42nd International Snowmobile Congress

June 10-12, 2010Coralville, Iowa

Morning ReportISC 2010

Saturday, June 12

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Raising Money for Diabetes ResearchCrossing five states, five provinces and four time zones in North America, 54

snowmobilers set out Feb. 15 to complete the “Iditarod of Snowmobiling” by riding from Michigan to Alaska in 25 days.

Departing in three groups from Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., the riders reached Tot, Alaska, on March 8 after logging some 4,000 miles on their sleds. The event was co-ordinated by MichCanSka Adventures, and several of its participants brought their story with them to the 2010 ISC this week.

MichCanSka President Bill Bradfield of Michigan spearheaded the journey and began planning for it in October of 2008. Monthly meetings followed, and about six months was spent ironing out the logistics of the ride.

“We knew it would take a long time to plan the trip out,” Bradfield said. “We had to figure on about 200 miles a day and then find lodging and restaurants within a reasonable distance of that ending point. We had to keep changing the route to be able to get those accommodations lined up.”

Snowmobile clubs along the way helped serve as trail guides and cooks, and even local snowmobile dealers helped out by making needed sled repairs when the riders came through town.

“Wherever we were, even if it was at night and deal

Forty-five snowmobilers potentially in-creased their chances for survival the next

time they go mountain riding after attending Mike Duffy’s three-hour avalanche awareness seminar at Congress Friday morning.

An avalanche expert from Colorado, Duffy educated his audience on judging snow condi-tions, trip planning and rescue techniques in a classroom setting that also showcased the lat-est in survival gear, including locator beacons, GPS tracking and lightweight clothing.

Duffy also emphasized the need to include an avalanche air bag pack on snowmobile trips out West. Describing them as “Plan B,” he has been an air-bag proponent for the past five years and said snowmobilers are ahead of the downhill skiers in supporting their use.

“This is the best chance you have for sur-viving that avalanche,” Duffy said, with a deployed bag strapped to his back for demon-

stration purposes. “Do not use one of these in place of a beacon. Use one of these in conjunc-tion with a beacon, and you should also not take more risks because you have one on.”

Among several other items, Duffy also en-couraged his fellow snowmobilers to carry or-ange flagging, strobe lights, extra batteries and extra clothing the next time they go mountain riding in case events turn for the worse.

“The whole thing with snowmobiling in the mountains is about moisture manage-ment,” he said. “Wear synthetics that wick away the moisture because cotton kills.”

Equally critical is knowing where to ride. Find out where the nearest rescue station is. Duffy said there are several great mountain rescue groups in the West and riding near one might be in your best interest.

“You should always pick where you are going to get lost,” he said.

Colorado avalanche expert Mike Duffy with a deployed air bag pack strapped to his back.

MichCanSka’s Bill Bradfield (seated), president, and Ron Corbett, vice president.

Survival Training for Mountain RidersTurn to page 3

Coralville marriott hotel and conference center

News and Notes…Western Chapter Belt Buckles Still for Sale

The Western Chapter of ACSA still has Limited Series of its 25th Anniversary Belt Buckle for sale for $42.50 each.

Karl Herman of Iowa won Thursday night’s auction of the original for $1,400. The chapter fundraiser began in Calgary 25 years ago will end fittingly at the 2011 International Snow-mobile Congress in Calgary next year.

To purchase a belt buckle, call (719) 580-0799 or email kukuk@gojade.org.

Wooden Snowmobile Auction Tonight

The host clubs from Thursday night’s Off-Site Activity will be auctioning off a wooden snowmobile carved and donated by chainsaw artist Jessy Kern of Denver, Iowa.

The 120 replica is on display at the Iowa State Snowmobile Association booth in the Expo Hall and will be auctioned off at tonight’s banquet.

Proceeds from the auction will benefit the ISSA Education and Scholarship Foundation, the Spina Bifida Association of Iowa and the ISSA Club Chal-lenge, a fundraising mechanism for the ISSA’s lobbying ef-forts.

Thursday night’s Off-Site was hosted by the following ISSA Region 12 clubs: the Eastern Iowa Sledheads, the South-east Iowa Ridge-Blasters, Johnson County Snowdrifters, Ce-dar County Winter Warriors and Scott County Sno-Seekers.

Snowmobile Media CouncilMeetings Continue Today

The International Snowmobile Media Council will host the third in its series of 90-minute noon lunch meetings today in the Borlaug Room on the second floor.

Council Chair Mary Anne Grabow of South Dakota said the snowmobile media members have already had two days of “productive” meetings with “impressive” numbers of mem-bers in attendance and participating in the sessions.

“We hold our meetings over the noon breaks so that our members are able to attend the other chapter meetings and break-out session that are held throughout Congress,” she said.

Council elections were held Thursday with Grabow retain-ing her seat as chair, Matt Mead of Washington continuing as co-chair and Vermont’s Bonnie Holbrook elected as secretary-treasurer.

Calendars to fund the C.J. Ramstad Scholarship program are available for $10 each from any media member.

Holzworth to Share InspirationalMessage This MorningBlinded at the age of 10 when her orthodontic headgear failed,

Sheila Holzworth of Urbandale, Iowa, a member of the Say-lorville Dam Snowmobile Club of ISSA Region 7, will share her inspirational story of triumph over tragedy Saturday morning, sprinkling her 45-minute presentation entitled “Blind Ambition” with touching memories of her family as well as with humorous anecdotes on her adolescence and outdoor adventures.

Losing her sight, she said of that fateful Sunday in March of 1972, “was a very unfortunate accident, but I feel very fortunate that the last two people I saw were my mom and my dad. Right before my vision was darkened, I remember seeing a tear from my mom’s eye dropping down,” Holzworth said.

Following her father’s advice, Holzworth has decided to “make things happen” in her life. In addition to graduating from high school and college, she became the first blind woman to climb Mt. Rainier in Washington state and also earned international recogni-tion as a snow and water skier.

Holzworth also loves to snowmobile. With personal assistant Bev Boyd routinely at her side, she often participates in club trips with her home snowmobile club, and club members either take turns riding with her on her two-up touring sled or, through the use of radio communications, allow her to ride solo in open terrain.

“Think of snowmobiling as an opportunity,” she said. “Life is short, life is tough and we’re often stressed out. We need to take time for ourselves, our family, our faith and our friends. If it wasn’t for those three Fs, I wouldn’t be standing here today. We need to look at obstacles as opportunities. One of my greatest friends is my association with my snowmobile club. They are awesome, and (tongue-in-cheek) they are all behind me.”

Social Media Seminar Draws Large Crowd Friday

Heeding ISMA President Ed Klim’s advice from Thursday to communicate with the younger generation and to “use their

lingo,” ISC 2010 attendees packed the Oakdale Salon Friday morn-ing to learn about Social Media.

Derek Freund of Constant Contact, a professional email mar-keting firm, urged snowmobile club members to employ the di-verse range of technology that is available to them, especially since 91 percent of Internet users are between the ages of 18 and 64.

“That’s almost as high as the number of homes with running water. That’s certainly the population you want to reach,” Freund said. “You have ample opportunities to increase your member-ships. The importance of communication is huge, and you need to embrace your inner geek.”

Freund said snowmobile clubs should provide electronic com-munication to potential members that is professional, targeted and contains information in which the recipients find value.

“When you see the instant results, the satisfaction level will go up,” he said. “Embrace this technology or you are going to start losing members. True email marketing is the difference between just sending a scratch note and penning a professional letter.”

Today’s AgendaSaturday, June 12

7 a.m. Breakfast Coral Grand Ballroom7:30 a.m. Welcome, Announcements, Daily Video, etc. 8 a.m.-8:15 a.m. SnoFed update 8:15 a.m.-9:15 a.m. Blind Ambition-Sheila Holzworth 9:15 a.m. Trade Show Opens Coralville Conference Center9:15 a.m.-9:30 a.m. Coffee Break Coralville Conference Center9:15 a.m. Silent Auction Benson Room9:30 a.m.-Noon CCSO-AGM Oakdale Salon IV ACSA Oakdale Salon I,II & III IASA Oakdale Salon VNoon-1:30 p.m. ISC Planning Session Kirkwood RoomNoon-1:30 p.m. Lunch on your own Noon-1:30 p.m. ISMC Lunch Meeting Borlaug Room1:30 p.m.-4 p.m. International Snowmobile Coral Ballroom Council and Wrap up AB&C2 p.m. Trade show closes 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Social Hour 6:30 p.m. Silent Auction Closes Coral Grand Ballroom6:30 p.m.-10 p.m. Awards Banquet Closing Ceremony Coral Grand Ballroom10 p.m.-? Thirsty Dogs Wallace & Wood Rooms

Building on the week’s theme of involving younger people in the sport of snowmobiling, Wisconsin’s Jacob Meyer, Brooke Mur-

dock and Mark Sass made a number of presentations Friday on the Association of Wisconsin Snowmobile Club’s Youth Rep program.

According to the trio, the program’s goal is to get youth involved in snowmobiling and to show them how the system works so they can leave the sport in good hands. Wisconsonites ages 14 to 20 years old are eligible to participate, and the program aims to get one to two members enrolled from each county.

AWSC has always had workshops for younger members at meet-ings, but they mainly concentrated on safety. About four years ago, Mary Holden strongly encouraged the AWSC to adapt the Youth Rep program as a way to involve the youth in the AWSC.

As of right now, they have 35 reps from 17 counties participating in the program. They host their own events, oversee their own bud-gets and even have their own fundraisers. “They are growing very fast, and it is a good experience for them,” explained Meyer, a youth advisor to the group and a Youth Rep alum.

Youth Rep events include pizza, bowling and pool parties. They also work on safety and developing leadership skills of the young group. This past February, they held their own snowmobile ride called KAOS (Kids & Adults On Snow).

“The event was huge for getting to know the rest of the Youth Reps from the state,” Meyer said. “The outpouring of help was greatly appreciated on the ride, and a lot was donated when people found out that it was a youth ride.”

“They would not let us pay for things,” added Brooke Mur-dock. “We had $1,000 (from their fundraising efforts) budgeted for food.”

The Youth Rep participants also get hands-on experience with the inner workings of the AWSC. “There is no better person to teach the tricks of the trade than the pioneer members of our organiza-tion,” Murdock said.

Randy Murdock, Brooke’s father, has been involved with snow-mobiling most of his life and said it is time to pass the torch. “We have to know when to let go and let the next generation take over,” he said. “But it will also be nice to know that when we do, we will have provided them with the knowledge.”

Wisconsin’s Youth Rep Program Puts Theory to Practice

From left, Wisconsin Youth Rep members Mark Sass, Brooke Mur-dock and Jacob Meyer.

ers heard we there and knew one of us had a problem, they took our machines in and made the repairs with no charges for labor, just the parts.”

Besides the simple adventure of it all, another motivation for the ride was Bradfield’s involvement with the Diabetes Research Insti-tute. A Vietnam Vet, Bradfield was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes because of his exposure to Agent Orange during the war. He had par-ticipated in other fundraisers for diabetes research and felt a long-dis-tance snowmobile ride could raise significant funds for the effort.

“We are firm believers that if you are going to do a really big snowmobile run, you should do it for a worthy cause because it re-ally puts the snowmobile community in the public eye and makes that image shine,” he explained.

Bradfield said the response from the public during the fund drive was “phenomenal.” By leaning on their friends, relatives, co-workers and local businesses, ride participants were able to raise $102,000 for diabetes research.

The MichCanSka group is taking a smaller trip next year be-fore attempting another cross-country trek to Alaska in 2012 (if the response warrants it). You can rest assured next season’s shorter 12-day ride will also raise money for diabetes research. For more information, visit www.michcanska.com.

MichCanSka

Continued from page 1

South Dakota’s Duane Sutton ups the bids on several items in the Silent Auction room. Bidding ends tonight at 6:30 p.m. Be sure to view all the great items from the various states today in the Benson room on the second floor of the hotel.

Shannon Banting, George Deputat and the rest of the Alberta Snowmo-bile Association invite you to attend to the 2011 International Snowmo-bile Congress in Calgary June 1-4. For more information, visit www.altasnowmobile.ab.ca.

Friday Evening

Groomer Reception

Thanks for coming…On behalf of the Iowa State Snowmobile Association, the ISC

2010 Planning Committee would like to extend its gratitude to all the Congress attendees this week. We hope you enjoyed your time in Iowa, and we hope to see you soon. Have a safe trip home after tonight’s banquet.

2011 ISCCalgary, Alberta