(6) The Untimely Death Of A Legend
(8) Groomers and Radio Beacons
Groomers And Radio Beacons,
OK This is The Deal
Years ago when Collett came out with the communicator they offered Groomer beacons for free to all clubs in north America, slowly they all started to equip the groomers and it seemed that it would be a safe thing for riders,( I even bought some for that reason alone ).
Somewhere along the line some idiot planted the seed that speed demons on sleds were using the beacon to push the limit of the trails and ultimately making the trails unsafe, Now all the clubs have had a major knee-jerk reaction and over the past few years have removed almost all of the beacons to try and slow people down.
Every year I hear stories of people being killed by hitting groomers during the day, and a lot of the chat on bulletin boards is still rhetoric about how if they were not riding fast they would not have hit the groomer.
I have never heard so much crap in my life!!!
I have almost hit groomers on more than one occasion and on some trail on a winding corner, on a knoll you stand not a chance regardless of your speed, you are stuck with nowhere to go but into the groomers blade.
Look at it like this would a snowplow drive the wrong way on the wrong side of the road in a snowstorm?? I don't think so.
The bottom line is this, Groomers take up the whole trail and safety is their responsibility, if they are going to run in the day it should be required by their club and their insurance company that they run the beacon for the safety of riders.
Please be very vocal about this issue with your club and lets try and reverse this stupid mindset of a few.
