Skip

If John is anything like me, the cold and windy conditions are less than ideal for flying. Spring has sprung and I know I’ll be up in the air a lot more very soon. I think he got spanked pretty hard after his last episode of “air disasters”...hopefully he’s healed by now!

https://www.accuweather.com/en/videos/drone-captures-scary-moment-man-on-snowmobile-falls-through-ice/9ib2ppzte6lfonk-viztqyyp3v60qb1m

Alex Moot is the director of the Chocorua Lake Conservancy. He is not a NH resident. He has spread much misinformation about the club, the trails and snowmobilers in general, which we believe led to this particular landowner's decision to close this major portion of the trail system. He also gave misleading and inflammatory statements to the press. I have gone to the Chocorua Lake Conservancy's Facebook page and left my comments and a negative review. I encourage other like minded riders to visit their Facebook page and politely and professionally rate and offer their opinion as well. As local residents, businesses and other users of the trails including hikers, snowshoers, bicyclists and mushers realize what the loss of the trails will mean, in my opinion Moot is throwing up a smoke screen to cover his butt......

Thanks for the gead’s up Dennis!

I was looking to see if anyone was offering an air conditioner option. Maybe after this season.....

The reality is that the trails were improved, maintained and groomed by the OVSC. While we did get support from the mushers and several other local user groups, they alone don’t have the volunteers, manpower or heavy equipment access to keep this system alive. My prediction? It will take les than two to three years before those trails are grown in or blocked, resulting in the permanent loss not only of snowmobiling but ancillary uses such as the mushers, winter hiking and cross country skiers. That is why I believe the president of the Chocorua Conservancy made his false allegations, an attempt to deflect future blame to his anti-snowmobiling group when the wider repercussions of this closure is realized.

As a member and past president of the club with trails in question, this presents an interesting dilemma. Grooming the trails with private sleds/drags can be done. There probably is a mechanism to hire a full size groomer if insurance is obtained. But where will the volunteers come from to brush the trails, clear fallen trees and keep up the number of state financed bridges out there? It takes hundreds of hours annually to keep those trails clear and brushed out, never mind funds needed to repair washouts and bridges. The dog sled races are one weekend a year. God bless them if they can find the funds, volunteers and machinery to replace the club’s efforts over the past few decades. Someone is going to find out real quick that reality can be a real pain in the ass!

Major trail closures have repercussions well beyond the snowmobile community. The article below details how a property changed hands, the new owner promptly announced a major trail closure to the State and the Ossipee Valley Snowmobile Club, and snowmobilers will not only be the big losers in this sad affair: Long Time Wonalancet Dog Sled Racing To Be Victim Of Trail Closure?

Yesterday the OVSC fielded two work parties. Trail master Mark along with Dex and Paul cleared several major blow downs in our extreme southern section. Meanwhile deep in the woods of Wonalancet at the foot of Mt. Chocorua one current and the two past presidents (George, Dave & Skip) along with Barry and Jim spent 7 hours along Paugus Brook near the Swift River clearing tons of debris left from the last flooding incident. It was extremely hazardous working conditions as the trails at both sites were sheets of ice...but spending a day in the woods with good friends is priceless. And none of us would have wanted to be anywhere else!

Jeff, I have to agree with Rob on this. I salute you for your tenacity and grit. But you’ve won. Yes, there remains some resistance, some self denial, in Tilton. But the implosion that will occur by the AG’s negotiation has begun. Both in the north and southern sections of the State voluntary membership in the NHSA will begin to plummet as the organization has failed to market or serve those areas appropriately. Other counties will follow suit unless the organization reinvents itself. Rob is the type of individual that needs to be encouraged now to work within the NHSA, and hopefully he gets the support he needs. As several have suggested, maybe it’s time to surrender the swords for plows. Let’s let folks now decide where to spend or not spend their money, and be there to offer support to folks like Rob that will be the seeds of change necessary to reorganize the NHSA into a smaller but more focused group that gets back to its roots....

I heard a rumor that tha Association has Chinese hackers on retention...maybe George’s form has been compromised??????

Agreed, I deal directly with the my club as well. I think that while the online portal serves a purpose, I would want my Club to encourage contact and club membership directly instead of through a third party. Very important for clubs operating on the margin....

That coupled with some comments made by at least one County director on-line shows, that early on, it looks like the message from the AG isn't getting heard appropriately. I have no problem filing a complaint if it continues....and letting anyone know (if they insists) who it is. Let's just hope that after those that have had their peckers stepped on recover from the pain, common sense prevails and they don't bring on yet more legal troubles for the Association!

Agreed. Jeff along with Larry, Winnocturn and several others have called this debacle correctly for a number of years, and been subject to much scorn here and elsewhere. In the end they were right, and both had offered constructive criticism and suggestions to fix this way before it spun so far out of control. Hat’s off to you guys...I would have loved to be a fly on the wall at one or two past president’s houses when the AG ruling was issued. I hope the pucker factor lingers,

I’m going to look at my copy over the weekend and offer some ideas. However, the influence of the past presidents need to be severely curtailed. Much of the legal issues and bad choices that got the Association to this point can be squarely blamed on them. Also, there needs to be a mechanism to turn the board over on a regular basis, and impediments put in place to prevent a new slate of executive officers need to be removed: Additionally the routine practice of the backroom meetings of the so called “executive board” need to be stopped, especially when these meetings result in financial decisions not decided on or ever brought to the full board. some more to come...but these things always stuck in my craw!