A Land Owner’s Perspective Makes You Appreciate Our Trails

Editor’s Note: This Breaking Trail column first appeared in the October 2021 issue of Snow Goer magazine.

Imagine saving your entire life to get the car of your dreams. It doesn’t really matter whether it’s a classic (I’d lean toward a GTO or Monte Carlo), an exotic Italian sportscar (Porsche, Ferrari, Bugatti… so many choices!) or a modern rig (the mid-engine Corvette is appealing!). For the sake of this discussion, let’s just pretend it’s something elusive and expensive, and now it’s all yours. A life’s mission has been accomplished!

Then suddenly, one early fall afternoon while you’re sitting in your car soaking in its aura, there’s a tap on the window. Suspicious, you get out and find a jovial guy in his 60s wearing blue jeans, a plaid shirt and a ball cap.

“Yeah, hi there – this is Jalmer Nelson’s old car, right? Welcome to owning it, I’m sure you’re going to love it,” he says merrily.

“Well, um, yeah, thanks. I saved a long time to finally get something like this,” you admit.

“Yeah, she’s a beaut – it’s nice to see it fell into good hands,” the guy says before getting to the point.

“Well, you see, when Jalmer used to own it, we had this agreement whereby, for about three months each year, anybody could come take it for a spin – not a long ride, mind you,” Mr. Ballcap explains. “No, they’ll just use your car before moving on to your neighbor’s car, and the another car after that.”

“What? Who are these people that would use my car?! Are we talking about you and a friend, or…”

“Oh heck no, it could be absolutely anybody – I wouldn’t even know the vast majority of them personally,” he replies. “No, I’m just the guy who sets up the whole deal. I’ve got this lease paperwork that relieves you of legal liability. If you sign the papers and allow this, our little club takes liability if somebody crashes, and you won’t be sued,” he explains calmly.

“Is there a schedule or something for when these random strangers would be coming?” you ask incredulously.

“No, not really – day or night if conditions are right. Frankly, some might even come late at night and might accidentally wake you up,” he says. “The vast majority are good, salt-of-the-earth people, but as with any crowd there’s always 2 percent that are riff-raff.”

“Why would I do that? Even if you offered me $20,000 a year I still…”

“Oh, we wouldn’t give you any money – no, we can’t because then the legal liability would fall back on you,” he explains. “You don’t want that. We do have a Car Owners Appreciation Dinner every spring, though, where a handful of the people who run the program cook you and other car-owners a pork chop dinner. Some of the guys might also give you a Christmas card to show our appreciation.”

“Well, you’ve clearly lost your mind. There’s no way I would agree to that. None,” you say.

“Well golly, Jalmer did this with us for years and it was no problem – no problem at all,” he says. “I mean, yeah, there was a little wear and tear here and there some years, but generally when the borrowing season is over you’d hardly know we were there. And, frankly, if you don’t do it, then it kind of screws up our route that people use to take other cars for rides – we need your spot to maintain our path of usable cars.”

Sounds like a ridiculous situation, right? Well, now you know how snowmobile club members probably sound to new landowners in the exurbs when they seek permission to continue a snowmobile trail across their property.

Honestly, sometimes I wonder why so many people allow our trails – and all of us riders – to cross their property. But thank God they do. Mark sure to thank those land owners by respecting their property when you cross it. Without them, and their graciousness, our sport would collapse. Never forget that.

Editor’s Note: Every Snow Goer issue includes in-depth sled reports and comparisons, aftermarket gear and accessories reviews, riding destination articles, do-it-yourself repair information, snowmobile technology and more. Subscribe to Snow Goer now to receive print and/or digital issues.