AUGUSTA, Maine - The snowmobiling season in Maine usually revs up between Christmas and New Year's. But it's started with a bit of a sputter due to unseasonably warm temperatures.
As eager snowmobilers wait for snow and for colder temperatures, the Maine Warden Service and Maine Snowmobile Association are urging riders to use this time to become better prepared.
Winters in Maine may be long, but the snowmobile riding season - the "good" snowmobile riding season - is actually pretty short, says John Cobb. He's president of the Moosehead Riders Snowmobile Club in Greenville. He says he's getting a lot of inquiries about riding conditions.
"People are anxious," Cobb says. "Their thumbs are twitchy and they want to get out and ride."
But most of Maine's 90,000 riders will have to wait. The Moosehead Riders, says Cobb, haven't been able to get out and groom their 80-mile trail system due to soft ground and water underneath the snow.
"Most of our snowmobile trails are in sections of woods that are generally wet and swampy," he says, "and we really need the cold weather to freeze those areas up in order to be able to get the heavy groomers across them and develop the trails."
"Just about everybody is desperately looking for some more snow right now," says Bob Meyers. Meyers is the executive director of the Maine Snowmobile Association. He says other than far northern Aroostook County, and the high altitudes around Rangeley, Maine's 14,000 miles of snowmobile trails are largely fallow.
But forecaster Maureen Hastings of the National Weather Service in Caribou says those looking for chilly temperatures are in luck this week. "We're going to be returning to cold temperatures," she says, "actually, below normal for late December."
No significant snow is expected until, possibly, later in the week. But because a lot of rivers, brooks and streams are currently wide open, Major Chris Cloutier of the Maine Warden Service says when the snow does fall, ice may not be safe. And he cautions against hitting the trails before they're groomed.
"When the trails aren't groomed yet and that snow is new, as you're going along on your snowmobile you're subject to hit rocks," Cloutier says, "and if you're going too fast, those rocks will throw you into trees. So utilize a little common sense even, though people are excited to get out there in their new snowmobiles and equipment they got for Christmas. A little bit of common sense can go a long ways."
During the last riding season, from November to April, there were 177 snowmobile crashes in Maine; 112 caused personal injury and six were fatal. Cpl. John MacDonald, of the Maine Warden Service, says these serious accidents can be prevented.
"The most common contributing factors to these crashes often tend to be speed, and driving beyond the ability of the operators, and driving outside the distance of people's headlights at night," MacDonald says.
Alcohol is another contributing factor.
The Warden Service, which carries out 30 to 40 snowmobile searches a year, is asking riders to plan their trips. Chris Cloutier says telling friends or family about trip plans ahead of time is critical to a faster rescue.
"Very few searches do we go that we know where their destination was because they haven't left a plan behind," Cloutier says. "So always tell somebody where you're going, try to ride with friends, and stick to those plans."
Despite a disappointing start to the snowmobile season, it could shape up to be a strong one. The National Weather Service predicts more typical winter weather in January.
Until ideal conditions hit, Cloutier says it's a good time for riders to become familiar with new snowmobiles and figure out how to change belts and spark plugs so, come riding time, they don't risk getting stranded on a cold trail miles from help.
