BREAKING TRAIL

BY JOHN T . PRUSAK / EDITOR

Rox Speed FX celebrated its 25th anniversary in business with a couple thousand friends at Hay Days . Congrats to them !

Number of 2025 snocross-focused race sleds being built for this season . Arctic Cat is merely having its race teams update their 2024 models .

Number of states represented in our magazine subscription sales at Hay Days , from Connecticut to Idaho and many places in between .

On a warm June day that started in the mid-70s and raced up into the sweltering mid-90s , sales director Mark Rosacker and I embarked on a multi-day journey in Upstate New York with a stop at a Ski-Doo dealership . Well , it was mostly a lawn and garden business that earned its keep selling and servicing small John Deere equipment , but there were a few sleds on the floor .

The owner greeted us with a snarl – we ’ d been warned to expect that – when we told him we wanted to talk to him about exhibiting at our Big East Powersports Show . After a couple of curse words ( honestly !), he said , “ All that show does is bring in national exhibitors that take money out of the market . Move it somewhere else .” Not a great start . But within about five minutes his attitude shifted when he realized we weren ’ t just “ show people ” but were instead fellow snowmobilers .

Soon he transitioned to talking about great rides he ’ d been on , wacky things he ’ d seen along the trail , favorite machines he ’ s ridden and more . Nearly two hours later , we finally made it out the door . The same guy who gave us the venomous sneer when we walked in was practically our best friend on our way out .

Over the next three days , we stopped at 16 dealerships within a 100-mile radius of Syracuse , New York . A few folks weren ’ t too interested in long conversations . But most ? Despite ( 1 ) coming off a lousy winter , ( 2 ) their own resulting inventory problems , and ( 3 ) it being boating , off-road and motorcycle season , we met all sorts of dealers who were eager to share snowmobiling stories .

Doug at Smith Marine showed us his vintage sled collection . John from Sun & Snow shared great riding memories and asked about our experiences . Frank and Kyle from K . D . K . wanted to talk about events they ’ d attended and mutual acquaintances we had . Jay at Burditt ’ s had interesting industry gossip to tell .

Each visit was a “ pop-in ” where Mark and I just ambled in as complete strangers , but many times we left feeling like we ’ d made lifelong friends . The long BS sessions cut our efficiency ( we ' d planned to make more stops ) but it was a blast !

Part of my job involves regularly checking in with dealers to catch up on rumors , gauge the retail vibe , learn technical info and more . In many cases , though , what was planned as a quick call turns into 90 minutes chatting with someone who , when they first picked up , seemed too busy to give me two minutes .

From Rich from T . A . Motorsports and Bobby at Donahue Super Sports in Wisconsin to Tom at Thomas Sno Sports in Minnesota , Kip at Pat ’ s Motorsports in Michigan to Bob at F & S in Pennsylvania , and many , many more across North America , there are dealers I ’ ve met who truly share our passion for snowmobiling . When they meet someone who “ drinks the Kool-Aid ” about snowmobiling like they do , the conversations are enthusiastic and seemingly endless .

Sure , some dealers don ’ t seem to care as much about our little sport – they ’ re just running a business . It seems they tend to own the powersports megamarts with huge glass-front buildings that carry about 15 brands of bikes , boats , UTVs and other motorized fun . They ’ re certainly important to our sport , too , no doubt .

But me ? I ' d rather deal with and support the people who share our unending enthusiasm for snowmobiling .

“ There ’ s still absolutely , positively nothing like snowmobiling ,” a newfound dealership-owning friend said to me while I was attending the CFMoto dealer meeting in August on behalf of our sister magazine , Powersports Business . In front of us , really cool model year 2025 side-by-sides and sport bikes were being introduced . But once he realized I shared his passion for snowmobiling , that new equipment was just a sideshow .

VP / EDITOR : John T . Prusak

ASSOCIATE MANAGING ART DIRECTOR : Nicole Siewert

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS : David Wells , T . J . Krob , Jeff Oberg , Bill Dahl

PHOTOGRAPHER : Wayne Davis

VP / NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR : Mark Rosacker 763 / 383-4433

ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVE : Laura Kiesler 763 / 383-4430

DIGITAL SOLUTIONS MANAGER : Nici Lawson

BRAND ACCELERATION

CEO : Marion Minor

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR : Bernadette Wohlman

SR . VP , AUDIENCE MARKETING & ENGAGMENT : Joanne Juda-Prainito

SR . VICE PRESIDENT / SALES : David Voll

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4 / NOVEMBER 2024 / SNOWGOER . COM