MMSC News

This is where we post news, articles, and announce new additions to our web site. If you've visited us before and want to know what's changed, take a look here first.

"Feel free to call for even more current information!"
 

Upcoming Meetings

 

Club Meetings are held (during the season) on the second Tuesday of the month,  7:00 p.m., at the Pearson Road Community Center, Pearson Road, Alton. 

 

Next meeting - Click here for details.

Click here for the minutes of recent meetings.

 

Membership forms are now available at:
            Hillcrest Marine (Rte 28A, Alton Bay)
            Parker Marine (Route 11, Alton Bay)
            Rochester Sports Center (Route 125, Barrington)

Trail Work!

Alton Bay Seaplane Base - Snowmobilers...please be aware that when Alton Bay freezes over, it is host to many winter activities including an ice runway for small aircraft. Signs and cones provide information as to where aircraft will be taxiing and taking off. Please take notice so that everyone can enjoy our beautiful winters. www.flyaltonbay.com

12/2/07 - Greg and Gerry McCabe came and helped clear the 4 massive trees from trail M past the Trailer park today. It's all done. Greg did a great job. He had additional motivation. We loaded his pickup to the gills twice with the red oak that we had to clear from the trail. It took us nearly 3 hours to do this one spot, not to mention I spent quite a few hours there yesterday doing limbing.

Afterwards, Gerry and I spent another 2 hours clearing along M from the river up about a half mile. This wasn't all that bad - only 1 messy tree down spot.

 

12/2/06/06 - Work on the trails is finally progressing. Excavation work is underway on Trail 'R' and Corridor Trail '22'. Bridges have been built and repaired.

Thank you to the Merrimac Trail Riders for their extreme efforts with some posts, a new bridge, and some beautiful trail washout repairs with runoff control.

1/21/06 - about a dozen members were out in one of our rare snow storms laying the plywood on the Jones Field Bridge (a town requirement to use this for sleds). The same crew also re-decked (and widen) both the short State Forest Bridge and Steve Gray's bridge on Trail-D. If we ever get snow again this will make it easer for the groomers to cross.

11/28/05 - Ben, Leon, and other members have replaced the Trail "D" bridge heading out towards Jesus Valley Road. Additionally, much of the long and occasionally nasty sections beyond the bridge (to Jesus Valley Road) is now much improved thanks to many hours of machine work.

11/27/05 - Larry and Leslie have been at it again! They have re-decked just about every bridge from the Alton Traffic Circle to the New Durham line along Trail "M" (along Route-11 by the Merrymeeting River). They are like a team of trail clearing Energizer Bunnies!

11/26/05 - The significant excavator work to repair storm and erosion trail damage in the Alton Mountain and Bergeron Pond tail area (i.e. NH Corridor Trail #22) is done. Certain trail shave been re-routed and re-signing is underway. The new traffic patterns should reduce many of the confusing intersections with the Bergeron's local side trails (Yellow, Green, Blue, Gray, etc. diamonds) in those sections. Most of  these trails are still there to snowmobile on, but now crisscross each other less.

11/20/05 - Trail "R" has received substantial excavator de-rocking and stumping, widening, and rerouting. The sections improved run from near its beginning (at the intersection of NH Corridor Trail #22 on Route 28) almost to the old Bauman's Breakstop in the Half-moon Pond area (at the intersection of Route 28 and Dudley Road). This work will eliminate a substantial amount of riding the edge of Coffin Brook and Stockbridge Corner roads. Thanks go out to Norm Hillsgove, Greg Fuller, Rob Bystrack and the other club members that worked to make this happen.

11/6/05 - The Alton State Forest section of Trail "M"??? was heavily logged this fall. The club received permission from the the State of NH to fix the substantial damage done to the trail by their operation. We excavated the newly exposed rocks and stumps (now in the middle of a much wider trail) so that this section will be much more like a highway. Since so many trees were cut the area is not a pretty as before and many  of the skidder roads may look like snowmobile trails. Don't be fooled into hitting a stump on one - stick to the marked (orange or blue diamond) trails only!

10/1/05 - This season's trail work has begun. Here is our bridge (on Route-11) over the Merrymeeting River. It was just re-decked by Larry and Leslie - thanks guys!

2005 Alton Bay Radar Run Results*

*The club would like to thank the sponsors of this years run. Torno Worldclass Motorsports of Lebanon, ME, Robertson’s Power + Sports of Sanford, ME and Larry’s Sales and Service of Barnstead, NH. Thank you for your support! thanks to our participants and volunteers!

MOUNT MAJOR SNOWMOBILE CLUB’S ‘ANNUAL RADAR RUN’ - 2/19/2005

Come join us on Saturday, February 19th, 2005 From 10 am to 3 pm, trophies at 3:30 pm

Please come and support the club. The cost is $5 for 2 runs and lots of fun!!

This message was received from Steve Hemeon the day after the Bridge Dedication to Joshua:

Good Afternoon,

I would like to take a moment to say "Thank You" To all those who were able to attend the gathering at the dedication of the bridge in memory of my son. He would be very impressed with the reconstruction of the bridge and the fact that it helps carry out a sport he loved.

A special Thank - You to Leslie, Larry(?) club president, and Joanne for their efforts as well as the efforts carried out by everyone involved. It is amazing, at the time and effort put forth by so many volunteers to make it enjoyable for everyone. As a new member and a volunteer that helped support Dover Southside Little League years past, I realize that so much happens behind the scenes that unfortunately goes unnoticed and unrecognized that this is one I will cherish and share with many family and friends.

Once again "Thank You Very Much." Hope to see you on the trails soon.

Steve

Trail Work

11/22/04 - Alan Soucy obtained permission from Bryan Fortier and his Mother to cross the trail that leads from Mauhaut shores to the field at the marina. He also got permission to build a new bridge over the stream. Alan contracted Patsy at Winnipesauke Marine Construction to build the new bridge which was completed last Wednesday (see picture at right). Special thanks go out to Alan and his wife for all their work - and for donating the cost to construct the bridge!

11/21//04 - Ben and Leon greatly improved the trail section between Ric Ouellette’s stone wall and the mud hole on Steve Gray’s land. This was a rough section of Trail D. With the kind of grooming that those two have been doing we can expect some surprisingly good riding on this formally tough trail.

11/18//04 -
    1) The major excavator work on Trail 22 up over the Bergeron's section of Alton Mt. is done. Bill Stevens Jr. did over a weeks work with his 315-Cat and it shows. The trail is wide, the grade is more even, the surface is crowned, and most importantly it has major ditches to keep the water off the surface! Hopefully this will help this high use trail hold up to those summer downpours we keep getting. Be very careful until you learn the new trail, it will be easy to get stranded in these new ditches if you ride wide on a deep fluffy storm!

    2) As a second project Bill substantially improved the section of trail from Route-140 to the Alton Sand & Gravel Pit. Through the cooperation of the land owners  Wayne Gassete and the Carlton's this formally sled beater section of trail will be groomed smooth with the Tracker! Trips to the Alton traffic circle for fuel should actually be be enjoyable now - excluding the price of gas!

    3) The two small bridges in the State Forest are now repaired and 8' wide. Only one to go there. Thanks again to Larry and Leslie who have spent most of their free time and weeks vacation doing nothing but trail work.

11/15/04 - Bridge work has been completed by Larry and Leslie over Route-28 for Trail 22. It was re-decked with 2" x 12" rough sawn hemlock boards - 8' long. Meanwhile the Bergerons (with help from Larry and Leslie) got many of the side trails and bridges on their 23 miles of trails into better shape. This includes new bridge decking, and over two weeks of excavator work (not including the work on Trail 22 by Bill Stevens (see above). Many of those "most difficult" signs will be coming down this year.

9/25/04 - Greg Fuller is working with Rob Bystrack over the next weeks on clearing the newly reopened section of Trail 22. There is a lot of debris from recent logging that needs to be cleared before we can see what the excavator needs to do. I am sure they would appreciate any help you can give them!

Last Thursday club member Rob Bystrack along with Merrimac Valley Trail Riders members John O'Connor and Peter Anania worked to reconnect Corridor Trail 22 in the section lost to the new Alton High School. Rob hopes to be able to get his excavator out there to get the last of the stumps and rocks out.

 $ Donations $

Thanks for all the cash donations. Many members, especially those whose schedules make it impossible for them to volunteer for trail work, have sent in donations. This really helps the club. We put 100% of this donated money into trail improvements and grooming equipment.

Remember, almost all the money you paid for your Mount Major Snowmobile Club Membership was discounted from your State registration cost. That means everyone that can afford to sled should have a bit to spare. Especially if you've purchased an SUV, pair of late model sleds, covered trailer, matching suits and helmets, doesn't it make sense to put an appropriate percentage of your investment into the trails you ride?

Understand that the time that club members put into trail work and grooming are totally volunteer hours. In spite of some riders misconceptions, there are no State employees out maintaining our trail system. Any received Grant-in-Aid money only pays for actual bridge materials, no more than 60% of grooming equipment, and occasionally for 60% of heavy equipment (i.e. excavator) rental. In all cases the club must come up with those 40% matching funds and supply the man power. There is no "they" doing that trail work, (they is us)!

 Are you a mogul maker?

Do you know how to drive to keep a trail? While grooming, I see the first hand impact of many different riding styles (and skill levels) on our trails' surface. It is incredible the damage that is done (in one pass sometimes) by certain riders. The other night I followed a rider for about 5 miles on Corridor #22. Approximately every 100' that sled left a fresh 6" mogul, as the driver blipped the throttle of its powerful engine.

From both a horsepower and traction point, this is about the stupidest way to operator a hot sled there is! Carburetors do a poor job of controlling fuel mixture when their throttles are in transition. So, the engine tends to run richer when throttled like this. Because of the resulting "less than optimum" air/fuel ratio, and because the engine must keep accelerating its own crank train inertia, efficiency drops way down (while fuel consumption goes up).

In fact, I measure both the power output and fuel consumption of race engines for a living. My company builds engine power dynamometers and on-board data acquisition systems for race cars, boats, karts, AND SNOWMOBILES. I've also designed race engines and digital fuel injection systems for most of the above applications. The professional race teams and OEM manufacturers that buy from us laugh at hot dogs that drive the way this rider did.

For anyone that wants to be considered a race driver, it makes sense to throttle the way winning professionals (in every motor sport) do - smoothly! Remember, any novice can slam the throttle on an off, but it takes skill to operate the throttle precisely under rapidly changing trail conditions. The importance of this is demonstrated the first day at most race driving schools.

Race students are sent through a TIMED twisty course, and encouraged to use all their own (noisy) throttle changing "skills." Then an instructor goes out to smoothly (and quietly by comparison) proceed to humiliate the beginners' best times. Fortunately, by the end of a week's training, all the students are both smoother and faster!

So, I'm not preaching for these performance enthusiasts to slow down (they won't). Instead, everyone should master running their throttle to maintain better traction, make less moguls, and actually run quicker! Besides, many of the non-enthusiast land owners (that we depend on for our trails) hate everything about that on and off throttle noise!

The other group of mogul makers are at the total opposite end of the performance spectrum. They never drive fast, but they also create moguls via their throttling. These riders wait until the sled bogs down climbing a medium size mogul (or hill) before finally getting into the throttle. Then that sudden burst of power pushes a small pile of snow out from the valley of the mogul they are climbing -- and often right onto the previous mogul they just did the same thing on.

Again, smoothness is the solution. Lets teach our newer riders more than just the basics. Show them how to ride well (and not damage the trail as much). I like to show beginning sleders how they should be trying to "coast up-hill." In other words, carry enough momentum as they reach each small hill or mogul so that they do not have to apply extra power to crest it. Explain that, by anticipating the size of the next hill, it is often possible to increase the sled's speed during the approaching flat, so that they literally glide up the mogul's face. Instead of making the mogul bigger this method can eventually grind a mogul down.

Finally, all riders should try to avoid stopping their machines on uphill sections. This requires having to use that much more throttle to get going again. The result is another puff of snow and the beginning of another mogul. Explain to new riders  to always try to find a flat or downhill section to stop on. By parking with our tracks on top of moguls (instead of in the mogul's valley) we wear them down when we take off again!

Please, nest time you ride, pay attention to how everyone's machine makes those little puffs of snow. Then experiment with the methods I've described. If you have long ago mastered these skills, why not take the time to pass the techniques on to less proficient drivers. Unless you do,  they'll probably never even think about it.

Radar Run!

Our Radar Run was a success! We raised $633 (gross) for the trails and lots of riders had fun.

Top speed was 115 MPH in just 660' (the fastest for the event to date). The fastest results for each class are listed below:

500 Class:        Arctic Cat ZL 500         Eric Guy @79 mph

600 Class:        Ski Doo Formula III      Aaron Fenderson @ 82 mph

700 Class:        Ski Doo                        Scott Hanson @ 84 mph
                          Ski Doo                        Mike Carlton @ 84 mph

800 Class:        Ski Doo                         Craig Finnerty @ 92 mph
                                                                Fred Lodr @ 92 mph

Unlimited:        Arctic Cat                       Ely Tyler 115 mph

New Tracker Groomer is running

We've finally updated our Tracker from a 1989 to a like new 2000 model. This one has a bigger engine with more power and low RPM torque. The extra muscle combined with a bit more weight and air locking differentials (on both axles) means we can almost always make it up the mountain. In fact, on its first outing we were able to groom UP-HILL on both sides of Alton Mountain!

The new rig has a 6,000 lb. SuperWinch on the front and the old 3,500 lb. SuperWinch has been drawbar mounted for recovering the drag, etc. The winch has already been tested when the drag slid off one of the side trail bridges! It worked great.

A 2" body lift kit along with heavy duty springs were added all around to get extra track and snow bank clearance (no more wrecked fenders we hope). A Class-III DrawTite Hitch and pintle mount were donated by Charlie Lockwood of American Powersports & Truck Equipment, Inc., in Derry.

Bob Bergeron had about five of his employees working on this thing for two days to get it finished. He especial got extra help from John Chinn who showed up (without pay) on early Saturday morning to help with the final track mounting, etc. John didn't go home until 8:00 pm (when the trail was groomed perfect all the way to Hidden Valley!

We also converted the Tracker's 14 - 06 drag to spring trip design. The drag came with solid blades which were a killer on Alton's rocks, it ruined both equipment and the driver). It looks like a factory installation. The new (sharp and serrated) blades cut the corners and hard moguls much better too.

Mount Major Snowmobile Club Inc.  875-6714  Alton, NH
For current trail conditions please phone 875-6714, or e-mail to: info@mountmajorsnowmobileclub.com
© 2005 Mount Major Snowmobile Club Inc. PO Box 208; Alton Bay, NH 03810-0208 Updated: December 03, 2006