Snowmobiling in Yellowstone: Get In Before It’s Too Late
Time is running out for snowmobile enthusiasts looking to hit the trails in Yellowstone National Park — perhaps in more ways than one.
The application window is now open for non-commercially guided snowmobile trips through Yellowstone during the 2016-2017 winter season. All travelers who wish to ride by snowmobile through the park must apply for a permit, which are distributed through a lottery system.
The application deadline is September 30, and lottery recipients will be notified about their permits in mid-October. Any remaining permits will become available on a first-come, first-serve basis in November.
To ride through the park, it’s safety first: all riders must have a valid state-issued driver’s license and complete the free online Yellowstone Snowmobile Education Certification program. Something as minor as a sprained ankle, which affects some 25,000 Americans every day, can turn into a serious issue out in the park’s vast wilderness without the proper knowledge.
At the same time, snowmobilers might be eager to get a ride in at Yellowstone at all while there’s still snow cover to be found in the park.
Recent research suggests that snowpack levels have been declining in the Yellowstone area over recent years, and will only continue to get worse as global temperatures continue to rise over the coming decades.
Mike Tercek, a Montana-based ecologist and co-author of the study, estimates that the winter recreation season could be shortened by 16% by 2050, and 26% by 2090.
“This isn’t just an isolated incident when you have a bad year,” Tercek told the Idaho Falls-based Post Register recently. “What we consider to be a bad year now is going to be average in the future.”
Less snowpack means fewer usable snowmobile trails, especially around the West Entrance area in Montana. Higher elevation areas may continue to receive adequate snow, Tercek said, but “it’s something we’re going to have to adapt to.”
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