A new server means I've got some cleanup to do.
Welcome back! I'm glad your here and hope you're excited for the upcoming season. As we're still a few months off from first trail, I wanted to give a quick site update.

Returning visitors may have noticed some features have been down, I recently upgraded servers (big time!), thanks to Journal Community Publishing Group Web Hosting. The server speed is much much faster than it was last year, but SledXChange is a big site, and other priorities have keep me from getting all features back up and running the way they should be.

I apologize for this delay, and in the coming weeks promise to get everything back up and running.

In the mean while, you can still create accounts and sell your goods, or visit the forums. Thanks for your patience and again, I'm glad you're here!

Hey February 24th, it was in fact, all down hill from there.
And thus the season ends, strangely enough, with another huge snowfall in the south of Wisconsin. Not enough to open anything mind you, but still, an epic mid-March snowfall provides an excellent punch line for what was an awesome season. I don't have many hard numbers, but it looks like we may have come close to some total accumulation records in southern Wisconsin--amazing considering the last few years.

As alluded to in my November 4th post below, it wasn't a huge surprise that we got a load of snow this year. What will be hard to guess is what next year will bring. Our handy line chart shows that a huge snow year doesn't preclude a follow up the next year. In fact, it could be the opposite, a far below average year. The one thing the graph does show us however, is rarely will a huge year be matched by another. In fact, it's never happened before.

And so we enter into the long summer months with repairs to be done, upgrades to be added--and above all--not a clue what next year holds. As always, we'll be right with you hoping for the best.

It's all downhill from here?
With decent daytime temps and an incredible snow pack, it's hard to imagine the season is in its twilight. But with March right around the corner, daytime temperatures will begin to average in the mid-30's, as opposed to the mid 20's of February. Last year trails closed around much of the midwest in mid-to-late March, if only because of a huge storm that passed through in late February. This year it looks to be the same, though it could extend into the latter half of the month.

Bottom line-- We've got about three more weeks, make the most of them!

It seems Mother Nature hasn't forgotten about the north...
2-4 inches of fresh snow fell last night and into this morning, giving the trail systems of the northern tier a much needed boost. Temperatures will start falling during the day, a trend that will continue into Friday. With a high of only 7 and wind chills into the low -25 range, it's going to be a tough sell for many snowmobilers. Our recommendation: with few riders and fresh powder, Friday is going to be a perfect day to take a short ride--just bundle up.

Looking ahead we see a possibility for snow all next week, with temps staying well below freezing. This amazing winter keeps chugging right along--we love it.

Southern Wisconsin Finally Open!
The big storm that passes through southern Wisconsin has done what it should have--opening the trails in areas that haven't been open all year. For thousands of snowmobiles this will be the first time you can ride without having to travel several hours up north. As far as trail conditions, while reports are varied, the closer to the Illinois border you go the higher quality trails you'll ride.

Keep in mind as you head out tonight, a cold front is going to start pushing through, dropping temperatures dangerously low. Dress warm and ride hard!

Major Storm Headed for Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan.
Parts of Illinois and Michigan, along with southern Wisconsin could be socked with heavy snow and possibly rain tonight. It's hard to tell if this precipitation will be making its way up north, but if it does, cool temperatures this weekend should make for good riding. We'll keep you posted.

Mostly decent conditions around the Midwest.
Unlike several weekends this season, little to no new snow is expected this weekend, so what you see right now is what you get. To that end, trail conditions should be acceptable, with a strong base from the warming and then freezing this past week. Expect some areas to exhibit icy corners, but nothing that a good grooming can't take care of.

Overall, this may be a good weekend to head north to try out some of the trail systems you haven't hit this year.

Best trail conditions of the season.
After spending a day of hard riding in central Wisconsin I can say it with confidence--these are the best trails of the season, hands down. The combination of last weeks bitter cold, constant grooming, and few riders has been the perfect storm, providing early weekend riders with absolutely great riding conditions. The only sticking point is in many areas the bitter cold seems to have made the snow pack a bit powdery, making some tight corners a bit--exciting.

Be aware, higher temps over the weekend and into next week may dampen the fun. Our advice, no matter where in the SledXChange area you are, this is the weekend. Get out and ride!

Bitter cold = better trails.
It's no secret, the bitter cold we've had over the past few days has kept many sledders indoors and off the trails. The good news is this means trail conditions are some of the best you'll find all year--provided you can take the cold. Our advice, get out and ride hard, but do so in moderation. Ride for 40 minutes at a time, then get indoors and warm up. The season is short, and the trails are too good not to ride!

Trails open in Wisconsin? You bet!
Lucky you, the recent snowfall has opened a huge number of trail systems through out much of Wisconsin. From Sauk and Columbia counties in the south, continuing north east towards Michigan through Oconto and Florance counties. Conditions should be great, but the cold front that's moved in will make any riding more punishing than fun if you don't dress warm enough.
So what are you waiting for? Get out and ride!

Snow, it's on the way!
Up to 5 inches is expected to fall between now and Friday evening through out much of the SledXChange coverage area. This may, stress may, be enough to open some trails in the central and southern counties. We'll keep you posted!

Snow Falls Again!
As anyone watching the Packers' playoff game yesterday noticed, it was snowing pretty hard, and the good news is, it's still snowing across much of Wisconsin and Michigan. As of 9:30 this morning, snow falls from Madison all the way north to Eagle River, then east all throughout Michigan. Accumulation ranges from 3-6 inches, with 3 being the most common. Forecasts predict another 3 inches in many areas tomorrow. As a huge number of trails have been closed in recent weeks, this storm may well open some again. We'll keep you posted as always!

Les Misérables!
I'm not sure what the above means, but it sure feels about right. Over the past few days temperatures have held way above freezing, and today, across much of the Midwest, we got rain.

The upshot is if the past month of weather is any indication, we may return to normal rather quickly.

In any event, trails across our coverage area will be poor at best, if not outright closed. We'll keep you posted as always.

Could be a little awesome!
Our early predictions of the holiday riding conditions thankfully turned out to be premature for some of our coverage area! A decent storm passed through much of Wisconsin on the 21st, bringing with it over a foot in some areas. Most of the remaining holdout counties throughout central and south central Wisconsin opened trails a day or two later. Conditions have been excellent, and more snow this weekend (2-6 inches) will help smooth out any remaining rough spots.

If you're looking to come up from the Milwaukee / Chicago area, you'll be very pleased at what you see when you cross into central and Northern Wisconsin--Snow caked trees and plenty of well groomed trails!

Could be a little rough...
While some counties in Wisconsin have open trails, the combination of warm weather and no new snow for the next couple of days could spell trouble for vacationers looking for a quality snowmobile getaway.

As of this morning it looks like we'll receive a wintry mix across the Midwest over the weekend, with some light accumulation in western Minnesota and across the northern end of the SledXChange coverage area. However, most of the precipitation will be in the form of rain.

The wintry mix will be book-ended by a cold spell starting next week, which may prove a blessing in disguise--the ice may help the melting trail base.

At any rate, over the next week things look dry, with no major snow expected save for a few isolated areas.

As always, stay tuned to SledXChange for the latest!

Several Wisconsin Counties Open Trails! Unofficial Report.
Unofficial word-of-mouth reports point to several Wisconsin counties being open for riding. As of Sunday the 16th it appears much or Waupaca, Lincoln, and several surrounding counties are now open. The trails I've seen mixed with first hand accounts point to, at this point, excellent riding conditions. All this before the holidays even start--SledXChange is pleased.

Stay tuned as we bring you the latest.

55 MPH limit extended to all night time riding in Wisconsin.
It was inevitable, the 55 MPH limit has been extended past the lakes and on to the trails. The legislation law was signed into law on November 13th and will be in effect until June 2010. June? Watch out summer-time snowmobile trail riders!

Anyway, as much as we're advocates for safety, I fear this law will catch many well meaning citizens in a trap. Watching your speed on a powerful sled is simply distracting on a curvy trail, especially when you can rocket from 30-70 in a heartbeat. What's more, gauging you're speed on a sled where you have almost no consistent point of reference is very hard, which in turn necessitates taking your eyes off the trail and looking into the instrument cluster. The idea that you should be constantly looking down to watch your speed strikes me as more dangerous than going fast once in a while.

Sadly, all of the above is pointless because I'm arguing from the point of view of a responsible, sober trail rider, which is of course not the problem. The simple fact is alcohol and speed, not speed alone, is the problem. The unfortunate death toll Wisconsin suffers each year is largely the result of drinking and driving, not excessive speeding by sober drivers.

Unfortunately for those of us who don't get intoxicated and drive, the only way to catch drunk drivers is to pull them over, and without speeding laws that's kinda hard, so there you go, we get a speeding law.

I did some digging and found this link, which is a listing of all Wisconsin snowmobile fatalities from the 2006-2007 season. What's most interesting is the data basically proves my point, although I'm not quite sure what that point is yet. Regardless, the break down is as such:

36 total fatalities
27 when dark (after 5:00 pm)
20 alcohol related (in some instances as high as .297 BAC)
An additional 7 were non-speed related (open water, inexperience, struck by cars when crossing roads, etc).

That's basically 75% of the fatalities from excessive alcohol or pure accident, not 'sober speed'.

As noted in the JS Online article linked to below, Minnesota, who has the same speed limit and slightly tougher sledding and drinking laws, has a lower fatality rate, 16 deaths on average compared to Wisconsin's 25. That difference seems to suggest that while the crackdown's have an effect, they'll come with an unfortunate side effect of speeding tickets for safe, responsible drivers like you and me.

I'm not trying to be callous, those snowmobiles who have passed had loved ones, and in many cases loved ones who depended on them--dying when sledding is as senseless a tragedy as I can imagine. But at this point I simply ask, is there not another way to keep our trails safe from drinkers other than punishing us all? Couldn't we push for more education and awareness at bars-something--anything? I'd even be fine with being pulled over if I'm raising hell at night, just to make sure I'm not drunk.

Unfortunately, it's not going to work like that.

DNR link here of the fatalities from the 2007-2008 season.

An interesting article on Minnesota and Wisconsin snowmobile fatalities and law here (thanks, JS Online)

> If you're like me, you'll probably want to sound off on this one

First significant snow of the season blankets much of the SledXChange area.
After a long day of continuous snow, the tri-state area wakes to find itself covered in a nice, fuzzy white blanket. Although it's hard to get exact numbers so early, it looks as if most of Wisconsin received at least 3 inches, with some area getting on the upside of 7. Some parts of Minnesota got positively dumped on, with as much as 11 inches of accumulation, an average of 4 inches elsewhere. Finally, Michigan seems hit and miss, with some area's getting just over an inch, others upwards of 8.

Overall a very good showing this time of year, and if the temps stay down, the foundation of a very good trail base, and possibly an early start to the season. Keep your fingers crossed!

Just for reference, here's a link showing Montana's recent snow activity. Interesting

Site updated with registration information.
As the snow begins to fly, we thought you might like to know that we've added a snowmobile registration section to the site to help you get up and running this season. Click here to visit the Sled Registration page!

Cold snap coming, possible lake effect snow for the Great Lakes.
What weather.com refers to as 'Alberta Clippers' will replace the warm weather we're enjoying today, bringing temps over the next several days into the 30's, with snow possible in the far north and around the Great Lakes.
Video Link (Link opens in new window)

Obviously this talk of snow so early has me excited, and I can't help but think of winters past, and my sneaking suspicion that we used to get more snow. I did a quick search and came up with some interesting links. First is this graph which shows snow trends in the Minneapolis area over the past 123 years. My suspicion proves true--we used to get a lot more snow in the 80's and early 90's.

So what does this mean for 2007-2008?
What I find most interesting is since 1884, every time we've had three years of below average snowfall, that trend continued for at least one more year (1935--1939). The extreme seems to be in the early 20's where we had seven strait years of below average snowfall.

However, over the past 17 years there hasn't been a period of 'high snow' or 'low snow' that's lasted more than three years, and to make things more interesting, when we return to above average snowfall after a low snowfall period, that return is glorious indeed, with total snow accumulation of at least 65 inches (in 1994).

That said, the last two decades are hard to pin down into any meaningful statistical model. Yet if history is any guide, if we do have a great snow year, it will be the first time the 'three years always means four' trend will be broken since record keeping began.

Finally, I did I quick once over with some temperature data over the same time-span, and have a hard time correlating average temperatures with snow accumulation. However, we do seem to be in a rather warm period, with average temperatures trending up over the past 10 years.

Fall Weather Finally Among Us
It's about time I say. Check out the video for details.
Video Link (Link opens in new window)

Snowmobiling - Not just for Men (We already knew that).
Check out this great video. Made sometime last season, it's amazing how successful this group has been at fund-raising.
Video Link (Link opens in new window)