Press coverage of ISC 2012 appeared in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, featuring interviews with SAM members as well as our guests from Russia (pictured above). An excerpt of the article follows, the whole story can be read at this link to telegram.com, free registration may be required.
David G. Hanson of Brookfield was able to get to his first International Snowmobile Congress this week.
Held at nearby Sturbridge Host Hotel and Conference Center, the Snowmobile Association of Massachusetts successfully bid for the right to host the 44th annual congress.
While proximity allowed Mr. Hanson, a dairy farmer, to sneak away to learn more about his hobby, it wasn’t a deterrent for the 400-plus snowmobile enthusiasts in attendance.
Evgeniy and Olga Borodin of Perm, Russia, arrived Tuesday for the five-day event, which has more than 25 workshops covering snowmobile safety, proper grooming techniques, trail easements, the planning of saddlebag trips, political impact and vintage snowmobile restoration.
Mr. Borodin is a member of the Russian Snowmobile and ATV Association and president of a club that belongs to his country’s association.
An interpreter the Massachusetts association found for a contingent of about seven Russians, Svetlana Peshkov, said Mr. Borodin came here because, “He wants to find people who are the same in spirit, and think the same about snowmobiling.”
Despite the foreign language, the Russian couple said they were able to learn during workshops.
“Sometimes a language barrier doesn’t exist when you talk about stuff you are passionate about,” Mr. Borodin said through the interpreter.
Mr. Borodin said he organizes several regional competitions that continue day and night on Russian trails. Called “rallying” in the United States, competitors have to use maps and special dots on a GPS to find their way, he said.
Mr. Hanson, the farmer and board member of the Snowbirds Snowmobile Club of Spencer, has been riding since 1967, starting on the farm with up to 70 people taking turns on 30 different machines at his house.
Steve Howland of Buckland said about 90 percent of the trails his local club uses are on private land, and the marriage between the club and landowners is generally positive.
“We work really hard to let them know of our appreciation, and listen to their concerns if they want a trail moved, or fencing put up to keep riders away from sensitive areas, or speed limit or time restrictions for use of the trail,” he said.
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