Wow! The economic crisis has finally hit snowmobiling! If you’ve been waiting to buy a new sled, wait no more. Prices are dropping like a stone. I heard an ad today that a local (within 60 miles) snowmobile dealer has new, 2009 Ski-Doo Summits for $7,400. Let me put that into perspective for you. That’s basically the same price they were asking for 2006’s in December. Hmmm. I wonder how much the 2006’s are now? I guess a below average snow year, the economic crisis, growing unemployment, and a host of other factors has driven the price down to the point I’m afraid I’m going to have to upgrade.
If you’ve been waiting for cars (and in my case, airplanes, motorcycles, ATV’s, etc.) to follow, it probably won’t be long. Sales of durable goods are way off and dealers everywhere are choking on inventories. So, you’d better get out your checkbook and get it dusted off, because the prices you’ve been waiting for are here.
Now, if I could just get my hands on my share of that stimulus money my good friend Barack has been promising, I’d be on my way. See you in the stores!
Drive carefully. If there’s one thing I hear over and over from local residents it’s that those who come from the valley drive too fast on winter roads. I’ve included the photo of this moose to remind us that not all the wildlife leaves for the winter. You will see moose in the rivers and, yes, on the highways.
We’ve had a mild winter by all accounts and shouldn’t be complaining when the temperatures finally take a turn for the colder. I don’t know, maybe we thought we’d escape the worse this year. But we’ve only had a couple or three really cold days, so when it hits minus forty, we naturally start to whine a little.
Rental properties are a hot topic here in Island Park. Just this weekend I overheard a spirited discussion between two “summer home” owners and three locals. It seems part-time residents in sub-divisions would like to see some sort of regulations on the rental properties. On the other side of the table, permanent residents and property management companies would like (for obvious reasons) to see them remain un-regulated. 
I just got an email from U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho). He indicated that wolves have been de-listed from the endangered species list in many states and would soon be in Idaho. That opens the way for them to be controlled (read hunted.) For many that’s horrible news. For those of us who live here, it’s not only a good thing, it’s about time.
On Monday I commented that anyone venturing into the back-country should be equipped with a shovel, a probe and an avalanche beacon.   The snow this time of year is very unstable and unpredictable. Those who don’t have experience digging snow pits and assessing the danger (or who don’t take the time to do so,) are at risk this time of years. 
What started out as four feet of pure fluff (you could have lifted a whole dump truck load of snow with one hand) has finally started to settle and there is now a good base. According to the