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LOOKING AHEAD: The snowmobile manufacturers are looking to expand their efforts with the snowmobile community in 2009 by inviting non-snowmobilers to enjoy the winter outdoors on a snowmobile.

This past winter has proven to be a good year for the snowmobile community's Go Snowmobiling—Take a Friend Snowmobiling campaign. A number of state and provincial associations have worked closely with the grant program committee of the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association (ISMA) and sponsored exciting events where non-snowmobilers went riding for the first time.

The associations stressed safe snowmobiling training prior to each event and included the local clubs in co-ordinating the effort. Club members served as guides and the local clubs prepared the trails so the experience was superb. A number of associations held special Go Snowmobiling events for elected officials and influential community leaders. In a number of cases, directors of tourism and environment were introduced to snowmobiling and by the end of the day they were all smiling and educated on the proper way to ride a snowmobile. The members also stressed the importance of snowmobiling to the economy and the fabric of the community.

In addition to working closely with the associations and clubs, the manufacturers have updated the family snowmobiling picture album that is available for all snowmobile organizations to use. The photos feature family snowmobiling at its best and include newly designed snowmobiles from each manufacturer. The photos are available for use in the updating of snowmobile trail maps and snowmobiling brochures. The photos are also available for use by visitors and convention bureaus, tourism departments and the general media. They can be reviewed on the www.gosnowmobiling.org website.

The snowmobile manufacturers are looking to expand their efforts with the snowmobile community in 2009 by inviting non-snowmobilers to enjoy the winter outdoors on a snowmobile.

The manufacturers have joined together in sponsoring the 2009 Manufacturers Spring Sneak Peak show schedule. The show format allows customers to view and touch the new snowmobiles from the manufacturers all in the same room. Snowmobile shopping has never been better!

In addition to the Go Snowmobiling—Take a Friend Snowmobiling effort, the manufacturers are supporting snowmobiling outings with journalists worldwide. Tourism writers, travel writers and Associated Press reporters were introduced to snowmobiling this year through the efforts of state and provincial associations and travel bureaus. Snowmobiling is truly becoming the winter recreation of choice for a broader spectrum of the population. It's great to see folks from all walks of life interested in getting outdoors in the winter and enjoying snowmobiling.

We are confident next winter will bring the abundance of snow that many of us have enjoyed this past winter and allow even more people to try snowmobiling. We are optimistic the return of winter will continue, and our optimism is supported by a growing cadre of scientists.

Remote Sensing Systems of Santa Rosa, California reports satellite data show January 2008 was the second-coldest January for the planet in 15 years.

Eighty-eight inches of snow fell on Madison, Wisconsin, this season—the most in recorded history.

Meteorologist Anthony Watts notes there has been a global drop in temperature of 0.63 degrees Centigrade in the past 12 months. Global temperatures measured by satellite in January slipped to 0.04°C (.07°F) below the long-term (1979-98) average. Further, the satellite records show absolutely NO global warming since the beginning of 2001. The drop in temperature in the past year has been a whopping 0.63°C (1.13°F). Over the past 10 years, global warming has essentially stopped. According to James M. Taylor of the Hartland Institute, the warmest year in the instrumental record was 1998, and the temperatures have been slightly cooler and very steady since then.