Banner year for Whitehall RailRiders

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By Dan King

This year has been fantastic for the Whitehall RailRiders snowmobile club, in more ways than one.

For starters, the feet of snow and cold weather have made for a banner year for area recreation seekers.

“We’ve had three real good years, the last three years, but this year has been the best yet,” said Bob Putorti, the club’s president.

In addition to the ideal conditions, the club made a big purchase this year, which will benefit its members when grooming the trails, which originate at the Elks softball field.

The club purchased its first groomer with a cab, from the Hartford Ridge Riders on Sunday. The Chevy Tracker, which has been converted into a “Geotracker” allows club members to groom the trail in a heated cab, instead of out in the elements.

On top of keeping the groomers warm, the new Geotracker has cut down the time required to groom the trails.

The new groomer has a 6.5-foot drag, whereas the club’s previous groomer was a 4-foot drag attached to a snowmobile; that makes it so the groomer only requires two passes to groom the trail, instead of the four passes that were previously needed.

“You probably get between a 10 and 12 foot trail with this, because of some overlap,” Putorti said. “It leaves the trail so much smoother.”

He said the club usually grooms its trails five nights a week and does it at night, because the ice is fresher.

The new groomer has made life a little easier for the club, but a lot of work still goes into getting the trails functional.

The Geotracker successfully maintains about 80 percent of the trail, Putorti said the club will keep some of its old, small groomers out on the two portions of the trail that cannot be accessed by the Geotracker.

Before putting up the trail markers throughout the trail, Putorti said that the club must bushwhack its trails each year, to cut back the brush. The club also has to work with 92 different property owners each year, because the trails run through private land.

Putorti said, the club of between 70-120 members, is currently working on some events to get the public aware of what the group does.

“Being a member saves you on registration, you pay $100 per sled if you’re not a member, but if you’re a member you pay $45 and can register as many sleds as you have,” Putorti explained. “We want to make people aware of snowmobiling in general, because it’s our future, really.”

Economic benefit

The most recent study from the SUNY Potsdam Institute for Applied Research shows that the snowmobiling industry contributes $860 million to the community each year. Putorti said that could continue to grow and benefit Whitehall.

“The problem we have right now is that we’ve lost restaurants and bars,” Putorti said. “But Bay View Gardens has done really well with the snowmobilers.”

He said that many of the current restaurants in Whitehall are on the opposite side of the canal from the trails, but that as things progress there is a chance that snowmobilers could access that side of the canal.

Memberships with the RailRiders cost $25 and anyone interested in joining may do so on the New York State Snowmobiling Association’s website or by contacting Putorti or any other club member.