Sandpoint Winter Riders

Winter Riders,
I think it is safe to say that this winter isn’t going the way we all thought it would. Everything from the late summer forecasts to what we saw in the mountains throughout the fall sure tricked us! We got all the moisture we could ever want and then some, it has just been a few degrees too warm to make snow. We’ve had low snow years in the past, but even the long-time resident locals that have lived here for more than 50 years can’t remember a year when we had a lower snowpack. We were up Schweitzer a week ago and they told us that they haven’t ran the Idyle-Our T-bar over to little blue all season. I know a few of you are still getting out there though and I love seeing it! We have some real die-hards in our sled community and I have to hand it to you – you don’t let a little gravel or brush stop you from laying down some tracks. North Idaho still has good spots if you know where to look, even when we don’t have the coverage we’d like to see. On the note of getting out there and getting it done, I’d like to shout out John and his crew, they brushed a lot of trail up Pack River recently and put a lot of work into trying to keep our trails open, so thank you John!!
In terms of events, our breakfast burrito feed on January 11th was by all accounts a success, and all the credit goes to Anna for cooking and Geoff at Sandpoint Marine and Motorsports for sponsoring! We received an additional membership and $42 in donations for the general fund. The next event is supposed to be our upcoming snow scramble, and it was originally scheduled for February 21st, but after seeing the current conditions and no guarantee of snow within the next two weeks, the club made the decision to postpone it until March 7th when we have our end of season bash scheduled. As we get closer to March, we will keep a close eye on conditions and coordinate grooming with Bonner County. If it looks like there isn’t enough snow to groom trestle creek by that time, we will have to cancel the snow scramble and raffle, so bust out some snow dances!
Hopefully everyone saw my last email about Seth Johnson and his tragic passing. The club decided to keep the donations going until the snow scramble and to match up to $400 in donations, so if you can, please head over to our club QR code and give a little to help out his family – they appreciate anything and it will go a long ways to help them get through this difficult time.
The last point of business is that we will have officer positions coming up for election at our March meeting. After several years of leading the club and keeping us on track, Mike and Chris are both going to step down after this season, so if you see them out and about please give them a heartfelt Thank You for giving their time and effort to the club the last few years. Right now the following positions will be up for elections:
President – Open, Eric Kedish has been nominated
VP – Open, no nominations, Eric will vacate VP if elected President or is willing to run again as VP
Secretary – Nominations open
Treasurer – Nominations open, Corie Laude has offered to run again if there are no new nominations.
Details for each of the positions’ duties will be available at the March meeting – all in all the different positions have a limited time commitment, usually just a few hours a month during the winter so it isn’t too bad and we get to help our local snowmobile community.
Upcoming club events:
4 March – Last club meeting of the year – Officer Elections!
7 March – ‘For All The Marbles’ snow scramble and raffle @ Trestle Creek (if conditions allow)
Following our last events of the year we typically try to put on an ATV run in the spring and the fall to do some trail cleanup and brushing. If we have our grant application straightened out with the Forest Service by then there may be some club reimbursement involved with those runs as well, plus it is always a good time to get out and enjoy our public lands.
Speaking of ATVs, I’m going to bite the bullet and de-winterize all my summer toys this week – that should get some snowflakes flying!
See you on the hill,
VP Eric

Idaho State Snowmobile Association: www.idahosnow.org
Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center: www.idahopanhandleavalanche.org
Sandpoint Winter Riders Facebook: www.facebook.com/sandpointwinterriders
SWR squarespace link:
https://checkout.square.site/merchant/MLGQ64X1JHWH6/checkout/DB23HX6RH5B7W6LKUDQB675D?src=qr

Membership - Winter Riders Inc. Sandpoint Winter Riders membership. Single $30 Family $40 Business $80

With winter right around he corner, now is the time to start thinking about safety while travelling in the backcountry. Join us for one of our FREE avalanche classes in North Idaho. We'll cover topics such as safety gear, rescue techniques, and hazard recognition/avoidance followed by a day out on the snow putting it into practice. Register today at https://reced.idaho.gov/