If you're not too sore to clap, give snowmobilers a hand

By Burt Constable

Admittedly, those hours behind a desk have made me a little soft. But my shoulders ache so much from digging out from under this week's snow that it hurts to type this column. Many of us shovel-weary suburbanites are planning to spend this Super Bowl weekend inside, avoiding the cold and lifting nothing heavier than a fully loaded tortilla chip.

Snowmobilers don't have that luxury.

“Being in Illinois, we use it (snow) when it comes, because we don't know how long it's going to stay,” says avid snowmobiler Don Schaefer, 49, of Grayslake, a vice president of the Illinois Association of Snowmobile Clubs and active member of the Sno-Kommanders of Lake County. When the snow canceled work and school, Schaefer spent two-and-half hours of hard labor digging out from the storm just so he and his 18-year-old son, Dillon, could ride their snowmobiles.

“I went out for a couple hours Wednesday night. The snow was deep, so it was easy to get stuck. But by the weekend, I think the trails should be pretty well packed down,” Schaefer says.

Snowmobilers already are taking advantage of the trails in the Lake County Forest Preserve, and volunteers from local snowmobile clubs hope to use a “Groomer” to pack down the snow and remove the bumps by Monday.

“The cross-country ski people have called. The snowmobilers have called. Everybody wants to get out because they've been in all week,” John Tannahill, chief of the Lake County Forest Preserve rangers, says Friday. “We've got people using the trails wearing snowshoes. They've having a blast out there.”

Even the more urban Cook County Forest Preserve's open field for snowmobilers near Rolling Meadows is drawing crowds.

“We've got 22 inches on the ground, drifts of 3 or 4 feet. People are having a good time. That's what it's all about,” says Jim Hackett, the preserve's superintendent for the northwest division of Cook County. “I've been here 28 years. These are probably the best conditions I've seen in over a decade.”

The forest preserves in Kane and McHenry counties also are open to snowmobilers. The DuPage County Forest Preserve doesn't allow snowmobiles, but lots of private farms and estates do. For maps and more information, visit www.ilsnowmobile.com.

Local officials say the snowmobile clubs have worked hard to bring families to the hobby and to eliminate the “cowboys” who speed, are reckless, drink alcohol and don't follow the rules. Clubs offer education and safety classes.

“The whole snowmobile community has changed. It's more family oriented,” says Sgt. Mike Anderson with the Lake County Forest Preserve rangers.

“That's good that we're getting this snow because it does pique interest in joining local clubs,” says Greg Ward, 53, who lives in Ingleside and is president of the Sno-Kommanders of Lake County. He says snowmobile clubs are “trying to change the way people look at snowmobilers” and doing lots to promote environmentalism and safety.

They back up their talk with money. In an era when most special interest groups are whining about increases in taxes and fees, snowmobilers fought to give more of their money to the state.

“We lobbied and got it passed in Springfield, if you can believe it, for higher registration fees,” says Schaefer.

The law, which goes into effect April 1, raises the snowmobile registration fee from $18 to $30 until 2017, when it jumps to $45, creates a $25 fee for out-of-staters, and requires that all snowmobiles carry liability insurance, just as cars do. That money is used to improve and expand trails, teach safety classes and buy equipment.

Including fees, purchases, repair, storage and another costs, snowmobiling contributed more than $81 million to the Illinois economy during the 2009-10 season, according to a study by the Illinois Association of Snowmobile Clubs. This week's storm could raise those numbers.

“Last year it started out promising and then it went south. We were all Cubs fans saying, ‘Wait until next year,'” says Schaefer. He says now is next year and “this is an exceptional year.”

“This will be a good snow and will last for a while,” agrees Sgt. Anderson. “The cold temperatures will keep the snow around for awhile.”

That's fine, just as long as the rest of us don't have to shovel it again.