Snow forces snowmobile club to cancel meeting in McHenry
By Burt Constable
In the battle of “the snow is so bad” bragging rights, Rich Bearzotti of Algonquin has a winner.
“We have a snowmobile meeting scheduled for all of McHenry County (Wednesday) tonight. We canceled it due to too much snow,” says Bearzotti, 68. “We’re stuck like everyone else.”
While suburban snowmobilers have offered their services to police departments in some communities, Bearzotti says snowmobilers face many dangers in these conditions. The howling winds that make it difficult to see and the unpredictable drifts make the conditions too dangerous for most snowmobiles and their operators.
“Our snowmobiles aren’t equipped to go through 3 or 4 feet of snow. I’ve got a 3-foot fence behind my house and I can’t see it,” Bearzotti says. “Snowmobiles aren’t like air-machines that float above. They get stuck all the time.”
While a ski lodge in the mountains might have an industrial snowmobile capable of handling this kind of snow, the recreational snowmobiles favored by most suburbanites are literally in over their heads. The heavy vehicles get stuck in drifts.
“I talked to a couple members and they said they can’t get out of their driveways,” Bearzotti says.
The idea that snowmobilers could just loan their vehicles to law enforcement officers also doesn’t hold up in this weather.
“I’ve been riding for 25 years. You’ve got to know what you are doing,” Bearzotti says. “Giving your snowmobile to somebody who doesn’t ride would be like giving your car keys to a 5-year-old.”
While Bearzotti remembers joining other snowmobilers traversing snow-packed Algonquin Road after a blizzard in 1979, he expects snowmobilers to put their machines on ice for a few more days. Then, hobbyists should be able to enjoy their snowmobiles.
To find out more and learn about groomed, safe trails, visit the Illinois Association of Snowmobile Clubs’ website at www.ilsnowmobile.com. But don’t expect to hit the trails right away.
“I don’t see them going out for a day or two,” Bearzotti says.