As one of the oldest snowmobile clubs in the state of Washington, the origins of the Northwest Glacier Cruisers officially dates back to 1972.
But this isn’t a group of old-timers rehashing the “glory days” – today you’ll find a thriving club full of active members working to promote the sport they love.
What’s the best in-season club event or activity that makes membership fun?
We have lots of fun events and rides throughout the year, and try to do at least one ride per month during the season. We start riding usually in November and we ride until June.
This year we arranged to meet the Methow Valley Snowmobile Club, Whatcom County Snowmobile Association and Bavarian Boondockers and had a barbeque with 72 people from five different clubs.
We also do the Mount Baker Shoot Out every year in March that typically draws 200-300 people. Dealers come to show off demo sleds, with usually all the manufacturers represented. It’s a barbeque on the mountain with an annual drawing and we camp for the weekend. It’s always great time.
Besides safety training, does the club do anything to get and keep youth involved?
We have a lot of families that ride in our club. The kids ride to the events at the warming huts and we try to make all of our rides family-friendly. Santa visits our Christmas party every year and the kids all get a nice gift.
In January we have our annual Playday weekend, where we have a fun run to our Ploeg’s Place warming hut and have a barbeque with fun prizes for the winners and piñata for the kids.
What’s the best off-season club event or activity?
We host a horseshoe tournament in September and this year we also started helping with the Mount Baker Ultra Marathon in June – a 50-mile marathon run from Concrete, Washington, to the top of Mount Baker at 10,160 feet.
One interesting thing the club does for the good of the sport is…
Our Facebook page is a hub of activity for information about our riding area; with over 1,650 people on it, we put out information regarding our areas and events coming up.
Our Mission Statement is: “To Promote the sport of snowmobiling through good fellowship and sportsmanship, community service, education of our youth and cooperation with local authorities to maintain our riding areas.” We like to think we are doing just that.
Established: 1972
Total Members: 200
Miles of Trails Maintained: 100
Contact:
Tom Shields, president, 360/661-0003
Northwestglaciercruisers.com
Northwestglaciercruisers@gmail.com
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