December 18 2025, 6:00 PM MST
Snowy Range Snowmobile Club Meeting Minutes
Westgate Sports in Laramie.
Attendance: Mitch, Cameron, Justin, Sunny (officers) plus about 10-15 more in person. Good number of folks online.
Secretary Update: 76 current/paid members. 13 are businesses (7 premium, 6 associate), 33 families, 30 singles. Cameron’s video call for membership was effective last time, and brought in a dozen or more members shortly after the Facebook video was posted.
This is lower than our usual total, but the season hasn’t really even started, and it is considered really good compared to other clubs throughout the state.
Snow Update: one good storm early in the month, but not much since. Ice layer has formed from sun + wind, about 2 inch icy layer on the surface now. Will be a nasty bed surface for future slabs in terms of avalanches.
Safety Shelters: Chimney is installed on Lake Marie shelter. Solar panels are installed. Matt is heading up Sunday to finish wiring up lights. Other shelters are in place by the time you’re reading this.
Grooming Update: Grooming starts soon. Trails are being packed in and marked with shelters going in shortly.
Treasurer Update: $16384.07 in checking. Additional funds pending transfer from PayPal from recent memberships: approximately $3200 in transit.
Beacon check signs:
Beacon Check stations going up soon. Cameron will put the GreenRock beacon check station up soon. Keith will put the Chains End sign up. Matt will put the batteries in the Lake Marie sign when he’s up there.
Discussion to have them at Ehlin Road trailhead, GreenRock skier parking area, and one for the Sierras. The current Sierra’s beacon check sign has marginal reliability (solar powered), so we are interested in replacing it with the fully battery powered Ortovox model like we have elsewhere. The Ortovox uses D cell batteries and has been solid for us over the years. These need to be ordered ahead of time, so it will not occur until next fall. Justin put this up for a vote: to purchase 3 beacon check signs next season. This is to help the whole community of area backcountry travelers and better unite us, which would be impactful for garnering support of future development projects (e.g., parking lot, permanent Quealy shelter, etc.).
Discussion ensued: can we get some financial support from the ski community? Medicine Bow Nordic Ski Patrol: could we arrange with them to help manage the skier area beacon check sign? Store & maintain.
How about the Sierra side: Carbon County Avy Observation folks may be interested in supporting or maintaining a sign in the Sierras?
Whatever is done, will not be soon as the signs take time to get ordered and constructed.
If we pay for these signs, we need to make it clear the Club paid for them (this can be done in the sponsors section of the signs). The signs are permitted under the USFS grooming permit, but the face design was approved by USFS. So if we change it, we must update the permit. The design at the Lake Marie shelter is approved: likely makes most sense to stick with that design so not required to update the permit. The sponsor section of the signs is where we can denote who funded the signs.
Justin reached out to Jordy about putting a State Trails beacon check sign up at GreenRock skier area for this season. They’re going to check if there is one available and get back to us. This would be a good pilot program of no cost to see if the sign get used at that location.
Parking Lots: Keep using Ehlin Road this season.
Albany USFS lot will be plowed (though the lodge parking spots will not be to our knowledge).
Sand Lake Road is being plowed this season for a logging operation. The road is plowed for haul trucks: not for public access. The logging operation is primarily off Fallen Pines Road (about 1.5 miles up Sand Lake Road from WY-130) but there will be heavy traffic on Sand Lake Road. Don’t drive a truck up there. The forest is still open but beware of hazards. See USFS announcement for additional info: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/mbrtb/newsroom/releases/safety-announcement-sand-lake-road-plowed-timber-hauling-not-public?fbclid=IwY2xjawPBknBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETE4SE5qRmRTYzRoQlZwcVI0c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHthgaoWO5zdu-PYSgopqMXiKI3G1qt1hdKTFwimhILMMA_dX9hEWV1QEgVt3_aem_e3nssdCHq6NI_CnRsMe8Wg
WSSA Updates: Scholarship applications are due February 1st. Get your snowmobiling kid involved and they are likely to be awarded a scholarship if they write an essay. See WSSA website for more information.
WSSA Fun Days registration is online. First full weekend in March 2026 in Cody Wyoming.
Discussion of How to Increase Membership:
Next year idea: $5 single $10 family memberships? Low cost to boost numbers? It was noted that Dubois only charges the WSSA rate, and they still struggle with membership numbers, suggesting that membership cost is not the primary driver of low club membership.
The Wyoming State Trails meeting and the WSSA fall meeting overlap with Hay Days, this hurts attendance at these local meetings and it hurts our state’s representation at Hay Days. There has been discussion about moving these meetings to not interfere.
Could we sponsor State snowmobile maps printing in exchange for putting our name/QR code on it for more exposure?
This is an ongoing topic nationwide: how to increase snowmobile club participation.
Avy Class opportunities: 3C Guiding is hosting an avy class end of January 30th & 31st for Level 1, then February 1st and 2nd for Level 2. Level 1 is almost full (3 spots left), Level 2 is very open. Bringing in DJ Osborne of Mountain Slayerz to teach these (AIARE instructor). Connect with Cameron if you’re interested in these.
Next Meeting: As usual, 3rd Thursday evening of the month: January 15th, 2025 at 6:00 PM at Westgate Sports in Laramie, WY and on Zoom. Additional reminder email will go out the week of the meeting with the Zoom link.
Post Meeting Notes: in the weeks after this meeting, there was an influx of memberships, bringing total membership to 139 members (business, families, and singles combined). Keep encouraging your friends to join/renew!
Wyoming Trail Alliance has initiated discussions between SRSC & the ski community about a beacon check sign, which has been met with interest and willingness to help support this project.
Grooming is in full swing with trails marked and safety shelters in place. New light in Lake Marie shelter is installed. Quealy shelter was stocked with wood Sunday afternoon.
Several small storms have buried the ice layer in the snow, and the base has firmed up.