A Green January

It's hard to image a green January, but for the most part central New York has experienced just that. And that has affected the snowmobile business. "Sales were great early on, if we had good snow early we would've been in great shape but store sales are hurting right now because they're not riding the sleds, they're not using the carbines, using the oil, so store sales are slow right now." One snowmobile enthusiast says at this time last year he had ridden over a 1000 miles but this year, fewer than 100. "You know nothing we can do about it, up to this point it's a lost money for businesses. It's saved money for riders but we want to ride that's why we spend the money, you know we'd rather ride." This is an uncommon sight for snowmobile enthusiasts but what many people don't realize is this winter could affect next year's sales. "People are going to think twice before they purchase a snowmobile next year with the lack of snow and they didn't put many miles on their sleds this year so there's really no incentive for them to jump up this following year to buy a sled so everything's a trickle effect." When it's all said and done owners and enthusiasts want just one thing. "Just hope it snows."