Joining SnoWest Mid-Stride
The year was 1993 and I had a decision to make.
I was then working for one of the agriculture magazines here at Harris Publishing. I was being given the opportunity for a promotion to editor—of either SnoWest Magazine or one of our company’s boating magazines. I was given a few days to think about it and eventually chose SnoWest. That is perhaps one of the best decisions I have ever made.
It was about that time—1993—that SnoWest turned 20 years old. Today we’re looking back at 45 years.
As I think back over the past two plus decades of working on SnoWest, the authority for western snowmobiling, I think of the people I’ve met as well as changes to the industry, our magazine and, of course, the sleds themselves.
Roughly a year after I was named editor of SnoWest Magazine, Ski-Doo introduced the first mountain-specific snowmobile, the 1994 Ski-Doo Summit. That started a revolution of sorts in the industry. Of course, we are biased here at SnoWest, but we can’t think of any segment introductions since then that have been as big.
An entire segment of the industry was created, a segment that has traditionally been one of the strongest in terms of units sold every winter. No, the mountain segment is not the biggest segment, but it has been consistent over the years, mostly because you can (don’t want to jinx ourselves here) find snow somewhere in the West winter after winter.
Some people (who obviously don’t know any better) have asked me over the years if I ever get bored writing about snowmobiles and snowmobiling. Not hardly. There is always something new in the market and always a new place to explore. Always.
If you really think about it, considering the size of our industry, the new technology that has emerged over the years and continues to emerge is phenomenal in light of the number of sleds sold. Manufacturers continue to develop technology, aftermarket companies continue to design and manufacture some of the most amazing products on the planet and we continue to ride as much as we possibly can.
I have had some incredible snowmobile rides over the years—too many to detail. And I’ve been riding in incredible places from Island Park, ID (still one of my favorites), to Alaska (larger than life) to Yellowstone National Park (stunning) to Alberta, British Columbia (specifically the Pemberton Ice Fields), Quebec and the Northwest Territories in Canada and just about every western state. I have yet to ride in Arizona.
In addition, I’ve been lucky enough to tour every snowmobile manufacturer’s factory from Valcourt, PQ, to Japan to Roseau and Thief River Falls, MN. And I’ve been to many engine manufacturing plants, including in Japan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Austria. Throw in there a number of aftermarket facilities and it’s no wonder I have a deep appreciation for the technology that goes into our sport.
Every snowmobiler should take the opportunity to tour a sled manufacturing plant. We snowmobilers take so many things for granted in this sport and don’t appreciate all the work/technology/innovation/thinking/dreaming that goes into the development of a snowmobile. I am always amazed when I walk through a manufacturing plant and see the technology and investment it takes to make even one snowmobile.
All of that experience I have gained and experiences I have had are thanks to SnoWest Magazine.
I have chronicled all those trips, tours and rides in the pages of SnoWest over the years. I really have no idea, but I estimate I’ve written somewhere between 800-900 stories in the pages of SnoWest since I first started more than two dozen years ago. That doesn’t include the programs (such as the RMSHA program, West Yellowstone EXPO program, etc.) and race magazine SnowAction I’ve also written for.
And I joined SnoWest mid-stride in its existence thus far.
Even before I started working for SnoWest, I knew of its reputation as the “authority for western snowmobiling.” I heard about the magazine from some snowmobiling friends and, of course, was a little jealous once I started working for Harris Publishing when I would see Steve taking off on another trip to go snowmobiling.
Have we/did we get everything right over all those 45 years? Probably not. You may differ with us on our opinions as to which sled is best or which snowmobile performs best in specific conditions but we do our best to be as accurate as we possibly can. We do have our own opinions about sleds and don’t always agree as a staff about this sled or that one. But we’re no stranger to controversy. Over the years we’ve created plenty of it at times while others have sometimes created it for us. That’s okay, it comes with the territory.
We/I are/am fortunate enough to be able to ride the sleds side-by-side in the same conditions and that’s why we can make the comparisons we do. We’ve been doing it that way for 45 years. It’s a proven system for us and I can’t imagine abandoning it. What would be better than taking all the mountain 800s (or 850s these days) out on the same day to test and ride? Over the years we’ve done it with the 440s, 500s, 600s, 700s, 900s, 1000s and turbos.
We like to think we have helped shape the mountain segment. Whether we have or have not is really something our readers should decide.
Either way, it’s been a great ride and SnoWest looks forward to the future and what it will bring and how we’ll tell that story.
- Lane Lindstrom