January 14, 2004
Club seeks GPS signs
Snowmobile club raises money for trail marker signs
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Zooming along some of the 100 miles of snowmobile trail system in Grand Traverse County, you round a bend and see the aftermath of an accident. Whipping out a cell phone to call for help, you try to describe your location to the 911 operator along the Byzantine series of twists and turns.
Say you just crossed Supply Road, well, the trail crosses it numerous times so that's not much help. Even if you know the most recent intersection of trail and road, how many miles ago was it?
This is the reality facing snowmobilers on the trail, one members of the Grand Traverse Snow Spiders club are working to do something about. They are raising funds to place a series of GPS markers along the trail system, giving riders a reference point that will help rescue personnel fix their location.
"More than one time, I've some upon someone who missed a curve and hit a tree," said Susan Ryckman-Taylor of Traverse City, secretary for the club and a lifelong snowmobiler. "But how do you describe where you are? From my perspective, the GPS seems like an obvious common sense solution."
Throughout the season, club members are hosting Pancake Breakfasts, holding 50-50 raffles and conducting other fundraising efforts to finance trail markers.
"You really have no concept of direction out there, all the trails are twisty-turny," said Susan VanKersen, a member of the club's board of directors and a snowmobiler for eight years. "When you go down the trail, you really have to be watching where you are."
Board members and club members discussed their GPS effort at their monthly General Membership meeting, held at their clubhouse at Peegeo's restaurant. Another timely and safety-related topic is the continued disappearance of signs along the trails: stop signs, curve signs, steep hill signs and so on.
The portion of the trail that the club volunteers to maintain, designated the North Trail, the vanishing signs represent a hazard for snowmobilers. Members of the club are getting the word out that stealing these signs is both dangerous and a prosecutable offense.
"Like in an automobile, could you possibly imagine driving at night without signs," asked Ryckman-Taylor. "No one would ever consider driving on a twisting road at night without signs."
She also noted that people from out of the area rely on these signs to navigate unfamiliar trails.
"You often come upon people on the trail with trail maps out, reading by the headlight and trying to figure out where they are," Ryckman-Taylor said.
The Grand Traverse Snow Spiders club formed about 14 years ago, earning its name as most of the founders lived in the Spider Lake area. With 25 family memberships, the club hosts rides and events throughout the season, which runs from December 1 through April.
"Our objective is trail safety and recreation," noted Ryckman-Taylor. "We aren't responsible for the trail we maintain but we are there to help."
One way the club promotes trail safety is by holding snowmobile safety classes for young people. Two classes given late last year were filled to capacity and certified instructors from the club taught the basics of responsible snowmobiling.
"These classes are free and the kids riding around here have been through them," said Lori Dubro, a snowmobiler since 1975 and the media coordinator for the club.
The public is welcome to attend the next club Family Ride, which is scheduled for Tuesday, January 20. Riders are meeting at 6:45 p.m. at Peegeo's restaurant, 525 High Lake Road. For more information, call club president Brian Zionskowski at 275-6060.