By Sarah Marble

The Shiretown Riders, Farmington’s snowmobile club, graciously welcomed the High Peaks Alliance into their February meeting, offering us pizza and stories of being on the trail. But the real reason we were there was to discuss exciting new business with them, as they will be the club maintaining the snowmobile trail that will cross the new Sandy River Bridge when the project is completed.

The Sandy River Bridge will be the longest single-span snowmobile bridge in the state. It will connect Jay snowmobile trails to Farmington’s via the Whistlestop Trail, an already highly utilized and well-established multi-use trail. The bridge will open up an opportunity for snowmobilers to safely cross the Sandy River.

The trails in Farmington are considerable. Many forge through the forest, wind around trees, over rocks, and across brooks and boggy areas. This terrain is extremely hard on their expensive equipment. Some expenses are reimbursed, but the hours they put in are not–they are fueled by passion.

It takes a good deal of time and resources to run a snowmobile club and the Sandy River Bridge may provide more financial opportunities leading to new equipment and a sustainable maintenance plan. The club has a few groomers and snowmobiles, and the members have the knowledge and capacity to fix the equipment themselves. In addition, many of the members use and maintain their own personal equipment for club activities.