was he going to do? (At this point I recommend we all go back up to the top and reread the first post in this thread by the individual with a grand total of two posts. If that person stays around a while he/she will get an education about private property in Maine and who those trails actually belong to. They don't belong to him/her.)

Oh yeah, the guy with the 800MXZ parked on my drag. I went back and we tipped the big sled on its side so I could pull the heavy drag out of the trail. I pulled ahead and resumed grooming the trail at 8 to 10 MPH.

[dmyankee]

Too many snowmobilers are the same Nascar crowd that are just as obnoxious on the ATVs the rest of the year. To the few businesses that claim they bring in $18 million a year to town, I just ask them why don't just close up the rest of the year. The entire business is WAY over rated and they asked the taxpayers to pony up over $80k at town meeting. They packed them in from all the surrounding towns for the hand vote, then they left. The entire scheme is a scam, only paying off for the connected.

[Snow Cat]

Originally Posted by kellysmith

I see this as an editorial more than a question, but I'll bite! I've done my share of sledding, and also some snowshoeing and actually running on sled trails. My advice is get of the high horse. It's not a sled trail, any more than it's a snowshoeing trail or a running trail. Problem is some sledders think it's their private playground. The person on snow shoes hears you coming from at least several hundred feet away. Any uncomfortable encounter is caused by the guy on the sled that thinks it's an interstate for sleds and how does any other soul dare take away from my 70 mph experience! I could go on, but why bother. Short answer is if it's not your land, get over it!

Im not talking about bandit trails here.. im talking about official snowmobile trails that were made by and are preserved by snowmobilers and are paid for with registration fee's and club fee's.

How can you honestly say the snowmoblers, the people that got permission, cleared the trail's, groom the trails, maintain the trials, mark the trails and and fund all of the above don't have more of a right to them? we may not own the land but we got permission and just because the trails are there does not mean they are public to do what you want with, just try to ride you're ATV on them in the summer and you will find that out fast.

[Snow Cat]

Originally Posted by dmyankee

Too many snowmobilers are the same Nascar crowd that are just as obnoxious on the ATVs the rest of the year. To the few businesses that claim they bring in $18 million a year to town, I just ask them why don't just close up the rest of the year. The entire business is WAY over rated and they asked the taxpayers to pony up over $80k at town meeting. They packed them in from all the surrounding towns for the hand vote, then they left. The entire scheme is a scam, only paying off for the connected.

Have you been on I-95 during winter on a weekend? its packed with trucks hauling their sleds

[Snow Cat]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

Maine landowners allow skiers, snowshoeing, hiking, hunting, ATVs and just hikers on their trails. You see, it's the landowner's trail, not the snowmobile club's trail. Landowners work to maintain the trails. I had a snowmobiler ride up to me on my land and complain that there was a branch hanging out onto the trail. I told him to feel free to ride back and trim that branch right off with his jackknife.

While grooming a snowmobile trail at night I had a snowmobiler ride right up onto the drag. I took out a bottle of Moxie and took a swig. The snowmobiler said, "Well what are you going to do?"

I said I was going to have a sandwich and a bottle of Moxie and what was he going to do? (At this point I recommend we all go back up to the top and reread the first post in this thread by the individual with a grand total of two posts. If that person stays around a while he/she will get an education about private property in Maine and who those trails actually belong to. They don't belong to him/her.)

Oh yeah, the guy with the 800MXZ parked on my drag. I went back and we tipped the big sled on its side so I could pull the heavy drag out of the trail. I pulled ahead and resumed grooming the trail at 8 to 10 MPH.

I would of tipped you on you're side if you did that to my sled

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by dmyankee

Too many snowmobilers are the same Nascar crowd that are just as obnoxious on the ATVs the rest of the year. To the few businesses that claim they bring in $18 million a year to town, I just ask them why don't just close up the rest of the year. The entire business is WAY over rated and they asked the taxpayers to pony up over $80k at town meeting. They packed them in from all the surrounding towns for the hand vote, then they left. The entire scheme is a scam, only paying off for the connected.

My DW's parents are in their 70's and would like to still ride regularly. They don't go as often as they used to mostly because it's just too unsafe for slower paced people to be out on the trails especially on the weekends. These folks rode snowmobiles way back when they were called snowmobiles with the bogie wheel suspension and the one lung Hirth engines. No hand, butt or thumb warmers, no reverse, had to mix the gas and oil, carry belts, plugs, and a can of ether to make sure you could get home. Plus they went all of 45 mph on the flat. They were pioneers in the sport and to think now they've been forced off the trails by the (as dmyankee aptly put it) Nascar wannabees who think they're at Talladega in a sprint car. It's just a shame.
We will go with them once in a while during the week (as long as school is in session) and it can be tolerable...forget the weekends.
The state should crack down on racing and high speeds on these trails. They are paid for by EVERYONE WHO REGISTERS A MACHINE not just the clowns who shell out $25,000 for a NEW 200 MPH "Snow Slaughterer" from Bonehead Enterprize's Custom Sleds. There IS a place for racing it's called a track. They won't let you run a motocross bike in the woods as they are for track only. Any sled with a top speed over 70 MPH should be designated "For track only" and not allowed on the trail system.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Snow Cat would have been in for one very big surprise. Read what you cut and pasted; "I went back and WE tipped the big sled on its side." He could have turned around and walked back to a road and sought help for the predicament he caused. He couldn't go forward and he couldn't back up. I would have been just as happy to disconnect the drag and ride home. If he didn't happen to have a come-along or block and tackle in that tiny box in the back of his seat he definitely would have been walking out.