For most snowmobile owners, riding on trails and across ponds or lakes is excitement enough. But for those who seek greater thrills and who love to compete, there’s Snocross.
To picture Snocross, imagine motocross racing with motorcycles on a dirt oval track that is liberally contoured with hills, dips and turns. Now coat the course with thick, pudding-like snow and replace the motorcycles with snowmobiles. And watch as the sleds go airborne.
Just outside the track’s grounds, a mini-city of large pickup trucks and motor homes pulling snowmobile trailers springs up overnight. This is where competitors slip into their snowmobile suits and make last-minute alterations to their sleds just minutes before their heats. Racers on the Rock Maple Racing circuit, that runs events in Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and Quebec, range in age from 4 to almost 60 and mainly come from the northeast United States and eastern Canada.
VPR’s Ric Cengeri recently attended the Snocross races held in New Hampshire at The Lodge at Belmont.