Author: Sunny Madden

“November 2025 Snowy Range Snowmobile Club Meeting: 20 November 2025

6:00 PM Start: New Location at Ski Shop across the street from 3C Guiding.

Attendance: Sunny, Cameron, Justin, Mitch in person (Treasurer, President, VP, Secretary) with Keith and Heather online (business liaison and social media officer, respectively) and approximately 15 others in person. 5 more people online.

To those that tried to join via Zoom: Sorry for the tech difficulties, online didn’t start until 6:20 PM. Quickly recapped the first 20 minutes for those online.

Reminders: We have a somewhat new Facebook “page”: Snowy Range Snowmobile Club – SRSC WYwhere we’ll announce events & meetings or share information.

We still have our original “group” for folks to join & post in: https://www.facebook.com/groups/snowyrangesnowmobileclub  Ground rules are no advertising unless you’re a paid/current business member of the club. We will remove posts as needed.

For those not into Facebook: no problem, you’ll receive the same information via email.

Secretary Update: About 31 folks have joined via Paypal as of yesterday, a few more today. If you haven’t renewed please do so.

Safety Shelters: Lake Marie shelter went up 2 weeks ago. Big thanks to Elite Oil Services for towing the trailer up again this year. It’s currently locked until trails are in. Plenty of firewood inside still. Solar install going up this weekend for lights. Sheeting being cut to add shelves on back wall. Eventually we’ll add hooks by the stove.

Club bought a tow behind sled from Elway (big discount, thanks!) to be able to transport supplies into the shelters.

Huts were cleaned up to prepare for the season.

Long term goal: permanent shelters for Nelson & Quealy (like Strawberry near Union Pass by Pinedale). This will require permitting with USFS and will take time but is a long term objective.

Highway cleanup and firewood cutting was done earlier this fall.  

Sierra safety shelter: Does the club need to do anything for this? Justin reached out to Josh Milek (State Trails) about this during the meeting. Got back quickly: Hut needs nothing.

Note: Josh is retiring from State Trails after 22 years: Thanks to him for all the work & advocacy over the years. A new person will step into this role named Patrick, he’s been with State Trails for a while already and should be a great fit.

Grooming Update: Stan (long time groomer operator, previously awarded groomer of the year award) got the grooming contract this winter. With Albany Lodge closed they did not receive the contract. Two snowcats will run out of Albany (just delivered this week). One going to Ryan Park, another to Ehlin Trailhead or GreenRock Trailhead (snow dependent).

Treasurer Update: $16297 in checking at present with some additional funds in transit from Paypal from recent memberships.

Beacon Check Stations: We’d like to add a beacon check station at Ehlin Road (to replace the State’s solar powered option) and one at Bottle Creek. Need to reach out to Brian Lunstedt to get the more reliable battery powered version from Ortovox (solar powered have proven unreliable). We’re late on this so may not occur until next season.

Skiers would like to have a beacon check sign near the skier lot for skiing into the Libby Creek terrain. A State Trails beacon check sign may be the most expedient option. We discussed why we put our checker near GreenRock at the Y of Trail U and Trail O: to ensure all folks see them (even those staying at the lodge or cabins), has the advantage of not being accessible for theft or vandalism.

Parking: SWORC meeting in Centennial sometime soon to gather feedback about the new Ehlin Road lot from locals: how do they feel about it after last year? There will be an online use survey about this parking lot coming out soon. We’ll share this and would like as many people as possible to fill it out. Anticipate questions like: Are you planning to use the lot? Have you used it before?

Sand Lake Road parking area? No news as of now. Still an active gravel pit but once that’s wrapped up we can start working toward that. The Ehlin Road lot is a good pilot program: it demonstrates people will park in new locations, and that it’s multiple use. There was a trail counter at Ehlin to generate usage data, along with the camera to keep view user groups.

GreenRock parking lot (the small USFS, non-motorized recreation parking): plowing is a consistent problem. For a few years Kody wasn’t paid for clearing it so he stopped doing it for free last season (as would any reasonable business). If USFS won’t pay for this, the Club will pay Kody to do this for 2025/2026. Kody has a contract with the Lodge up by GreenRock & runs a skid steer with blower.

Club Stickers: Printing some stickers to hand out. It’s been a few years since we did this. Some big ones with a QR code to join to put on trailers are an option too: speak up if you want one of these.

Business Partnerships:

Elway Powersports has partnered with us this season and they’re giving out a Club membership with each new sled sale. The membership drive we held there in November brought in a few new members.  

Keith is going to reach out to Saratoga Inn (new Adventure Shop with guiding) to see if they’d be interested in being a sponsor.

Carbon County Avy Observation Team Update: Two events evenings upcoming. Saturday Dec. 6^th at Carbon County Courthouse 7-9 PM, and Dec. 10^th at Platte Valley Community Center at 8 PM. The Dec. 10^th event also has a general informational meeting immediately before it at 6 PM that will include info on observation submissions. They’ll give away two Level 1 Avy Class spots at these events, for an on-snow in depth education opportunity.

Virtual Option? Facebook Live is a good way to do that. This will help get more people the information. We will share the event info for a broader audience.

More info on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574805000945

American Council of Snowmobile Associations: Mtn Riding Summit in West Yellowstone, Montana this season in February. Youth focused this year. https://www.snowmobilers.org/events-for-snowmobilers.aspx

WSSA:

Scholarship Application is ready & open. This is for graduating seniors or current college students whose family is a club member. More information can be found here: https://snowmobilewyoming.org/2026-scholarship-application/

Fun Days is hosted by Cody Country Snowmobile Association in Cody, Wyoming this year. First weekend in March. https://codycountrysnowmobileassociation.com/

All the snowmobile & avalanche gear raffle tickets for WSSA were sold. Drawing December 13^th live at the dealer that has the sled. In future years this may be an additional fundraiser for other clubs in future years.

Local Avy Class Opportunities: Cameron is hosting an AIRE Level 1 and 2 course this year. Last weekend of January for Level 1 (Friday + Saturday) then Level 2 right after 30^th-31^st then 1^st and 2^nd for the Level 2. More information here: https://www.3cguiding.com/avalanche-classes/aiare-level-1/ and https://www.3cguiding.com/avalanche-classes/aiare-level-2/

Meeting adjourned by 7:00 PM.”

20FEB25 SRSC Meeting 6 PM @ 3C Guiding

Zoom issues, sorry to all who were trying to tune in online.

Snow Update: We’ve got lots of snow! A large storm cycle just ended. Near the Nelson hut, 80 cm of snow depth to the top of the wood pile. It’s deep up there. Close to 3m of snow total.

Secretary Update: 125 memberships. Most via PayPal this year with a about a dozen via cash/check. Full transparency, PayPal does charge a fee for each transaction. We’ve paid $241.50 in fees this season. The increased memberships due to ease of use/sign up easily negates this cost.

Treasurer Update: $20,078.21 in our account. Quealy & Nelson donation boxes had some cash donations in them. Thanks to those who donated!

Ehlin Parking Area: Lot is getting use. There’s signage to not ride up the side of the highway or up Barber Lake Road, though some are still doing that. Please don’t do this, if you park at Ehlin, ride up D Trail. There have been some issues with trucks with enclosed trailers and mediocre tires getting stuck on the way in, so keep good tires on your truck and carry a little momentum. Tire chains for a plan B are never a bad idea!

Greenrock Parking Area: USFS hasn’t paid the contractor for clearing the skier lot in a few years so they have quit clearing it for free. We can pay the contractor to clear this lot, he’ll charge us for his fuel only. We’ll consider this a courtesy of the club to the ski community. It keeps sledding parking open by keeping space open for skiers to park in their lot. As in prior years, please do not park in this lot once it is cleared.

Annual Donations: WSSA scholarship donation and Access donations. Last year we donated $1000. This year we voted on a $2000 donation. All in favor, none opposed. Note that this is split 75% to scholarship, 25% to the Access Program. Last year we donated $750 each to Albany and Carbon County Search and Rescue groups. This year we voted on $1000 to each. All were in favor, none opposed. Total: $4000 in total donations were approved.

Safety Shelters: There is firewood in the hut in the Sierra’s. It has some power inside for lights and is nice. Small amount of garbage in Nelson, Quealy, and Lake Marie. Reminder to pack it in pack it out! (preaching to the choir in these minutes I’m sure)

WSSA Fun Days: March 7th, 8th & 9th in Rock Springs. Sunny volunteered to put together a basket for Fun Days to auction off. Keith has a small Polaris cooler to use as the basket base to put stuff in.

Snowmobile permit: bill has gone through both the House and Senate. It’s off to the governor to be signed. This increases permit costs to $75 for non-residents. $50 residents. Added a $25 antique tag (20+ year old sleds). Commercial tags are up to $150. This ensures the grooming can continue at the current level (trail miles and frequency).

Grooming Update: goes through March. Then trail markers, huts, and groomers come out at the start of April.

Avalanche Observations: This has been ongoing this season. Great tool. It’s been focused on the Carbon County side. All are welcome to post observations on the EasternWyo observations website. Bridger-Teton sent folks down to do training on how to perform observations. As always, make your own assessments in the terrain you’re navigating. https://ewyoavalanche.org/#/view/observations

Please reach out with feedback on the snowmobile registration fee bill that’s been introduced this year at the Wyoming State Legislature. Your thoughts directly to the Wyoming House committee on Travel & Recreation would be most impactful. We support State Trails and WSSA’s stance on supporting a fee increase but the details of how much and how much for whom needs hashed out. The sooner the bill gets ironed out the better for successful legislation.  See the bill here:  https://www.wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2025/HB0004

Relevant committee: https://www.wyoleg.gov/Committees/2025/J06

16JAN2025 SRSC Meeting Minutes
Attendance: 18 people in person, several online

Pizza courtesy of Elway Powersports of Laramie. Thank you!
Elway Powersports: Ski-Doo offering 0% 60 months financing on sleds. Special savings
on 12-13 600cc sleds (Summit Adrenalines, great for newer riders) with BRP rebates and Elway has discounts above those. Check them out if you’re interested.
Beacon check signs are all deployed. Located at the Y above Green Rock, Lake Marie by the
Safety Shelter, Chains End, and Albany.
Avy Conditions: Still sketchy layer in snowpack. Lot’s more snow than this time last year. Tog has had a sledder caught and a skier killed in slides. 3C Crew is going to continue submitting observations for the avy center, hoping to have enough observations to get a dedicated forecaster down here. Sheriff Bakken’s group out of Rawlins & Saratoga are also submitting observations. You can too, if you see a slide happen or evidence of recent avalanches, snap a picture and post it to the site. If you want to get more formal with pits and have the knowledge to so that is also welcomed. https://ewyoavalanche.org/#/view/observations
Trails: Grooming is in full swing, trails are marked. All safety shelters are in. Little thin to start the year, but things have really turned around since the New Year.
Permits: If your sticker falls off, State Trails will re-issue without charge. Keep the paper
copy/receipt. This is a known problem, new batch of stickers is on order.
House Bill 4 to increase sticker fees $15 for resident and $35 non-resident, and add a vintage sled tag for $25 has been introduced. Higher sticker fees will allow State Trails to continue grooming the trails we currently have into the future. Without a fee increase there is projected funds for only two years of grooming at the current volume but they’ll have to cut back grooming after that. This is rooted in the cost to groom: fuel, equipment, labor have all gone up yet we haven’t seen a fee increase in over a decade. State Trails & WSSA are working together to figure out the best path forward. We would like to hear input from you (yes, you reading this) about this. This is a new bill and input is welcomed. There is an argument to keep resident and non-resident the same amount so as to not discourage tourism, on the other hand the additional funds would go a long way.
New Ehlin Road parking lot is open for use. It is located on the west side of WY-130, just
above Centennial, across the street from the USFS Visitor Center. The road to the lot is plowed with a good turn around in the lot. Trail D is groomed from there up to Trail T, roughly following Ehlin Road (USFS-338). Please use it if you’re up for doing so, as use will help justify additional parking areas. Your feedback is welcomed. State Trails put a webcam up for the new parking lot: https://www.cameraftp.com/Camera/Cameraplayer.aspx?parentID=395112255&shareID=17896506. It has been getting a little use, but not much so far. Sounds like there is a minimal amount of awareness on this. Signage will help. Social media posts will help too.
Safety Shelters: Generally people have been clean in the safety shelters, packing their trash
out. Keep it up! Fire starter supplies are low, and damp, need to check if the lock boxes have
more in them that we can pull out.
WSSA Updates: WSSA: Fun Days March 7-9th. Can ride sleds or SxS (Killpecker sand dunes). WSSA Scholarship due February 1st. This can be used for college or technical schools. This scholarship is second only to Hathaway Scholarship program in the state.
WSSA raffle tickets are available. Raises money for WSSA and the clubs that sell them.
Available until Fun Days.
Treasurer Update: $18209 in our checking account. Next month we’ll figure out donations and Fun Days donations.
Secretary Update: Membership update: 116 memberships as of January 16th 2025.
Firewood for Sierra shelter; we need to check in with State Trails on this. Previously
discussed that if we can get wood to the groomer storage location, groomers will haul it in from there, just need to verify before having a load of firewood dropped off.
Next Meeting: Thursday January 16th, 6 PM, same Zoom link.

19DEC24 SRSC Meeting Minutes
9 people in person at 6 PM. A few more joined after that. Had several folks join via Zoom.
Elway Powersports brought in pizza and customer appreciation cards for 10% off. Thank you Elway! Cameron will have these cards available in the shop if you missed out.
Trails: Grooming has begun. Safety shelters are now in. Little thin to start the year, but forecast is promising. Heads up on avalanche danger: sugar snow for the base will be a problem for a long time.
Sheridan Trails meeting: Didn’t see a demo of the new sales program. Feedback welcomed
from users of the trail sticker program. Trails Council starting work session to go out twice yearly to go out to different communities throughout the state and check out how users are using trail systems, the amenities, parking lots, etc. First will be end of Jan/Feb in Lander: ski trails, new snowmobile trails.
New Ehlin Road parking lot: Open for use. Trail D is groomed from there up to Trail T.
Feedback welcomed. Please use it if you’re up for doing so, as use will help justify additional parking areas. There’s a new webcam up for the new parking lot.
Outdoor Recreation manager position is open with the state: Are you interested? See the state job board if you are. Motorized enthusiast representation could be helpful for snowmobilers.
Lake Marie Shelter: Solar and lighting system for Lake Marie shelter with strobe light on top, hoping to get that up in early January. Logos of businesses that helped purchase the Reefer trailer went into the trailer, they look great and will last a long time. New signs with ground rules went in too (no smoking, vaping, please pack out what you pack in).
12” rule reminder. These low snow years are when we’ll be under a microscope on resource
damages. Please treat the land with respect & be a good representative of the sport.
Snow Update: Snow conditions have improved. Coverage is about average for this time of year. The base is still sugar, with a slab on top: heads up for avalanches. Lake Marie hill slid recently. Check out the site for observations, with Sheriff Bakken’s new avy observation team there’s much more being posted than years past:  https://ewyoavalanche.org/#/view/observations
Treasurer Update: $15466.59 in our checking account.
Secretary Update: Membership update: ~120 members.
Wood for Sierra’s: if we have wood dropped at the groomer, they’ll pack it in. $500 donation from Colorado Blizzards. Thank you!
Next Meeting: Thursday January 16th, 6 PM, same Zoom link.

UPDATE: After speaking with retailers of the trail permits, it sounds like it is best (most efficient) for folks to do registration online and set up in-store pickup at the retailer of your choice. Yes you can register and purchase in person if needed, but each registration takes a few minutes, and if there’s a line in the store this wait can become significant. If you’ve got lots of time before you need it, you can have the sticker mailed to you. Reminder that residents will need the VIN of the sled. We’ve also had reports that the adhesive on the stickers hasn’t stuck well for everyone. I’ve had good luck cleaning the area with rubbing alcohol, warming up the sled with a heat gun, then placing the sticker. Others have added a layer of packing tape over the top. To purchase online visit: https://wyotrails.onewyo.gov/wyotrails?id=wyo_snow_home

On behalf of the Wyoming State Trails Program we would like to clarify some misinformation that is being circulated amongst the snowmobile community about our online sales platform. Registrations can still be purchased on-site at the selling agents around the state listed below. You can also purchase online for either delivery by mail or in-store pickup, please reference the selling agent map for these in-store pickup locations. The Selling Agent map can be found at: https://wyotrails.onewyo.gov/wyotrails?id=wyo_orv_home

We also want to let you know that we have received some reports of the new stickers falling off of sleds. We are working to find a resolution to this. In the meantime, if you have the ability to improve the adhesive of the sticker you received when applying it to your sled with a 3M product or something similar, that will hopefully help keep it attached. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to address this issue with the decal supplier.

9 people in person at 6 PM. A few more joined after that. Had several folks join via Zoom.
Highway WY-130 is closed for the season, woohoo!
Search and Rescue request for support: Are we willing to write a letter of support for Albany County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue’s grant proposal? Yes. The Club supports this effort. Sunny offered to write the letter. ACSSAR is applying for a grant from Wyoming Intertie (Community Investment Program)
to purchase two snowmobiles (SkiDoo Expedition sleds, capable of all around use) with a tow behind trailer for transporting patients from Elway. They currently own 1 functional snowmobile, ~2013 RMK 600 144” track, otherwise they are entirely reliant on volunteers using their own personal equipment for rescues. Grant app is due December 15th for this. ACSSAR will be buying the on-road trailer for transporting this equipment if the grant is funded (as their matching funds).
Membership update: 25 memberships have come in through PayPal (as of 20NOV24), a handful more via mail. (Post meeting update: memberships continue to come in. Please renew if you have not already done so.)
Parking Lot: The easiest to implement lot is going in this year, across the highway from the USFS visitor center just above Centennial. State Trails will groom Ehlin Road up to T trail once there is sufficient snow. Hopefully this provides useful parking for folks that aren’t deadset on riding from GreenRock, and demonstrates users are willing to try new parking areas. Longer term, we’d still like to expand the Half-Moon lot off WY-130 and add in the gravel quarry lot off Sand Lake Road (this would be the most effective). There’s a brush pile that needs burned at the new lot location, State Trails will do that. State Trails needs to approve the plowing contract to keep it clear and accessible, in progress. This is a 3 year pilot project to give it a trial run before it becomes permanent. The more use it gets, the more it shows there is a need & it will be permanent. Advertise this lot, encourage folks to use it. It is multi use lot, please share well.
Gravel pit off Sand Lake will run another year, once that permit is up and gravel is done this will be targeted as a larger lot.
Trails: Logging between Rob Roy and Q trail. Road is being plowed until Dec. 15th. Heads up on that.
Safety Shelter updates: Trailer went up on Friday the 15th to the Lake Marie site. New platform/landing up on Saturday, new steps going up shortly. Steps were donated by a rider out of Michigan, thank you! Cody made us new signs for inside of it. Burkhart has some solar powered lights to go inside. Plan to add a vent at the same time. Still seeking a permanent shelter for Quealy (think Strawberry outside Pinedale). Is the Sierra Madre hut going in again? Checking with Josh at State Trails: yes. What is the wood situation? We could drop a dump trailer of wood off up there. We could purchase a load. This was motioned, and seconded. Motion passed. We’ll buy it locally to Saratoga, or exchange for a business membership. (post meeting update: the road was closed the morning the wood was to be delivered: working on a solution).
Snow Update: It’s slowly stacking up. Not much yet for riding. Remember the 12” rule for off trail riding. Certainly A-arm season.
WSSA Update: Justin will be our area representative for this season. Fun Days in Rock Springs, March 7th-9th. Ride SxS in Killpecker sand dunes, sledding out of LaBarge Creek. WSSA scholarship is coming up for club members with kids in school. Due date is February 1st, 2025 https://snowmobilewyoming.org/scholorship/
Donation: Check in the mail, $2593.65 from “Recreationists of the Bow”. This was formed years ago for the Forest Planning process last time (20-ish years ago). This is the remaining money from that organization, which they donated to us as they said during formation that any leftover funds would be donated to support local snowmobile advocacy. Thank you to all those involved.
Treasurer Update: $14xxx in the checking account. ~$600 in additional memberships incoming via Paypal transfer.

Applications are now available for the 2025 Wyoming State Snowmobile Association scholarship program. Completed application, essay and letter from club president must be submitted by February 1st, 2025. Winners will be announced at Fun Days 2025 in Rock Springs, WY.

All comments must be made by Friday, May 10th, 2024

Below you will find a link to the BTNF forest plan revision story map. Please scroll to the very bottom of the story map for the public comment section. It has a map and a separate scroll down bar where you will find four questions to be answered. This is how the Forest Service would like to see public comments submitted. The deadline for this process in May 10th, 2024.

Even if you have only rode in the Bridger Teton once, it is very important to voice your opinion in favor of keeping motorized access as it is. What happens in one forest in Wyoming can greatly impact how other Wyoming forests are managed.

The snowmobile & motorized communities need to give input on what is important to us as users. The more input we have from our side, the better. Of course it is encouraged to have positive comments that will be valuable information for the Forest Plan revision team to incorporate in the assessment document.
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/0b29baa2acce4bb39311e112389c39a2

Here is also a QR Code to access the website: