Upwards of 95 percent of Vermont’s 5,000 miles of snowmobile trails are now open

Upwards of 95 percent of Vermont’s 5,000 miles of snowmobile trails are now open after this weekend’s storm, something snowmobile enthusiasts are celebrating after several rough years. White gold, as some call it, is not just important for the region’s ski resorts, it’s also crucial for the snowmobile industry. Even on a blustery day, industry experts say big storms in the heart of the season attract the next generation of riders. But recent winters with inconsistent snowfall have frustrated snowmobile clubs across the region that maintain the trails. “Snowmobile club memberships have been down, registrations have been down,” said Dan Gould with the New Hampshire Snowmobile Association. Like Vermont, he says almost all of the trails in the Granite State are now open. The economic impact of snowmobilers in New Hampshire and Vermont is in the hundreds of millions of dollars for each state.