By Nancy Bargar
Gerry, NY – Once their insurance crisis was resolved, New York State's snowmobilers were out in force enjoying their sport.
Erie County, with more than 9,000 registrations, may have the most snowmobile owners in the state, but the action was further south on a recent weekend. Gerry, the site of more than 50 years of summer rodeos, welcomed more than 3,000 people to SnoCross -- amateur and pro snowmobile racing.
Special coverage is obtained for this type of event so it was never close to being cancelled. But professional snowmobiler Brian Wellman says, if trails close for lack of liability insurance, an important training ground is lost.
"I don't do a lot of trail riding. I used to. That's how I got into the sport," Wellman said. "The insurance deal was definitely a big problem for the trailriders because it brings in so much revenue to the outside busineses and there's a lot of money in the sport.
"The real aggressive trail riders always graduate to SnoCross. They're always looking for more competition."
Snowmobile trails in New York officially opened December 9th, the day after deer season closed, and then there were some anxious moments. Insurers hesitated to renew coverages. Road crossings of the trails were posted for two weeks. But those fears faded when policies were put back in place across the state. Sargeant Marty Bova is in charge of Chautauqua County's snowmobile unit. He says snowmobiling insurance had been relatively inexpensive.
"For example, the Cherry Creek Club paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,500 last year for their insurance," said Bova. "Yesterday, they had to stroke a check for $14,000 for the same amount of trail coverage, same area and same mileage."
Estimates are that snomobiling accounts for $20 million of yearly revenue for the county. Some participants have cabins in the area. Others book rooms, eat out, and buy gas.
"We need that money coming into the county," Bova said. "So, by the trails being re-opened and having the insurance, I think it's going to be a good thing for everybody involved."
Insurance agents are telling the snowmobile clubs that all types of insurance premiums are going up because of the payouts by companies following 9/11. Sue Hough belongs to the club that helped build the race track in Gerry -- the Lake Effect Trailbreakers. She acknowledges the risk.
"People get hurt on the snowmobile trail," Hough said. "We don't want our landowners to have to be in anyway held responsible. We don't want them to have to pay to retain an attorney to fight anything that might happen. We don't want to jeopardize them in anyway. They get nothing other than our thanks, many thanks for allowing us to use their private property for our snowmobile trails."
Staying positive is Jody McKay's job. She's marketing director of the Big East SnoCross Tour. After hours of talking over the rev of the engines, she is losing her voice.
"There's a good chance of injuries. The crowd loves crashes, not that they're a good thing but you know, they're fun to watch in a sense," McKay said. "We have an ongoing bet with our junior riders. If nobody gets hurt and the ambulance doesn't go on the track, we buy them pizza at the end of the day. There is a possibility for injury but we've found that we're getting a lot more riders coming to the SnoCross racing sport because it's a controlled atmosphere."
SnoCross builds the tracks, places hundreds of bales of hay needed for the jumps, then makes sure the jump angles are good. Tracks are groomed throughout the day and there are no unexpected stumps or railroad tracks to trip over. Decked out like Darth Vader, veteran racer Dave Stephenson is philosophical about the dangers snowmobilers face and accepts the consequences.
"Well, you've got to protect yourself, you know. You've got to go to work on Monday. It's easy to get hurt," Stephenson said. "It's like motocross, or hockey, or football. You've got to wear protective gear for your own safety and safety of others.
"My chiropractor knows me pretty good; my dentist and the doctor and the people in the emergency room."
Understandably more cautious is Dave Johnson, whose son, Levi, still in daycare, competes on a miniversion of a standard sled. Dave Johnson is his children's mechanic on the race circuit.
"We take every precaution that we can with the safety gear and equipment that we put on Levi and Heather and the snowmobiles themselves, between the safety switches and different ways to keep their feet out of the tracks," Johnson said. "There are rules that we have to follow for these little guys that are out there."
A tether switch kicks in when someone falls off a machine. Apparel includes chest protectors, knee protection and helmets.
"Absolutely, it's a must," Johnson said. "And you can't put a child on anything or any racer, any rider, they have to wear helmets and protective equipment."
Parents and riders aren't the only ones playing it safe. Before the SnoCross event, planners hauled in 100 truckloads of snow. A foot of snow fell in two days and the two-day SnoCross was a hit. Organizers say they'll be back next year.
In the meantime, Chautauqua County reaps the benefits of millions of dollars pumped into its economy by the snowmobile industry.