We recently reached out to our local sledding community on social media asking what may entice someone that doesn't typically purchase a membership to buy one. One of the consistent questions asked is how does it help? It's a completely valid question! If someone is going to ask me to spend my money on something, I damn well better know that I'm getting!
The main reason a Snowmobile club membership helps is it allows clubs to operate... The PGSC for example's base overhead without any unexpected costs is nearly $6,000. That is just for insurance, utilities for our clubhouse, and fuel for our single groomer. There is not a single dollar that goes to the pockets of our board. We are a not-for-profit organization run entirely by volunteers. This year alone, we had a number of volunteers come out to our Torpy Warm-up shelter to do a major overhaul on it's stilt foundation. The cost of materials was nearly $2,000 and there was approximately 336 hours of volunteer time put into this single project. Two 12 hours days, with 14 people each day helping. This didn't finish all of the work yet! We still need to replace the outhouse!
A week after the work was completed, a tree ended up falling on the cabin. This created an even bigger job. It was kind enough to remove the roof over the sundeck leaving us with a pretty major repair for the new year!
These are just some of the major costs incurred by a snowmobile club. But what else is my support of organized snowmobiling doing for the spot? Prince George is a unique riding area. Our club only manages 2 areas - The Torpy Mcgregor range, and the Tabor Mountain Multi-use trails east of town. We have 4 structures under our management. (PGSC Clubhouse, Torpy Cabin, Yamaha(Buchanan) Cabin, and the Viper Cabin). There's tons more riding that is not "Managed" by the PGSC in the Prince George Area. Most of it being areas of previous logging operations. A membership not only supports the club, but also provides a real number of the backcountry usage in the area.
A very recent event occurred around the dreaded closures in the snowmobile community. A very large portion of the South Peace area was closed early this year. Most seem to believe the closures are bound to happen if it's decided by the powers at be. However another drastic change happened elsewhere. A long-standing closure on Frisby Ridge in Revelstoke was actually repealed. As nearly everyone knows, Revelstoke has one of the largest Riderships in BC. Between trail passes and memberships, to the revenue brought to the economy through hospitality and fuel is enormous. Repealing a closure is not just done on a whim. There is an extreme amount of research that would need to be put in by the government to ensure it is the right decision. Do you think if the tangible sledding community in Revelstoke was 100 riders, the resources and money spent on research would have been completed?
At the end of the day, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. And the louder the squeak, the more people will listen. A large voice is key when it comes to these dealings. The Prince George area is lucky enough to only have a few closed areas that haven't changed much in the recent years. But without being able to show how many people ride our backcountry, its at a greater risk of closures in the future if it's seen fit. Unfortunately if a closure ends up on the table, they are not going to poll the community to see if they own a sled and where they ride. They will look for the simplest answer of how many people support the sport in the area. The lower that number is, the less they will see it having an economic impact to take away the area from sledders.