Getting out of house
Snowmobile, ATV dealers are seeing sales surge./
Last spring as the COVID -19 pandemic confined people to their homes, there was a run on bicycle shops and pool installers as people looked at staycations and backyard recreation.
Now, snowmobile and ATV dealers are getting cleaned out as folks seek to take advantage of winter, once the snow gets here, that is.
“We are sold out of 2020 snowmobiles,” said Cody Buck of Edelmann Sales, which offers Polaris snowmobiles and a number of dirt bikes and ATVS. They have 2021 models and snowmobile manufacturers are
working overtime to keep up with demand.
Along with rising demand for the motorized sleds, consumers are also scooping up the accessories.
“Trailer sales are out of control,” said Ron Griffin of Griffin Motorsports in Schenectady,
who has also sold out most of his ATVS. “It’s the same everywhere,” he said.
“Lots of people have been contacting us,” said Dominic Jacangelo, executive director of the state Snowmobiling Association.
“Club memberships are running ahead by a few thousand,” he said of the 200 local snowmobile clubs across the state. Registrations of snowmobiles in the state have hovered around 100,000 for the past few winters but are on track to exceed that number, he said.
All of this is happening even as the season hasn’t really started, due to the lack of consistent snow so far.
Unlike downhill and even cross-country ski resorts, snowmobilers can’t turn to artificial snow guns to cover the 10,500 miles of trails across the state.
They have to wait for Mother Nature.
But with people itching to leave their homes and get some fresh air during the ongoing lockdowns, New Yorkers are considering all outdoor options including snowmobiling and riding ATVS or all terrain vehicles that can ply forest trails and even snowy terrain.
Plenty of people also are planning to try the sport by renting or taking a tour for the first time.
“I’ve been getting calls since October,” said Windy Kelley, who operates RPM snowmobile rentals in Old Forge.
Along with the Tug Hill area
east of Lake Ontario, the Old Forge region in the western Adirondacks is popular with snowmobile riders due to the heavy snows that come with a typical winter.
The sport isn’t cheap. Snowmobiles typically start at around $7,000 for a basic model, Jacangelo said. But they are quieter, cleaner and generally easier and more dependable compared to the models of yesteryear, he said.
There are challenges in addition to the weather.
Travel to the trails in Vermont is hindered by quarantine rules in that state.
And Ohioans who typically come to western New York for sledding are likewise trapped at home due to COVID -19 rules in the Buckeye State, Jacangelo said.
He’s also hearing from restaurant and lodge owners in snow country who are worried about how the COVID restrictions will impact their snowmobiling clientele.
Some travelers are waiting not just for the snow, but for how the COVID rules may change in the coming weeks, agreed Peter Fay, whose family operates Clark’s Marina snowmobile rentals in Inlet, Hamilton County.
Downhill ski resorts have already gotten a jump on managing COVID crowds since some opened last weekend and more will be opening in the coming days and weeks as temperatures are expected to stay cold.
They have limited or eliminated indoor dining spaces and some have advised visitors to put on their ski boots in their cars instead of at the lodges. Despite that, resorts in New York reported a busy weekend even with limited terrain open.
Jacangelo said that snowmobilers are particularly wellsuited to remaining outdoors given the heavy insulated snowsuits and special boots they wear.
“There’s nobody who is going to be dressed warmer than we are,” he said.